Episode #77 Using Your Voice – Controlling the Conversation

by captivate | Jun 8, 2017 | Uncategorized

#77 Using Your Voice – Controlling the Conversation

Voice is the most powerful instrument you have if you know how to use it.  The voice is the tool that connects us with others and compels them to take the action we want them to take like following us on social media or buy from us.  The voice is the tool that causes us to feel.  Yes, the words are important, the branding, the sales training, experience, all of it is important but if you don’t make me feel something it could be a deal breaker. 

There are several voice habits that can keep us from compelling our career and from touching the emotions of the audience causing them to connect with us and be compelled to take the action we want.  I’d like to talk about two that you probably have never thought about.  In fact, you might not have even realized that it’s your voice that is keeping you from getting the results that you want.  Every single sound we make sends an audience a specific message.  The voice is the orchestra of the heart and we need to play the full orchestra of beautiful instruments to create the connections we crave in business.

One of the most fascinating things in my work is to talk about voice barriers, one of the biggest unseen reasons that you could be losing sales.  Voice barriers are the bulletproof glass that encases you and keeps us from connecting with you and it all comes from what you do with your voice.  The tones that are connected to your voice story are revealed whether you realize it or not.  Now, I can hear a voice and put a name to the exact barrier I hear like trying to prove something or asking for permission.  The audience hears these barriers and while they can’t identify them as such, they feel them and they keep you from connecting.  Voice barriers can also cause doubt in the audience or potential client, they don’t know exactly why but they know that something is not right and so they say they’ll have to think about it and they will then go and find a voice they can connect with that offers the same product or service.  These voice barriers can also get in the way of getting the job when you go on an interview.  The interviewer hears something off, they may not be able to say what it is but they feel it.

The next voice issue that could be getting in your way is relying too heavily on the words.  All kinds of bad voice habits come out when you are relying on the words.  If you are trying to think about the words you are in retrieval mode which means you are up in your head thinking about the words and so you are disconnected from your body and voice.  The result of this is stiff, flat sound keeps the audience from truly connecting to the passion of how you feel about your message.

Another problem when you are up in your head or relying too much on the words is speed.  You are trying to grab the words off the page and not forget them before you look down again and so you must speak very quickly.  Going too fast is a problem when you want to connect to the audience because we don’t know what you know.  If it’s hard to follow you then you give me full permission to check out and stop listening.  In addition, when you are relying on only one element of vocal variety you are very predictable, once you become predictable it’s nearly impossible to captivate me with your voice.  All the five vocal variety elements touch different emotions and if you are relying on one, speed because you need it to stay connected to the words then you can’t use the other.  In addition, you can’t even begin to utilize breathing which is where organic vocal variety comes from. 

What becomes essential is that you tap into the message and don’t focus on the words.  When we tap into the message we are more in our body and connected to the passion of what we are speaking about, when we do that then the words will simply be there for us.  When I work with TV stars, they always learn the first and last line of the script first, that way they always know where they need to go.  When you tap into the core message, you know where you need to go and the words will come.  You are the expert and oftentimes when presenting as a speaker or even in a business presentation we give all the power to the words and forget that we really do know what we are talking about.  Start focusing on the core message, what you want me to know and feel and then you will realize that the words are hindering your presentation and are more of a crutch and that you don’t need them.  When you focus on the core message you will then be able to slow down, pause, breathe and take us on a voice journey which is what will touch our emotions. 

The key to connection and compelling people to buy from you lies in the voice.  If you use your voice as the power tool that it is, you will find that more people stay with you as you deliver your message and that will result in greater success in your call to action.

If you would like to learn what your voice barriers are, go to www.captivatetheroom.com and you will see the opportunity to send me a voice recording and I will assess them for you.