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There is one word I use to describe the resonance I am looking for in each every ‘real’ voice I discover. While all voices that have had training exhibit a greater depth and breadth of sound – a fuller, rounder quality – some voices will be deeper in pitch, some brighter in tone, others may be darker in quality. The one adjective, however, that describes all resonant voices, is the word warm. When I was teaching at UWO’s Graduate School of Journalism in London, Canada, my students referred to this warm sound as mellow. This quality can only be achieved, however, if you use your chest cavity, the largest of your vocal resonators, to power and amplify your sound. (Most people rely on their throat, voice box, mouth, and nose to do their talking.) Recently I held a voice & presentation skills workshop in Chicago and all the participants had ‘loud’ voices. A loud voice should not be confused with one that has large volume. Loud hurts the listeners’ ears and the speaker’s throat. A voice with more volume, which is being projected properly, is neither offensive to your listeners’ ears nor offensive to your throat. It is interesting how different my groups can be. One group may be primarily soft-spoken; another might be quite nasal; while the majority of participants in a third group may be experiencing vocal abuse. The loud voice, however, is not nearly as common as the soft-spoken voice so it was fun to deal with this type of problem because once you place your voice correctly, the loud edges or stridency will be gone. Your speaking voice will soften to a normal volume level. No, you will not become soft-spoken – just normal in volume. The volume of the soft-spoken voice, on the other hand, will increase to a normal level just as the ‘loud’ voice decreases to a normal level. Both original volumes become justified with the exact same training. Not only does your volume become justified when the chest cavity becomes your primary sounding board, but the quality of your sound improves as well. Your ‘real’ voice – the term I use to describe your chest voice – will probably be lower in pitch, definitely more mature-sounding, and most certainly warm. Listen to Diane Sawyer. Her voice is like a blanket around your shoulders. You have a richer, resonant speaking voice which does not sound too young nor too old. By relieving the tremendous pressure on your throat and vocal cords, you will discover a warm quality that is guaranteed to improve with age. 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 on voice improvement. If you would like to see a dramatic 'before' & 'after' video clip, start with Craig in the center of the page at Nancy's Voice Training Website. Then check out other Before & After video clips in the menu bar.
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