10 Tips to Improve Your Speaking Voice

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10 Tips to improve your Speaking Voice

One of the most important components of public speaking is the sound of your voice. It

influences the impact of your message, and might even make or break the success of your

speech. Fortunately, for many people, good voice quality can be learned.

Instructions :Breathe from your diaphragm - Practice long and controlled exhales. When you

speak, use breath to punctuate your point. For example, take a breath at the end of each phrase

whether you need to or not. Use that opportunity to pause and let the listeners absorb what yousay.

Use pitch - Lower pitches generally are more soothing to hear. However, modulatingyour pitch for emphasis will keep your listeners engaged. Develop your pitch by

practicing humming.

Moderate your volume - Find out if you speak too loudly or too softly. When you beginspeaking, ask your audience how your volume is (each situation is different). Try to stayat the appropriate volume throughout your speech.

Moderate your pace - This one is also closely related to breath. If you speak too quickly,people cant keep up. If you speak too slowly, people will lose interest. Record yourspeech to determine if you need to change your pace. Get feedback from others.

Articulate - Try exaggerating your lip movement to reduce mumbling. Practicearticulating tongue twisters and extending and exaggerating vowel sounds. Become an

expert at articulating tongue twisters as quickly and crisply as possible. Focus on the onesyou find difficult.

Practice your speech in advance and determine where you want to pause for a breath.For more emphasis, pause for more than one breath. Mark your breathing points in your

notes.

Loosen up before you begin. Look side to side. Roll your head in half-circles and rollyour shoulders back. Shift your rib cage from side to side. Yawn. Stretch. Touch your

toes while completely relaxing your upper body, then slowly stand up, one vertebra at atime, raising your head last. Repeat as needed.

Posture - Stand up straight and tall to allow full lung capacity and airflow.


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Record your voice repeatedly using different ways of speaking. Determine which one ismost pleasing.

Practice breath control - Take a deep breath, and while you exhale, count to 10 (orrecite the months or days of the week). Try gradually increasing your volume as you

count, using your abdominal musclesnot your throatfor volume. Dont let yourlarynx tense up.

7 Ways to Make a Good Impression

Impressions are important: They leave an initial taste in people's mouths that can remain

prevalent for the entire relationship. If you are paranoid about what kind of impression

you make, run through these seven list items and see if you are consistent with them; ifyou are, then you will probably expose the best of yourself. If not, then work to meet

these standards.

1. Dress: The absolute first impression you will make on someone will be through your

clothing, because that is what is seen from a distance, and cannot change throughout

your meeting. Make sure to dress according to the situation-don't over or under dress-

and maintain within the limits of good taste. If you aren't sure if what you're wearing

looks good, ask people for an honest opinion. One last thought: always, and I mean

always, pull up your pants.

2. Hygiene: Take a shower! Shave! Brush your teeth! You must be fully bathed andgroomed before you meet with someone for the first time, because scruffy looking people

generally don't seem as neat and mature. Pay attention to the little elements like breath:

keep a pack of mint gum with you wherever you go, and periodically check to make sure

you aren't killing bugs every time you breathe out. If you sweat heavily, keep a small stickof deodorant/anti-perspirant close, and if you notice you're stinking you can freshen up.

People notice the minutiae!

3. Manners: At the table and with other people be civilized, polite and respectful: keepyour elbows off of the table, open doors for people and address everyone-initially, at

least-by their formal title. This will make an especially good impression on senior

citizens, because you will prove that you aren't one of those "new fangled punks."
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4. Speech: Have clean, clear diction and speak sans "like" or "you know." It is importantto be articulate because that inspires a feeling of intelligence and education in the person

you are meeting with. Always leave out profanity, and whatever you do, make sure to

speak loud enough for all to hear, because conversationalists are easily agitated if you

force them say "excuse me?" more than a few times.

5. Discretion: Choose what to share about yourself: forget to tell everyone about thattime you went camping and ruptured your appendix, then fell face first into a pile of buginfested leaves-it is rude and will alienate you from the group. Try to withhold from

conversations on personal subjects like religion or more disgusting topics like personal

medical care. Before you speak, think about the possible impact of what you might say,

then imagine its implications in the long run.

6. Humor: Humor can be your most powerful tool or your doom, because everyone has aslightly different sense of humor. What might be hilarious to you might seem disgusting to

another, or vice versa. Try to withhold from any jokes that aren't family or dinner table

friendly; you can tell those later.

7. Start and End with a Bang: I am a classical musician, and in my orchestra, amongother messages, the conductor tells us that the "audience remembers mostly the first andlast notes of a symphony." This is the same in a personal encounter: whoever you are

meeting with will remember how you greet them, and then in what manner you left them.

If you feel you have trouble with this, practice a few different phrases in the mirror, and

introduce elements like: "pleased to meet you," or "honored to make your acquaintance."

Ignore the antiquity of these phrases; it often makes them more memorable.

Making a good impression will set any relationship off on a good foot. If you are in a

situation where you need to be judged at face value-such as a job interview or date-then

make sure to go through this list and make sure you are within bounds of reason and goodtaste on all of your decisions.

10 Tips for Interview
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My Friend just got back from his 4th job interview in a week, and he've learned a TON

throughout the whole (and at times, crazy) process.

Since we're all about sharing here, I thought I'd pass on the 10 juiciest lessons that I took away

from our experiences.

Hopefully they'll be of some benefit to you as either an interviewer or interviewee somewhere

down the road.

So here goes...

1. Attitude is everything. If you're smiling, excited and optimistic, you've already won half thebattle. If you're cold, distant and uninterested, you've already lost 99% of the battle.

2. Be yourself. If you act like someone else and they like you, they don't actually like YOU.

They like the person you're pretending to be. If you end up getting a job there, you won't be able

to keep up the facade for very long anyway. Honesty and authenticity are very appealingcharacteristics. If both parties stay true to themselves, they'll know if they're right for each other.

And in the end, that's usually what matters most.

3. Relax. Interviews are not really interviews at all. They're conversations. Treat them like

conversations, and the tension will slowly dissolve. Remember: when you walk into that office,you don't have the job to begin with. In theory, you have nothing to lose. You either come out

way ahead or back where you started. If you approach the situation with a "win-draw" mentality,

most of the pressure will fall by the wayside.

4. Appearance counts. Before you meet people, virtually the only judgment you can make is

based on aesthetics. What you're wearing matters. What they're wearing matters. How you sit,

stand, shake hands, hold your pen and walk up the stairs counts. Not enormously, but enough.

First impressions are huge. Also, how does the building look? Is the lobby clean and organized?Are the cubicles bunched together? Is the ceiling high or low? Does it look like a fun place to

work? Does it invite you to come back?

5. Fit is crucial. All the smarts, skills and experience in the world mean nothing without the

right fit. If your values aren't aligned with those of the company, you're doomed. If you like to

have fun and they're always serious, don't even bother. Seriously. The more you fit in, the moreyou'll want to come back every day and bust your butt. If you're always at odds with your

coworkers, you're going to hate your job. Simple as that.

6. Liking means more than talent. The days of standing in line and putting decals on widgets isover. People don't hire you because you're capable. They hire you because they want to work

with you. If you don't get along, and get along well, the interview will probably be fruitless.

Unless, of course, you applied for the "Assistant Placer of Decals on Widgets" position...

7. Be persistent. It's incredibly easy to get lazy, give up and feel sorry for yourself. People will

turn you down, never call you back, and forget your name over and over again. None of that


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matters. What matters is perseverance. If you can't handle losing a few battles along the way,

you're in for a tough road ahead. Getting a job is like winning a war. It takes patience, planning,time, effort, dedication and a little bit of luck. The chips will fall your way sooner or later. If you

stay persistent, you'll at least give yourself a chance to catch them.

8. Bring an insane amount of (intelligent) questions. Nothing feels worse that not beingprepared. If you don't bring loads of questions, you're not prepared. At some point, the

interviewer will ask you what you want to know. For the record, you want to know everything.

Be curious. Be interested. Be engrossed. Ask your question, and then get ready to listen. Don'tthink of what you're going to say next. Just soak up every word like a giant sponge. The more

questions you ask, the more you'll get out of the experience. And as a bonus, they'll know you

care deeply about their business. When you care about what they care about, you both start toalign, and that's when the magic happens.

9. Focus on their needs, not yours. It's tempting to sell ourselves, to talk about how great we

are, and to show off our past experiences. But guess what. No one cares. What they really care

about is how your "amazingness" will translate into success for their company. Don't focus onyour talents, focus on what your talents will do for them.

10. Blogging will give you a HUGE leg up. Blogging forces you to analyze, collaborate and

create solutions. It also gives you plenty of ideas for improving customer experiences, businesses

and relationships. These skills (among countless others) will give you confidence, poise, energyand know-how when it comes time to explain yourself. Your insights will be sharper, your

thinking will be deeper, and your ability to express your opinions clearly and concisely will be

much stronger. Blogging will prepare you better than any "How-To" book in the world. Trust

me.

These 10 things are just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more we can learn from each

other about this process as a whole, so please feel free to share.

What are your best interviewing tips? What do you wish you would've known? For those of you

who've been on both sides of the table, what have you learned from each situation?

Dress For Interview
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Women

Always wear a suit with a jacket; no dresses Shoes with conservative heels Conservative hosiery at or near skin color (and no runs!)

No purses, small or large; carry a briefcase instead If you wear nail polish (not required), use clear or a conservative color Minimal use of makeup (it should not be too noticeable) No more than one ring on each hand One set of earrings only

If you are still not sure how to dress for the interview, call them and ask! That's right--call the

employer. But this is one time when you do not want to call the Hiring Manager--instead, ask to

be put through to Human Resources and say:

"I have an interview with _____ in the _____ department for a position as an _____. Could you

please tell me what would be appropriate dress for this interview?"

Sure, you run the risk of someone in HR thinking you are a social imbecile, but that's a lot better

than having the Hiring Manager distracted by inappropriate interview dress.

While many work environments have shifted to business casual as the work standard, business

suits are still the interview standard. When in doubt, it is almost always better to err on the side

of conservatism.

One final note on interview dress: while it goes without saying that your interview clothes should

be neat and clean, very few interviewees give the same time and attention to their shoes. Shoes?

Yes, shoes. I am aware of at least one Corporate Recruiter who forms first impressions basedsolely (pardon the pun) on shoes. This person does not have a shoe fetish--he subjectively judges

that those who pay attention to details like their shoes are also likely to be diligent in their work

life. And it is not just that person's opinion. Many have said that you can judge a person by their

shoes. You will find that many ex-military officers (many of whom have found their way intomanagement positions in corporate America) are especially aware of a person's shoes. It is not

enough to be clean, pressed, and ironed. Make sure your shoes are conservative, clean, and

polished.

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10 Tips to Improve Your Speaking Voice