Many of my clients and students ask how they can sound more confident and in command when they speak. Our voice says a lot about our personality and often sets the “tone” for first impressions. Here are five ways you can speak with Calmfidence:
1. Don’t’ clear your throat!
Throat clearing is perceived as a sign of nervousness. Even when we are calm and confident and clear our throat for reasons like allergies or colds, we can send the wrong message of uncertainty or stress. Before that meeting, phone call, or interview be sure to take measures that help you avoid the need to clear or cough.
2. Get in the Mood.
Warm-up your throat and voice with a technique used by vocal performers – repeat the word mood several times as you speak the word from deep in your diaphragm or belly. This trick helps to open up the throat, get your voice out of your nasal area, and brings a more appealing depth to the strength of your voice, which studies show is perceived as a sign of confidence.
3. Volume Up.
Studies show soft spoken people are perceived as shy, lacking confidence, unassertive, and uncertain. The single most important change you can make to come across more confident (even when you don’t feel it) is to speak loud and clear with strong volume. This is important in person, over the phone, virtually, and on stage. In addition when people feel they have to struggle to hear you, they will quickly tune out.
4. Use Punctuation.
In normal relaxed conversation, we all do something called “blending” when our words slide together instead of standing alone and sounding as… if… we… are… speaking too deliberately. When speed comes into play, it’s even harder for people to decipher this blending, and they can miss some of what we are saying. When we blend through punctuation, it will sound like a rapid-fire overload of words. Taking time to work in brief pauses for punctuation, not only makes us sound more confident and clear, the pauses even help us to eliminate the ahs and ums that can make us sound nervous or unprepared.
5. Avoid Caffeine.
Caffeine is notorious for making us speak faster. It is also known by voice-over performers to dehydrate the throat, causing crackling and the need to clear at inopportune times. If you like dairy with your caffeine, you’ll also end up with a coated tongue and phlegm around your vocal cords. Best to skip that cup of Joe just before an important communication situation.
