How To Sound Like A Leader. . .
…and be rich, successful, popular, and attractive. Not to mention irresistible to the opposite sex.
Before Working Girl flitted off to Phoenix last week she attended a super interesting talk on voice style and communication skills.
Anna Bernstein, a former singing coach, has adapted singing techniques to the speaking voice. Using her method, businesspeople and other professionals (i.e., everyone) can learn to speak in a way that projects power and warmth.
Anna’s idea is that the brain looks for patterns. Once your brain thinks it has “figured out” a pattern it tends to pay less attention. Like Working Girl’s cat, Murphy, the brain is basically lazy and likes to save energy whenever possible.
So if you want to make people listen to you, you have to keep their brains guessing. How? Vary the tone and pitch and rhythm of your voice. Speak in short sentences containing one concept (this is Anna’s patented “one topic, one sentence, one breath” system). And, from time to time, pause.
Anna also teaches how to use your breath to speak in resonant, melodic tones that listeners love to listen to. She says that all of us (!) are naturally designed to produce this sound. Go figure.
The best thing about Anna’s system is that she stresses focusing on the needs of your listener MORE than on yourself and your message. (Note from Working Girl: Now there’s a revolutionary concept. It applies to a multitude of situations. Say, for example, speeches, sales presentations, and job interviews. Maybe even marriage?)
Visit Anna here to learn more.
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And suddenly, everybody in the room burst into a song and dance number..
If only…..
Working Girl, you read my mind; I needed more info on this subject. I was just talking with my mentor at work last week about voice, tone, style, etc. and the ability to captivate your audience. He recommended a voice coach. Your add’l insight is giving me ideas. I want to nail the attention of my audience like that of a good story teller (think: Maya Angelou) or a comedian (like yummy Dane Cook or storyteller/comedian David Sedaris). And now that I think about it, it’s the especially great comedian(ne) I want to emulate because of their ability to bring together cadence, tone, body language, style, etc. all at once. I might join an acting class, too, to get some practice. I don’t think I could practice singing anywhere other than my shower! Great post — thank you!
I’ve heard of this concept before and it intrigues me. My husband is a trained singer and often gives me little voice and breathing tips, but I’m sure I could use an intensive course on this topic. As always, Working Girl, is out hearing interesting people talk about fascinating things.