Renee Grant-Williams helps executives speak and Faith Hill sing. So what would a prominent voice coach like her recommend for ordinary workers?
Silence.
No, you don’t have to have your mouth sealed shut, but you should take advantage of the dramatic pause when you’re saying something particularly important, said Grant-Williams, a Nashville voice coach and author of “Voice Power: Using Your Voice to Captivate, Persuade and Command Attention” (Amacom, $17.95)
“It gives people time to prepare for an important thought,” she said. “If you pause after the thought, it gives it time to sink in. Sometimes the space between words is more important than the words themselves.”
She recommends lengthening the consonant at the start of a word you want to emphasize, such as saying, “I’m NOT going.” That makes your position clear without yelling.
Grant-Williams devotes a chapter to proper breathing, and said in the interview that more breathing needs to come from the lower abdomen.
“A committed sound comes from your whole body,” she said. “A shallow sound comes from your neck and upper body. Most people speak very shallow, breathe very shallow and sound like they’re very shallow.”
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Pay attention to your listeners, too, she suggests. “People respond very well to people who are like themselves.” In a job interview, for example, paying attention to the interviewer’s volume and pitch can help applicants sound more like the interviewer, getting more attention.
Adapting your tone to the circumstances doesn’t mean having a double standard, Grant-Williams said. “It’s very important to use the same tone of respect when you talk to your subordinates as when you talk to your superiors.”