3 Reasons Why Voice Training Should Be Part of Your Professional Development

By Nancy Daniels

Job Vacancies, Employment Jobs, Employment

If you are like most people, you take courses either on your own or provided for by your company in order to improve your skills in your business career. You research and read articles to learn more. Have you ever thought about your voice as part of your professional development? When you consider that 37% of the image you project is your speaking voice, what is yours saying about you?

In answering that question, it might be a good idea to listen to your voice on a recording or on your voicemail because that is how everyone else recognizes you. What do you like or dislike about what you hear? While you may not find the voice you hear on your answering machine very appealing, the good news is that you can improve it. You have a better voice inside. I refer to it as your 'real' voice. It is probably deeper in pitch, very resonant in quality, and more mature in sound. Not old - not young - ageless.

You will sound more mature.

One woman named Pat, who sometimes resorted to 'baby talk' at her job, went from sounding like a 6-year-old to a mature woman. I can't tell you how many people, while maybe not sounding quite as young as a 1st grader, are amazed at how mature they sound when they discover their real voice.

You will look more confident.

In the process of finding her voice, Pat also improved her posture which her employers were quick to note and appreciate because she no longer slouched in a timid posture. This is another of the many benefits my clients notice in their 'before and after' video taping: they look better and carry themselves with presence in their 'after' video clips.

You will feel better about yourself.

The techniques you will learn in a good voice training program will be a tremendous boost to your self-image. Yes, you will sound better; yes, you will look better; but, the confidence you gain will extend much further than to the image you are projecting. You will feel good about you; and, in the process you will discover things about yourself that you did not know.

Your voice speaks volumes. What is yours saying? If professional development is a part of your life, do not ignore your voice and what it is saying to others.