by Ramesha Nani
What gives confidence to your presentations and talks? And what makes your audience feel that they can trust you? There can be many factors: your content, your knowledge of the topic, your personality, your magnetism and charisma, etc.
All of the above have one common denominator: time. It takes your audience some time to find out that your content is good, that you’re knowledgeable, that your personality is fun and trustworthy, and that you’re a magnetic speaker.
There is one element that deeply impacts your audience as soon as you begin speaking: the sound and quality of your voice. In just a few seconds, your voice can convey confidence or reveal concealed insecurity; it can give people a relaxed feeling of receptivity and trust or betray an attitude of self-interest and greed.
How can we convey confidence and make our audience trust us through the sound of our voice?
A voice considered well placed has two main characteristics: fullness of sound and resonance. Interestingly, these are also the hallmarks of confidence and trust. A full, strong voice conveys confidence. But that’s not enough to make your audience receptive and trusting. Radio speakers are good examples of voices that are full but not necessarily relaxed and resonant. They may convey confidence, but if they don’t also have roundness and resonance they tend to be rather “invasive” and restless, and these are not feelings that foster receptivity and trust.
You can make your voice full by training your vocal cords to close completely when producing a sound. If the vocal cords aren’t completely closed, some breath may “leak through” and produce an airy sound instead of a full one. Here’s an exercise that will help you develop a full voice.
Vocal resonance can be developed by allowing your voice to use your face and sinuses as sounding boards. When this happens, your voice automatically becomes smoother, rounder, and even louder. You are able to project your sound far, even without the use of a microphone.
Developing your voice’s resonance can sometimes take a while. You can start the process by practicing this simple exercise.
Please keep in mind that changing the sound of your voice, which you’ve had for as long as you’ve been alive, may take time, dedication and patience. Give yourself time to practice these simple exercises. If you’re really serious about learning the correct and most effective use of your speaking voice, you can check out my online Voice Training Programs for Speaker, or take my online course on Udemy called YOUR SPEAKING VOICE: Hidden Keys to Influence & Confidence. (This link will give you 87% OFF the regular price, only until March 6 2016 at 11:59 PST)
