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If others continually ask you to repeat yourself, what do you think that says about you? If you are striving to achieve success in your career, do you think your soft-spoken voice might be jeopardizing your goals? Have you ever considered that your lack of volume is possibly what could be holding you back? I would never advocate for a loud voice. Admittedly, I would prefer that someone spoke too softly than too loudly because a loud voice can be offensive; however, that is not a justification for being too soft in volume. You have what I refer to as Volume Level 1. This level of sound is what we use primarily throughout our day. It is the amount of sound you would use at the kitchen table, in the car, probably at work. (If you work in a loud environment, then Volume Level 1 might not be enough to be heard comfortably.) The problem for the soft-spoken is that their Volume Level 1 is 10% to 20% shy of what I know to be Volume Level 1. What this means is that if you are part of the soft-spoken group, others do not hear you the first time you say it more often than not. And, when that happens, you lose control of the conversation. Success does not come easily if you are not being heard. If your ideas are not being taken into account, then why bother to speak? Unfortunately, you are not part of the norm. The norm includes all of those who speak up or who voice their opinions and are being heard. If you could learn to speak at a normal volume level – what I know to be a true Volume Level 1, you would be amazed at how much more positively others would perceive you. No, I am not asking you to speak ‘loudly.’ You can increase your volume to the normal Level 1, and you will not be loud. Yes, it would be more volume than you are accustomed to, but you wouldn’t be loud. In order for this to work, however, you will have to retrain your inner ear to accept your increase in sound. When I teach others how to find their true voice, they recognize and accept the new voice immediately. In teaching the soft-spoken to increase their volume, however, I find a lot of resistance. You have been speaking at a particular volume level your entire life and are comfortable with it. In making that change, your inner ear (which is how you hear yourself in your head), will be most resistant because you will think you are shouting. By recording yourself alongside others who are speaking in a normal volume of sound, however, you will recognize that your increase is not loud, just normal. With patience and a bit of training, you should make the change because the success of your career depends on 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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