One of the greatest difficulties I encounter in my voice training business is the individual who speaks too softly. When my clients discover their ‘real’ voice, their inner ear is most accommodating to the change; however, when we work on increasing the volume to a ‘normal level of sound,’ their inner ear revolts. The quality of being soft-spoken is indeed not a quality, not an asset nor a strength. It is a liability and a weakness. Those who speak too softly are often overlooked when it comes time for a promotion and usually ‘unheard’ in business meetings. If your listeners must struggle or strain to hear you, then you will lose control of the conversation. (And that is assuming you were even able to participate in the discussion to begin with.) In order to correct your lack of volume, you will need to retrain your inner ear to accept that increase of sound. After a lifetime spent speaking at one volume level, your inner ear will not readily accept the change. This is where recording a professional voice and then recording your voice directly following it can be most beneficial. Your 1st step in this process is to be able to recognize and distinguish how much less volume you are using compared to those who speak in a normal volume of sound. One of the questions I ask of my clients upon hearing themselves on video, is whether they would want to increase the volume were it a movie they were watching. Every single one has said yes. Your 2nd step is to use your chest cavity to power your voice instead of just your throat and voice box. Your volume will automatically increase in size. It will not be too loud even though you inner ear will think you are. Only by recording yourself and playing it back at a comfortable listening level will you be able to recognize that indeed you are not shouting. You will realize that you are speaking in a normal volume of sound. In the process of learning to increase your volume in this manner, you will also discover a richer, warmer, deeper voice – a voice that has resonance. Don’t allow your soft-spoken voice to hold you back any longer. If you expect others to listen to your words or your message, learn to speak with enough volume to be heard the 1st time you say it. The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. Visit Voice Dynamic and watch Nancy as she describes Your Volume Control.
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