by Joseph Wardy

Created on: August 28, 2009

Have you ever received a phone message and wondered if the caller's personality matches the voice? We can have a voice in our success by using our voice to connect with others, We need not be James Earl Jones to succeed.

Similar to business presentations, our voice is a workable skill. Please remember that your voice is 100 percent with phone usage. According to research, our voice represents 38 percent of our live message. When thinking of a colleague with an effective voice, what qualities surface in your thinking? It breaks down to the 3 P's: Power, Pace and Pitch..

Power relates to volume. A soft spoken voice is effective if the body language conveys confidence, A loud voice is seldom effective. People using a loud voice frequently convey either a sense of losing control or trying too hard to make an impression. Each of these reasons relates to the mismanagement of our old nemesis, the ego.

The key to using power effectively is to know if you are too soft or loud. Knowing requires feedback, awareness, acceptance and appropriate action. If you are aware and accepting, what is the appropriate action? Tip: If you are loud, speak to the person closest to you. If soft, speak to the person farthest away,

Pace involves the speed of the message. Speaking too fast can be cultural or the wish for the listener to hear every word. Every word is not important but the meaning of the message is. Experts say that 120 to 150 words a minute is an excellent pace. Your pace is generally the same as reading out loud. Suggestion: Pick a speech and time it. It is also important to know who your audience is. Suggestion: speak slower on a technical topic if your audience does not have a technical background. If you are communication with people in the South or Midwest united States, quickness of speech can be considered slick. If you are speaking with people from other cultures, learn the prescribed manner of appropriate speed.

Pitch is thre number of inflections in your voice. People with a monotonr voice have one inflection. A monotone can be detriment as when the deliver i presentation exceeds 7 or 8 minutes. It is not very detrimental ehrn making random comments in a meeting environment. It is detriment if the topic who are speaking about is to persuade, educated or inspire. It is not detrimental if the message is to inform.

Lastly, Toasmasters Intenational is an international organization that helpsw develop communication skills. The improvement of the quality of thre voice is one of oits objectives. If interested in joining a local club, please visit www.toastmaster.org

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