Browse published articles attributed to Nancy Daniels, with full-archive search.
One of the characteristics of dynamic public speakers is that they believe in themselves. We all know that public speaking is man’s greatest fear; however, if you approach the lecte doubting yourself, how successful do you think you will be? Believing you cannot do it is a recipe for ...
I read an article in Psychology Today entitled, Is a Sexy Voice More Attractive Than a Pretty Face? My question with the statistics and the studies is not whether a sexy voice is more attractive than one’s face but how they judged their findings. There is no doubt that women find men with a deep voice both sexy and attractive – the late great Barry White had not only an incredibly rich, warm sensual singing voice but his speaking voice was just as alluring. We swooned over this man.
Being expressive when you speak is referred to as color. Color is heard in the various and vivid effects of your vocal sound: it is also seen in your facial expression and body language. Speaking without color is called speaking in a monotone. It is also called boring. - You can have the most resonant, dynamic speaking voice, but if you lack expression then it is quite possible that you are putting your audience or your listeners to sleep!
Does this sound familiar? You go to a loud club and your friends tell you that they can’t hear you even though you’ve been talking in a louder voice. Your throat feels raw and sore or perhaps you have lost your voice after an hour or two of straining to be heard. What you are experiencing is vocal abuse. You’ve been pushing your voice, which is not only straining your vocal cords and throat, but is not being heard in the process. This is tiring, frustrating and can lead to permanent damage. - Your friends don’t have this problem so why do you?
You have prepared your material and practiced it out loud. You are comfortable making eye contact with your audience and you speak with emotion, life and animation. Everything is a go or is it? Have you ever considered the vehicle that is transporting your message? Do you place any value on your speaking voice?
Some coaches advocate memorization; others do not. While I want your opening statements memorized so that you are able to get through the beginning of your presentation or speech without flaw, I am not an aficionado of memorizing the remainder of your script or material. And, my reasoning is two-fold: - You stand a chance of forgetting where you are.
There are so many people with so many great messages but the moment they open their mouth to speak, the sound that emanates from their lips is anything but captivating. All too often, we are so preoccupied with the message and subsequent delivery, that we never take into account the vehicle which transports our words.
I hear from many people about their chronic hoarseness, a persistent sore throat, and even loss of voice by the end of the day. This is called vocal abuse and until you change how you produce voiced sound, you will not stop this abuse.
As a people, we are conce ed about the image we project. Certainly in business we want to project a professional image. Does your speaking voice complete that image or does it detract? By the way, I’m not talking about the voice you hear in your head. I’m referring to the sound you hear on your voicemail – the sound by which everyone else recognizes you.
Recently I worked with a wonderful young man from Qatar by means of Skype. When I first started working with him, his voice was soft-spoken and he did not exude much confidence. After a few sessions, I showed him a video clip from Superman which really opened his eyes – not only for the difference in Christopher Reeve’s voice but also in the actor’s posture and comportment.
Often I find that unclear or poor diction is due to talking at 100 mph. It is certainly not uncommon to hear it in people in which English is not their 1st language; however, it can also occur for speakers in any language whether it is their mother tongue or a 2nd language.
One of the most fascinating things I find on television or in the movies is that everyone’s speech is clear and understandable. Whether the actors are playing hoodlums or heroes, whether the characters are from Harlem or Park Avenue, they all speak distinctly. This particular characteristic is a prerequisite for actors whether they are on stage or in front of the camera.
One of the 1st things you do when you start a new business is to create a business card. While the purpose of the card is to identify you and your business, your goal with that card is to project a positive image of that business. In fact, you should probably hire a creative talent to design your card because you want an image that looks professional and successful.
Some people can yell or talk non-stop all day and never experience hoarseness or sore throats; others cannot. Your voice is as individual to you as are your fingerprints: no two are alike. They may be similar but not exact. In that sense, your vocal apparatus is also unique. For 60 years, ...
Absolutely Not! I recently read a quip from a man on a public speaking social media website who is working with a voice coach. He said that “her normal talking voice in a one on one situation is massively different to her ‘performance’ speaking voice.”
When I first started my voice business, my husband remarked that he did not understand what my clients were saying in their ‘before’ recording. He was, however, able to understand everyone in their ‘after’ clips. Why were my clients speaking more clearly in their ‘after’ recording? While I will certainly help someone with his/or her enunciation if there is an obvious problem, accent reduction is not my specialty.
One of the biggest frustrations when trying to communicate with those who mumble is the fact that we, the listeners, cannot understand their diction. What generally results is that we will ask that oft-repeated question, "What did you say?"
Recently I had the opportunity to hear an international speaker address a large group of women. The women’s ages ranged from their 20’s to their 60’s. While the speaker used the F-word once, the silence in the large ballroom was much more palpable when he then used a 4-letter word that begins with ‘d’ and ends with 'k.' Trust me, he was not referring to a duck!
If your voice is plagued with too much nose, then what is hiding inside could be a truly amazing instrument. And since the majority of the population is not aware of and thereby not using their ‘real’ voice, the majority of the population does not know just how great their speaking voice may be.
What does your handshake say about you? Confident, diffident, overbearing, wimpy? Does the sound of your speaking voice match the grip of your handshake? In teaching voice improvement, I have found through the years that those whose speaking voices are weak or wimpy very often follow through ...
Today there are numerous ways you can improve the sound of your speaking voice. There are books, CDs, DVDs, webinars, private sessions, group sessions and even Skype. I find that one of the most effective means of discovering your ‘real’ voice is the 2-day workshop. While voice training is very successful by means of video, I seriously doubt that you can improve the sound of your speaking voice with a book or a CD because you must both see and hear how to do it and how not to do it. A good video program will cover both of those prerequisites.
This past April when Susan Boyle walked onto the stage and approached the microphone on Britian’s Got Talent, the Irish singer was judged entirely on her appearance. Her audience assumed that her performance would be a disaster and responded to her entrance most negatively and with laughter. Even after she opened her mouth in answer to Simon Cowell's questions, those in the crowd were expecting this woman to make a fool of herself. Little did they know. When you approach the lecte for your speech or presentation, do you walk with confidence, with purpose?
Without a doubt, age is a factor in establishing credibility with an audience. I am sure that many people think that if you are older and being paid to address an audience, you must have something valuable to say. But what about novice speakers? How do these individuals, who may still be in their 20’s, get the opportunity to speak when no one knows who are they are?
In watching TV or the movies, I am always impressed with the dictio I hear from the actors. It doesn't matter what characters they are playing. And, it doesn't matter which nationality they are, their articulation is clear and concise. It is part of their training. Can you say the same about your diction?
There is one word I use to describe the resonance I am looking for in each every ‘real’ voice I discover. While all voices that have had training exhibit a greater depth and breadth of sound – a fuller, rounder quality – some voices will be deeper in pitch, some brighter in tone, others may be darker in quality.
The answer really depends on your topic. There is one situation in which the answer would be, ‘no.’ Let’s say, for example, that you have survived a death-defying event and are being interviewed on TV to talk about your experience. Labeling yourself as an expert is a non-issue. However, if your goal in public speaking is to talk about motivation, social media, marketing, sales, etc., then the answer would most definitely be, ‘yes.’ Otherwise, why would an audience be drawn to listen to you if you were not an expert?
Ah, the perfectionist and public speaking. Without a doubt, those who seek perfection when addressing an audience are chasing an elusive dream. There are no sports played perfectly, no concerts performed without a flaw and no theater productions that are delivered without a mistake. While you may believe that the game was thrilling, or the concert was sublime, or the play was excellent, none of those adjectives mean perfection.
With the wealth of information available at our fingertips, it is interesting to note how little is said about our most valuable asset or ‘commodity’ in public speaking. We are so consumed with learning the best means of creating and delivering our material that our focus often ignores our ...
What do you think constitutes perfection in public speaking? Is it saying every word perfectly without a mistake? Is it never losing your train of thought or emphasizing a particular word in a particular sentence or smiling at the right moment?
If there are 2 candidates for a job in which one sounds like a Valley Girl and the other does not, I guarantee that the candidate who speaks with normal inflection will win that battle. When your answers, remarks, or statements are on the upswing, it sounds like you are asking a question. This is the reason questions are posed with the pitch of the voice on the rise. (Incidentally, pitch refers to the highness or lowness of sound and is not similar to volume which deals with the loudness or softness of sound.)
Recently I gave a presentation at a Summit Conference in New York City and was confronted with a very ‘tight’ audience. I was blessed, however, to have two women in the large ballroom who smiled throughout, nodding their heads in agreement with everything I said. The second blessing was that ...
If you are looking for the best means of delivering a speech or presentation, the first thing you need to understand is that public speaking is a form of oral communication with an audience. Too often, speakers do not recognize that this form of delivery is a 2-way street. They assume that the role of the audience is to sit and listen.
If you desire to be a public speaker, then you have a goal that needs to be met if you are going to be successful in your career. I am not talking about the wedding toasting, the valedictorian speech, or a travel presentation to a senior citizens group. I am talking specifically about the persuasive presentation. Your goal with this type of presentation is to satisfy the needs of your audience. They came to hear you speak for a reason. Whatever their issue, their problem, or their pain, your job is to ‘ease their pain.’ That is the bottom line.
If you are looking to make the best impression possible, sounding like a Valley Girl is not helping that objective. When you raise the pitch of your voice at the end of every sentence, you lose all semblance of credibility because your statements sound like questions. You may be very credible; unfortunately, a rise in the pitch of your voice at the end of statements does not sound that way. - Generally speaking, questions go up and statements go down. It is as simple as that.
The first time I heard those specific words was from one of my clients many, many years ago. She had found her ‘real’ voice and told me that her she couldn’t believe what a fantastic tool her voice was for her business. Let me ask you a simple question. Would you rather listen to a high-pitched, nasal, weak or wimpy speaking voice or a captivating, resonant one? If you are like most people, you probably would prefer the latter.
Many of my clients speak English as a second language, initially contacting me because they are not being understood when they speak. Of course, they question if their English skills are lacking. In 99% of the cases, I have found that their English is good; it is their diction that is the problem. - Being understood the 1st time you say it is a prerequisite in business as competition in the job market is incredibly fierce in today’s questionable economic times.
In my last article, I discussed the fact that diaphragmatic breathing is the single most important thing you can do to take control your nervousness in any form of public speaking. I refer to it as the physical component of public speaking. There are 4 other factors, however, that can help ...
When you address an audience, are your more conce ed with speaking from your head or your heart. While knowledge of your material is undeniably important, if it doesn't come from your heart, then you are missing a fundamental of dynamic public speaking.
In working with a group of young professionals some years ago, I was stunned to hear all the participants ending their sentences on the upswing as if they were asking a question. I had often heard this type of speech inflection at the business lunch during the personal introductions, but this was the first time I had heard it while someone was giving an actual presentation. And it wasn’t just one individual. All seven in the group did the same thing.
If you listen to the great presenters, you will find that they share one attribute in common: they speak from their heart. While they may have given the same presentation hundreds of times, their material sounds fresh and new with each delivery. If you memorize your presentation, the likelihood of delivering your material in a rote fashion is almost a guarantee. On the other hand, if you learn your material according to your outline, treating your opening, closing, and sub-topics as blocks of information, you will be able to speak around those blocks.
Vocal Abuse is the misuse of the voice which can lead (or already has led) to permanent damage to the vocal cords. Teachers, trainers, coaches, and politicians are the most likely candidates for vocal abuse. However, anyone who uses their voice heavily throughout the day can experience the symptoms: chronic sore throats, hoarseness, and even loss of voice. For the last several weeks, I’ve been working with 3 particular individuals who are all experiencing some form of vocal abuse.
It seems that studies done on the speaking voice say that men prefer women with higher-pitched voices. These studies report that men ‘see’ women with higher-pitched voices as being younger and thinner. I beg to differ! In all the movie in which the directors specifically want an attractive (and yes, sensual) sound, they don’t choose high-pitched voices for the roles.
Today we are living in a precarious situation because of COVID-19 in which we need to stay 6 feet away from others when we are outside of our homes. Have you considered what is happening to your voice when you are wearing a mask and need to be heard when speaking? Most likely, your voice will be softer in volume and muffled because the mask is preventing clear sound.