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You only have a few seconds when you start speaking before people begin to make value judgments about you. For leaders it’s imperative to have a voice that people want to listen to, a voice that inspires trust and a voice that can motivate people to action. Learning how to control the pitch, pace, tone, volume and melody of your voice can help a good leader become a great leader.
Many business leaders dislike the sound of their voice – they cringe when they hear their voicemail message and inwardly shudder when they hear themselves on a webinar. The good news is there are strategies to improve the sound of your voice. I recently spoke with celebrated voice coach Roger Love. He has coached business speakers such as Anthony Robbins, Suze Orman and Simon Sinek, as well as singers and film actors, including Gwen Stefanie, John Mayer, Reese Witherspoon, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeff Bridges and Keira Knightly. Love has vocally produced more than 100 million CD sales worldwide and written four top-selling books. Below he shares five strategies that executives can use to sound like the business leaders they want to be.
1. Be aware that specific sounds are tied to impressions.
Like it or not, the voice on your voicemail greeting is the voice you are using to communicate with the world. Unfortunately, most people are trapped behind voices that don’t convey how special they are, says Love. “The goal in any communication, especially business, is to control the way that other people perceive you when you speak.” Remember, you only have a few seconds for people to decide if they believe you and want to listen to what you’re going to say next.
The biggest mistake that executives make is they speak in a way that has zero entertainment or engagement emphasis, says Love. For example, if you speak using only one note, in a monotone voice, people will think you are not smart or creative enough to handle key business decisions. Likewise, if you speak in a soft voice without enough volume, people may not think you are passionate. Business leaders should learn how to create a voice that showcases their strengths, engages their staff and helps them predetermine the outcome of their conversations with clients – especially if they want to join the ranks of great leaders. To watch Love explain how sounds are tied to impressions, click here.
2. Understand how the wrong tone can sabotage business deals.
Tone means how much air or edge you inject into your voice. Many executives come to business meetings and they add a lot of air to their voice, because they want to sound caring and concerned. They are trying to convey that they can fix your problem or explain how their product can help you. Unfortunately, “air is the weakest sound that you can use in a business deal, because it dissipates,” says Love. People will not think you are strong. Instead, people will have the impression that you are weak. No one wants to invest in or give money to someone they perceive as weak and unable to run a business.
On the flip side, if you don’t inject enough air into your voice, you sound like a squeaky hinge. This tone also gives people the impression that you are weak, because you sound like you don’t have enough air to finish your sentences. Business leaders should practice how much air they are speaking with in order to develop a tone that conveys strength and power as well as concern. Love shows how tone impacts business deals in the below video.
3. Know that the words you use don’t always matter.
Scientific research shows that the actual words you use to communicate are relatively unimportant when trying to convince someone to believe and trust what you say, Love says. Many business leaders are under the impression that if they have the right words and content people will listen. Instead they should focus on how they sound, which is infinitely more important because sound is directly linked to emotions in your brain. Love explains this is why people don’t always remember what you say to them, but they remember how you make them feel. It’s important that business leaders make that emotional connection with both employees and clients. “The pitch, pace, tone, melody, and volume, along with the right physiology, what your body is doing when you make those sounds, counts for about 95% of whether or not anyone believes a single thing you say,” Love says.
In business communication, you want to control the way other people perceive you when you speak. You want people to like you enough to listen to what you’re going to say next, and you only have a few moments to convey that likability through the sound of your voice and body posture, notes Love. Once people are engaged, then you can use your content – data or selling points – to close the deal. To watch Love explain why words don’t matter, click here.
4. Learn how to breathe when speaking.
Part of learning how to use the power of sound – melody, pitch, pace, tone and volume – is learning how to breathe properly when you are speaking. Many business leaders are breathing in and out of their mouths, which is called accessory breathing. “That is the way to get the least amount of air into your lungs and that is the way to have the least control of how air comes back out,” Love says. It’s also one of the reasons some business leaders sound hoarse half way through the day from talking.
People should be breathing in deep from the belly – not their chest - and in through their nose. There are filters in the nose, which make the air moist, so you won’t end up with a dry, hoarse voice, says Love. In addition, executives should stop holding their breath when they are talking. You should only speak as you are exhaling. Love shows how to breathe properly while speaking in the below video.
5. Leave a lasting impression by connecting to emotions.
It’s important to connect with people’s emotions, which means using melody when you speak. Think about it. Great singers can make people cry during sad songs and dance during happy songs. “They have influence over millions of fans,” says Love. Business leaders should focus on what sounds and melodies will move people to action. Melodies have three directions – ascending scales from a low note to a high note, descending scales from a high note to a low note or staying on the same note.
When you use descending scales, you are making people sad, says Love. “You sound like Eeyore from Winnie the Poo.” Love’s advice is don’t go down in melody when you come to a comma or period. Business leaders should be ending more phrases as if they were questions. This strategy will leave listeners feeling happy, upbeat and hopefully more engaged. Love shows how to use melody in the below video.
Facts and figures aren’t enough to hold the attention of employees or clients. If you want to be a great leader, “then people need to like you, want to be more like you and want to spend more time with you," says Love. Then people will decide to learn from you, purchase something from you or follow you into battle. In the end, we follow people we believe in. “If Martin Luther King Jr. had a high pitched voice like Mike Tyson, a lot less people would have marched alongside of him,” says Love.
To watch my whole interview with Roger Love, click here.
