0354 - Voice Extremes: The Softer Voice

2021.12.20 – 0354 - Voice Extremes: The Softer VoiceThe softer you sing, the louder you're heardDonovan, musician, ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine (9th November 1967) We saw some elements about a quieter voice earlier, when we looked at the situations in which we used different volumes, and compared ‘loud’ with ‘soft’. The advantages of the ‘soft sound’:·        People responded better to being ‘connected with’ rather than being ‘talked at’. It’s a matter of ‘telling not yelling’·        You can use less volume to draw people in with your ‘invitational energy’·        You can get through more words, faster, with less volume The disadvantages of the ‘soft sound’:·        There’s a danger of, when you lower your volume, you lower your energy levels·        Too soft a voice or too little power, suggests you have little conviction or passion. Or don’t know what you’re talking about·        People may struggle to hear what your message is, simply zone out, or even avoid you to save the embarrassment of having to say “sorry?”, “what?”, “pardon?” yet again. ·        Being asked to repeat yourself may leave you embarrassed, flustered, annoyed or upset, losing your thread or your nerve. (Though sometimes, a very shy person might speak softly because they want people to avoid them…)·        Those people who find themselves in a conversation with you may just agree (“yeah…”) even though they’ve not heard what you’ve said. That miscommunication could lead to problems down the road: do you think they’ve agreed to something that they have in fact, not?·        In a group, others will talk over you and it’ll be harder to have your thoughts or ideas heard. You may develop insecurity issues, losing confidence in contributing to conversations, thinking that your ideas are worthless as no-one wants to hear them. Truth is, they can’t hear them.·        If you can’t be heard in an office, you might as well give a swerve to after-work socials in bars, clubs and restaurants.Audio recording script and show notes (c) 2021 Peter StewartThrough these around-5-minute episodes, you can build your confidence and competence with advice on breathing and reading, inflection and projection, the roles played by better scripting and better sitting, mic techniques and voice care tips... with exercises and anecdotes from a career spent in TV and radio studios. If you're wondering about how to start a podcast, or have had one for a while - download every episode!And as themes develop over the weeks (that is, they are not random topics day-by-day), this is a free, course to help you GET A BETTER BROADCAST, PODCAST AND VIDEO VOICE.Look out for more details of the book during 2022.Contacts: https://linktr.ee/Peter_StewartPeter has been around voice and audio all his working life and has trained hundreds of broadcasters in all styles of radio from pop music stations such as Capital FM and BBC Radio 1, the classical music station BBC Radio 3 and regional BBC stations. He’s trained news presenters on regional TV, the BBC News Channel and on flagship programmes such as the BBC’s Panorama.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.