***That's My Voice on My Voicemail? Help!

By Nancy Daniels The Official Guide to Public Speaking
The official guide to Public Speaking

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You have probably heard the statistics: 55% of the image you project is visual; 8% is your content; but, 37% of the image is the sound of your speaking voice. To make matters worse, that 37% is referring to the voice you hear on your answering machine or voicemail – not the sound you hear in your head when you are speaking!

What this really means is that the voice you hear on your voicemail, which you may find embarrassing, surprising, deplorable or humiliating, is the 37% of the image you are projecting. And if that isn’t bad enough, what you hear on that recording is probably higher in pitch than you recognize.

My question to you is if you don’t like what you hear on the recording, do you think anyone else does?

You do not have the ability to hear yourself correctly because the sound in your head is distorted: sound that is vibrating in the solid and liquid of the brain. When others hear your voice it is sound that is traveling through air.

The first time I heard myself on a recording was many years ago when I was in college and I was stunned, attributing my poor voice quality to a cheap recording. What is interesting, however, is that my friends on the recording sounded normal. I was unable to accept the fact that what I was hearing on the recording was the truth.

A few years later when I was in graduate school, I was blessed to have a singing professor who showed me where the optimum range of my speaking voice was. From that moment on, I consistently worked at making my lower, richer, warmer range a habit; and, there is absolutely no doubt that my voice got me the jobs I wanted in New York City afterwards because I sounded more mature than I was.

Does the sound you hear on your answering machine speak with warmth, depth and maturity? Or do you hear something more akin to wimpy, nasal, weak or wishy-washy? Maybe your voice is high-pitched, too loud, too soft or abrasive? Perhaps you are a man who sounds like a woman or a woman who sounds like a man. If you knew you could improve your voice, would you?

If 37% of the image you project is what you hear on your voicemail, a sound that you find embarrassing or humiliating, you can improve it and actually enjoy the results. All it takes is learning to power your voice from your chest cavity.

Good vocal quality is a balance of use between your 5 resonating cavities: the throat, voice box, mouth, nose and, most importantly, the chest. Unfortunately most people are unaware of and not using the largest of the 5 cavities, the chest. Learn to power your voice properly and I guarantee you will love the results. You will sound better; you will probably look better; and, most definitely, you will feel better about yourself.

Imagine projecting a dynamic vocal image that complements your visual just by allowing your chest to do your talking!