Our voice is the most valuable tool in our arsenal – we can make positive change, make life-changing relationships and partnerships, and share our passions and beliefs. This is also true when it comes to networking and meeting new businesses – our voice, the way we project the sound, and the words we choose to speak really do hold the secret to success. Here, Introbiz is delighted to have collaborated with Amy Sinha Voiceover, to share our top tips on how you can use your voice to convey your message in the most productive and effective way.
Creates a personal connection
Using your voice effectively could mean the difference between securing a massive sale or international client. Used poorly and unclearly, and you could see frustration and complaints lying at your door. Communication allows you to connect with your audience, to share common interests, which should ultimately lead to greater trust. In both personal and professional relationships, smiling, speaking slowly, and clearly explaining your aims will certainly provide the best possible results for you and your connection and will allow conversations to flow naturally.
The importance of tone
Did you know that the tone we use when communicating is the most important aspect of effective communication? The tone of voice we use conveys meaning and allows our connection to understand and perceive exactly what message we’re trying to convey. Your tone can also mean the different between someone actually listening and engaging with you, or completely ignoring you which is neither productive or useful.
Tone can be quite hard to manage, especially when there are time constraints and other pressures to consider. The trick is to listen to yourself and ask yourself if you could use a more empathetic or positive tone – you could do this by recording your voice and listening to it, to really see if improvements can be made.
Using the correct tone for the right occasion is essential when it comes to voiceovers. Different scripts require different uses of tonality inflections, which can also change with pacing and speech volume. Tone can also make your audience truly listen and engage in your message otherwise you risk your audience not resonating and moving on to your competitors message loosing potential clients
A means of obtaining feedback
Offering honest feedback is vital to being able to improve, develop and progress. Verbal feedback allows for clarification, meaning relevant questions can be asked. Whilst providing this feedback, it’s vital to consider your tone of voice (as mentioned above), and ensure that what you have to say is constructive. Feedback should also be delivered in a timely and specific way so that it’s at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
The same theory applies when receiving feedback. A lot of people get offended when receiving feedback simply because their delivery can be misinterpreted as criticism. To avoid misunderstandings, using the right speed and timbre through spoken delivery combined with sincerity and warmth, can alter a person’s perception on how easily feedback is digested in order to keep a happy working relationship and producing the desired results for productivity.
Revealing our authentic selves
We often portray different versions of ourselves for different occasions, but when it comes to representing who we truly are there is nothing more revealing than when we use our voice. Whether consciously or not, human beings respond not only to what we see, but also to what we hear and first impressions count! This can put a lot of pressure on how we speak and what we say.
We all want to be liked, to be funny, and entertaining so that people will want to get to know us and want to spend more time in our company. But not all of us have the confidence, ability or articulation to speak out loud in a way that represents who they really are. If you fit in to that category don’t despair, the more you place yourself out of your comfort zone and interact with new people, the more comfortable you will become with expressing your true self through your voice.
The voice to express yourself – Amy shares her experience
Being able to express yourself in the correct way is something a lot of people don’t really think about or if they do, they take these skills for granted, including myself, but using my voice wasn’t always easy for me. After 35 years of vocal training starting with Classical singing, I have put in a lot of time, effort and practice to gain knowledge on how to use my voice effectively and overcome extreme confidence issues.
Projection has always come naturally to me but learning how to voice out loud what I mean by using the right inflections in the right situations took time and a lot of practice as well as my acceptance of often ‘getting it wrong’ and learning from that experience. I had the honour recently of being asked to do a speaking duet and combine my voice talents with another voice over artist vocal stylings based in Canada. Only by focusing on nurturing and developing my own voice have I been able to collaborate and bring value with another voice artist to actively help bring an international advert to life!
Our voices really do hold the power to our own successes. By listening to feedback, considering the tone we use, and the words we choose to speak, we can make the connections and collaborations we’re looking for, to grow and develop, and to become experts within our industries.
