Exceptional people can create a face with their voice—well, not only a face but a whole new person. A powerful voice (meaning a voice imbued with distinct character) can transform the speaker and transport its audience in incredible ways. The spellbinding hold of one’s voice over a crowd is legendary it can take the place of physical beauty. An actor who has a magic voice is much sought after and is poised to gain more than the next pretty face.
Meaning could be dodgy if one’s voice isn’t clear in every day communication. If one is looking to calibrate his voice to be able to nail meaning, there are a few hacks to take the crack.
First, there’s tone. Tone is a result of sound and intention. When words vibrate from one’s vocal chords and blend with what one thinks, tone comes into being. Along with posture these elements pack a power punch to the audience’s temple. How? Adjust your tone to the profile of the audience. Warm up to them with your voice. Many public speakers and communicators tend to talk down their listeners on the assumption that they ought to be heard and that their words are golden. But that’s not how persuasion works. Persuasion is a two-way street. It is a conversation, so that the tone in this one should be conversational.
And as in a good conversation, the first words one speaks make all the difference. The first words can make or break the talk, so one would do well to speak with a tone of respect and geniality.
If tone gives shape and form to words, pitch gives words their colours. How one adjusts his volume dial lends words a certain attractiveness. Where one turns up the pitch amounts to a colour flourish on a canvas. Imagine the magnetism of well-pitched action verbs and adjectives, the grip of vowel sounds in short sentences. Surely one would be speaking as if the words take a life of their own. This is not to say one overdoes it. This is not theatre yet. This shouldn’t be theatrical.
This sharply contrasts to the monotonous, reading tone that many people mistake for a voice of authority. Not only is this almost lifeless; it is no doubt voiceless.
If one goes by the intensity of applause at the end of the speech, a pitch-less, toneless voice gets none of that. It’s just as though one has let loose an army of bones. However, the downside of these elements working full steam ahead is that they might make one sound too eager and excited to the point of slurring. This can be checked by an equally important tool—pacing. The flow of words as a result of the flow of breath and distribution of breath, impacts pacing. This can be reined in by proper breathing, a kind of breathing that supports speech and not extreme sports.
All told, voice will be voice, thy will be done.