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How does your voice sound and what words do you choose?
Branding is ultra important for your firm as well as for you personally. But what’s your voice saying about you? It’s putting out messages that may not represent you. Your voice and your speech are a huge part of your brand.
Your Voice
Is your voice tight and in your throat? You may sound aggressive or in a bad mood. (Aggressive is not the same thing as authoritative, by the way. If, in an attempt to sound authoritative you sound aggressive than you’re doing it wrong.) To have a credible, authoritative, yet warm sound you need to open your throat & use a lot of air. This results in a full, resonant sound that comes across as credible & highly persuasive.
Do you place your resonance in the front of your mouth? To get a gorgeous, magnetic sound you need to place your resonance over the back of the tongue. People are drawn to you, they listen to you & they do what you tell ’em when you have a magnetic sound.
My clients are super smart go-getters. They say, “What’s standing in the way of my getting what I need out of life? In order to get what I need out of life people need to find me credible and authoritative. That leads to my being persuasive. That’s how I get what I need out of life.” So my clients have the cajones to record themselves. With me. We do it together. It doesn’t hurt! They comprehend that when they know:
1. Specifically what they’re doing wrong and
2. How to fix it
they can make improvements in their lives permanently! We have to study the sciences, languages–all academics in school. We go to the gym and learn how to play sports & musical instruments. We weren’t born the best that we can possibly be. We were given talents and it’s up to us to improve upon them. Beethoven studied under a few composers! (Most famously, Hadyn) He was born with incredible talent but he still had to study! If you want to be persuasive and get people to really believe in your brand you need to put some time in.
Your Words
What words are you choosing? Are your words making you seem abrupt or even wishy-washy? Do you use 10 words when you could’ve delivered your point in fewer?
Are you putting your communicative partners first when you speak? (I’m referring to everyone with whom you communicate. An audience, a client, your team, etc.) That gorgeous Maya Angelou said,
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Your words and your tone determine how you make people feel. Just saying, “Hi, how are you?” with a gorgeous, fully resonant voice makes people really feel good. Pair it with a smile & they just want to spend more time with you!
Use direct language. When paired with your gorgeous, warm voice you’re not confusing people as “beating around the bush” does. Be concise.Remove The Underminers like “just”, “actually”, “honestly”, “well”, filler words, etc. I’m not the filler word police. Just don’t use too many & when you’re making a speech or on an interview try to keep it down to 0 or 1.