1. What's the quality of your speaking voice telling other
people?
VOICE IMAGE SECRETS

2. How is your vocal image?
Do you really know how others hear you?
And do you know what they think or feel
about you as a result of listening to your
voice?
 Their response is your voice image


3. 
It's well known that how we dress and
present ourselves has an almost instant
impact on the people we meet. In some
situations, for example job interviews, work
presentations and special social occasions,
that impact is critical.

4. 
We are judged on our appearance and those
initial judgments form the basis of how we
are perceived. At a job interview a crumpled
shirt, scruffy trousers and scuffed shoes say
to a prospective employer: 'I don't care
enough to make a real effort.‘

What's less well known is that voice or voice
quality has a similar impact.

5. 
Voice image has been the 'secret' of people who
use their voices professionally. Actors, radio
broadcasters, television presenters, politicians,
tele-marketers, professional speakers, all of
whom depend on the impression their voice
makes for success, know its importance.

What you do with your voice, how you speak,
matters.

6. A NEGATIVE VOICE IMAGE –
WHAT ARE ITS QUALITIES?
Is it nasal as if the speaker had a peg on
their nose?
 Is it shrill?
The speaker has hard piercing tones like that
of a concrete cutter.
 Does the speaker squeak?
The voice uses the upper/high registers
continually.


7. A NEGATIVE VOICE IMAGE –
WHAT ARE ITS QUALITIES?
Is it sing-song?
The speaker swings through a habitual updown pitch range regardless of subject
matter.
 The voice is monotonous. It drones on and
on and on with little variation of pace or pitch.
 The speaker is hesitant. The words are held
back and arrive timidly.


8. A NEGATIVE VOICE IMAGE –
WHAT ARE ITS QUALITIES?
The speaker mumbles and the words blur
into one another without distinction. You can't
understand what is being said.
 Does it race?
The speaker gabbles at break neck speed.
It's difficult to comprehend what they've said.
 It is too loud regardless of circumstance. The
voice overwhelms its hearers.


9. A NEGATIVE VOICE IMAGE –
WHAT ARE ITS QUALITIES?
It is too quiet as if its embarrassed to be
heard.
 Is there a constant rising inflection at the end
of each sentence? This makes you mentally
answer everything you hear and question
whether the speaker is sure of themselves.
 Is the accent so broad it swamps clear
communication?


10. A NEGATIVE VOICE IMAGE –
WHAT ARE ITS QUALITIES?
Is the breath held for too long so the speech
sounds strangled or tight?
 Is there a difficulty with some of the letter
sounds? For example, 'S' or 'R' or any other
single, double or multiple letter combination


11. WHAT PERSONALITY TRAITS HAVE YOU
ATTRIBUTED TO THE SPEAKER BECAUSE OF
HOW THEIR VOICE SOUNDED TO YOU?
Have you decided they
are:
 shy
 lacking in self-esteem
 lazy
 careless
 arrogant (too loud for too
long)
 over-anxious or nervy
(motor-mouth)
 boring








lacking intelligence
a complainer or whiner
easily influenced
incapable of leadership
indecisive
immature
dull
and more...

12. A POSITIVE VOICE IMAGE

Let's focus now on a voice that you love
listening to.
What are its qualities?
Does it sound natural, relaxed and free?
 Is it varied and flexible?

The pace, pitch, tone, and volume shift organically
without effort in response to what is being talked
about.

13. A POSITIVE VOICE IMAGE

What personality traits do you automatically
assume about the speaker?
Would you say they are more likely to be
confident
authoritative
understanding independent
attentive,
interesting
energetic
dynamic
warm
caring
respectful
mindful of others

14. AND NOW LISTEN TO YOURSELF
The easiest and most effective way to do this
is to record yourself.
 Merely listening to yourself inside your own
head won't give you the clear feedback you
need.


15. AND NOW LISTEN TO YOURSELF
There can be a vast difference between what
we think we sound like and what we
actually do. I know because I've experienced
it. Hearing myself on tape let me know
exactly what I sounded like and where I
needed to put the effort in.
 Ideally what you want is a 1 - 2 minute
sample of your normal speaking voice - the
voice you'd use naturally without selfconsciousness.


16. AND NOW LISTEN TO YOURSELF
Play back the clip and listen as objectively as
possible to what you hear.
 If you were somebody else, what would you
think about the speaker?
 What aspects of delivery do you need to
focus on if you want a confident dynamic
voice image?


17. VOICE IMAGE...

... is a collective package made up of equal
parts of breath control, articulation, volume,
pitch, tone, pausing and speaking rate. A
great voice image is strong in all of them.

18.  breath
control is essential for
flexible voice production. If you are
holding your breath or breathing
from the top of your lungs the
quality of your voice will reflect that.

19.  articulation
is how you pronounce
your words. Are they clear? Are the
endings as well as the beginnings
audible?

20.  proper
pronunciation is knowing
'how' to say a word. It is different
from articulation in that you can
mispronounce words but still be
speaking clearly!

21.  volume,
pitch and tone is how
loud or quiet your voice is, as well
as the range it travels through (high
to low), and its quality.

22.  pausing
in the right place for the
right length of time gives your
speech emphasis and definition.
Silence can speak louder than
words.

23.  speaking
rate refers to the speed
your words come out of your mouth
at. Speaking either too fast or too
slowly is a problem.