by Dr. Gary Genard

We often hear it said that in America, perception is more important than reality. Without debating in general whether that’s the case or not, it’s certainly true that our appearance and the sound of our voice has considerable power to move—or turn off—our listeners. The way we use nonverbal communication carries astonishing weight concerning credibility, authority, and that all-important attribute—believability.

It’s easy to understand why this is so. Every human being (along with other species that share our lives) respond in basic primitive ways to the sound of a person’s voice. We all have recollections of being drawn to a speaker, or reacting as if to an unpleasant grating sound, simply in response to the quality of the voice we hear. Anyone who’s in the business of persuading listeners should give some serious consideration to this aspect of basic human nature. Yet how many of us do, wrapped up instead with the minutiae of our daily work lives that cut us off from one of the most powerful persuaders we possess?

Our voice. Doesn’t require much thought, between the years when we learn to talk and the age when our octaves suddenly go haywire—right?

As you’ve probably guessed by now, this simply isn’t so. Vocal dynamics—the techniques available to us to convince listeners through our voice—is one of the most valuable and potentially powerful tools we own. Tone quality, pitch inflection, emphasis, variety in pace and tempo, pause, and all the emotional nuances our voices can subtly project, offer us a virtually limitless palette to “paint our word pictures” to convince others.

“Speaking smart” through good vocal dynamics, in other words, is one of the most surefire ways to make a story—your client’s story, the story of your company or product, or your own personal journey—come vibrantly alive for your listeners.

Achieving presence and authority

The voice isn’t a disembodied thing floating in space, of course. It is intimately connected to breathing, energy, and relaxation. The voice, in other words, is physical. Its fluidity, power, and sheer subtle expressiveness arise fully only when the mechanics of its production are understood.

It is wonderfully fulfilling, and great fun, to begin to work with an accomplished voice and speech coach and to understand how human sound is produced and manipulated. For those people who are willing to make the commitment, I highly recommend instruction or coaching of some kind aimed toward freeing the fully expressive voice. As an alternative, any of the excellent voice and articulation texts on the market (many of which include audiotapes) can help you understand and begin connecting with the rich potential of your own voice.

But in any presentation, the voice is also connected to something else that is critically important: the content of your speech AND the manner in which that material is delivered. How, then, do content and vocal delivery skills combine for maximum effectiveness?

Getting to “flow”

For true presence and authority you must combine what you say with how you say it. Words alone will not convince people. Your listeners will also be attentive to how you sound, and what you look like while you’re speaking. In other words, your content must be combined with your tone of voice and your nonverbal communication.

Let’s make that into a rule that’s a little easier to understand: Message + body language + vocal skills = persuasion! Remember, if you believe in your message, if you truly believe, the way you move and the quality of your voice will make that message come through loud and clear. You will not have to try to be persuasive—you WILL BE persuasive. All it takes is learning good principles of nonverbal communication and sound vocal skills. Once you’re in the “communication mode” of the speech itself, you can concentrate on the needs of your listeners to hear your message, not on “how you are doing.” Persuasion will then happen organically and effectively!

Delivering to your listeners

With awareness and a firm focus on the potential of your own vocal power, you can learn how to use the subtlety of your voice to influence your audience. All listeners react instinctively to the quality of our individual voices. This means that you can use your voice to build trust, to elicit sympathy, to validate honor, to indicate skepticism, to share sorrow, to broadcast injustice, to show disbelief or outrage or scorn . . . the list is virtually endless.

Once you’ve built an awareness of your own vocal power and you’ve practiced enough to connect to the strong yet flexible nature of your voice, you must remember that your listeners must still trust and respect you. That means having a conversation with your audience, not speechifying to them. And the most valuable tool for achieving trust is also a simple one to remember and use: eye contact.

Look your listeners in the eye, and use your voice to persuade them of your cause. That’s speaking smart. That’s harnessing the wondrous power of your voice.