Realising the great power of your voice

By BRIDGET CARTER

More business people are turning to speech teachers after studies show your voice influences how others perceive you.

New Zealand voice coach David England said the number of corporate people, particularly those in sales and marketing, who received voice coaching was growing, as they became more aware of the power of the voice.

Mr England said here there was an endless need for voice tuition.

Across the Tasman, University of Sydney researcher Cate Madill told the national conference of Speech Pathology Australia recently that demand for therapy to speak more effectively and to prevent "voice injury" was at an all-time high, as the rise of call centres and other service industries meant a growing proportion of people spoke for a living.

Ms Madill said that if people were shown a better way of speaking, they could consciously choose to use it and, over time, their body would naturally default to the new way.

Pronunciation and the voice, whether it was an authoritative voice or if it was hesitant, could be much more influential than the way a person looked.

Mr England said former National Radio presenter Brian Edwards had worked with Prime Minister Helen Clark with some success.

Over time she had learned how to alter her tone according to the subject. She had a good deep voice, but it had been a monotone, projected at the same level the whole time. She now used her voice more discriminatingly.

Opposition leader Jenny Shipley had a voice that was mellow and she varied it well.

Among sporting people, netballer Sandra Edge had a good voice and so did Beatrice Faumuina.

As for the men, Mr England said ex-All Black captain Todd Blackadder had a good voice - it was down-to-earth and he spoke quite fluidly.

But his predecessor in the All Black captaincy, Taine Randell, had a problem communicating. He was not fluid and found it difficult to think on his feet.

Anton Oliver was an intelligent speaker and was better than both of his predecessors at communicating. "He expresses himself clearly."

Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming did not vary his voice and did not speak with enough passion.

David Lange had the best speech of the male politicians.

"At the peak of his power he had a wonderful voice and knew how to vary it."

Mr England said most people spoke too fast, which bred other problems like poor and faulty speech.

New Zealanders were notorious for pronouncing words incorrectly. They would say 'molti', 'howth' or 'alactricity' instead of multi, health and electricity.

Australians tended to use too much of their head voice.

According to researchers there, breathy voices were preferred and viewed as influential in a country where a high nasal voice prevailed.

A psychology lecturer at Auckland University, Nikki Harre, said the voice was the main non-visual piece of information about someone and had a big impact. "Language is the key to human information and the voice carries the nuances of language."

The managing director of tele-marketing company Telnet Services, John Chetwynd, said more than 100 staff at the call centre received continual voice coaching.