Leadership Tone Of Voice
Have you ever considered how your tone of voice affects your career? If you haven’t, you’re not alone! Your tone of voice is so much more than just how you sound. And there are many different ways to create a leadership tone of voice.
Our CEO and Founder, Jessica Chen, hosted a Soulcast Media | LIVE conversation with Dr. Wendy LeBorgne, voice pathologist, speaker, author, and master-class clinician regarding vocal wellness and vocal athletes.
They shared key tips and personal experiences about your tone of voice, the impact it can have on your career, and the importance of creating a “brand voice”.
1. Crafting Your Voice
The first step in crafting your voice is to find voices around you that you’ve seen on television or in movies, friends, and family members that you like. You also want to find those voices that you don’t like. You’re essentially creating a vocal vision board.
There are some tone of voices that simply won’t suit you and your authentic self. And that’s okay! You still need to be you.
If you want more guidance on developing your voice journey, our e-course The Art Of Communications is a great place to start. In this course, you’ll learn how to speak from an authentic place – free of any mental barriers!
Next, you’ll want to start working on your breath. That’s because breath and voice is actively connected. Take a deep breath like you are smelling something delicious. And count to five while doing so. Start with this simple exercise to start training your breath. It’s also a great way to calm any nerves!
After that, you’ll want to work on vocal flexibility. Just like you need to stretch your muscles in order to touch your toes, you’ll also want to stretch your vocal cords. These exercises can include vocal slides or lip buzzes.
Articulatory exercises is also a great way to craft your tone of voice. Articulator exercises mean you’re saying a word quickly over and over again. This helps coordinate and change the placement of your tongue and give you better control when you speak.
Start doing these exercises above for 2-3 minutes at a time and you’ll see a big difference in your voice. You’ll see that you really have control if you’re mindful.
2. Vocal Brand
What exactly is your vocal brand? According to Dr. Wendy LeBorge, your vocal brand is you and how you sound. In other words, finding the right tone of voice that suits you and your authentic self.
Consider these questions when crafting your brand voice.
- The quality of your voice – is it breathy or hoarse? What makes it unique? You can’t change this one element.
- Inflection Patterns – Do you have normal intonation patterns? Is it too bland and monotoned? Or is it too sing-songy?
- Frequency – is your voice’s pitch high or low?
- Intensity – Are you whispering all the time? Or, are you raising your voice?
- Rate – Do you use a lot of variability in your speed of speaking?
Your tone of voice is made up of all of these elements. Using the right combination can help you craft a strategic tone of voice to capture people’s attention. Remember these are things that you can control. The key is to put all this into practice and finding the right combination for your message.
3. Leadership Tone Of Voice
Walk into a meeting where you are very passionate about the topic and you may find that all of the elements that you’ve practiced above have completely flown out the window. Suddenly, you’re talking really quickly, and in a higher register than you planned.
The key to maintaining your leadership executive presence during these types of meetings is to practice your presentation, which is also practicing controlling your tone of voice.
The key is finding your authentic voice, practicing techniques to improve your voice, and then putting them into place on a regular basis so it all becomes second nature.
If you would like to see the full LIVE version of Jessica and Wendy’s conversation, check out Jessica’s YouTube Channel.
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