VOICE TRAINING or SPEECH COACHING,
what’s the best for me?
Voice training and speech coaching are two terms that have become increasingly popular in recent years. More and more people are recognising the importance of a strong and expressive voice, both in professional and private life. A clear and resonant voice can have a significant impact on communication, self-confidence, expressiveness and impact.
No matter whether you want to improve your presentation skills in meetings, negotiations, especially online, or whether you want to be vocally healthy as well as convincing or successful in a speaking profession, voice training and speech coaching offer the opportunity to optimise your own voice and realise its full potential and to solve voice problems such as hoarseness or voice tension.
VOICE TRAINING
Voice training is about the VOICE, the sound of the voice, the impression of the voice. This requires awareness as well as training of stability as well as flexibility of the body in the right places, the openness of the body with regard to its resonance spaces, the supply of the voice with air, in order to be able to let one’s own, authentic, optimal voice sound and the individually optimal speaking voice pitch become audible. What is challenging is the straight upright posture with simultaneous looseness of the body in other areas – so we have to do opposites at the same time: to coordinate this skilfully plays an important role for the personal unique vocal sound.
Just like the thumbprint, there is no other voice that sounds like you – discovering new nuances of your own voice again and again is really exciting and impressive!
SPEECH COACHING
Speech coaching is about SPEAKING, i.e. using my voice in different verbal – especially challenging – communication situations. You learn how to use voice effectively to convey certain emotions or messages. It’s about deflection, articulation and intonation. As speakers, it is our job to remain interesting so that others are happy to pay attention to us for a long time! To achieve this, one’s own – often weakening – individual voice patterns must first be recognised and noticed in order to be able to improve them in a targeted way.
For example, we always speak faster and higher when we are nervous, although we want to appear competent and confident – stage fright or fear of performing get in the way: our subconscious has the upper hand here. Our nerves determine our body’s state of tension on autopilot, which unfortunately often has a counterproductive effect on our own voice: but this and the feeling of being at the mercy of the situation can be stopped. By knowing the right tools to get ourselves back in control, we can (re)gain confidence in ourselves and our own voice!
With targeted training as well as only the short but highly effective stopping of reaction chains that run through us within seconds, we can learn to control our voice in a self-determined way and increase our positive effect on others for optimal vocal performance: particularly essential for business people, in sales, in contact with customers and clients, for presentations, speeches in companies, as freelance speakers, in speaking professions etc. as well as in every difficult family situation.
Speech coaching is about becoming clearer and clearer, about being aware of where I want to go with my voice, what I want to achieve with my “speech”: should it be predominantly emotional, factual or motivating, announcing, or should it have a bit of everything – suitable for the situation, for my person and for my counterpart: do I want to be soft – or clear – or neutral – and what do I have to do to be unambiguous and to be able to remain so even under stress?
There are a lot of things to consider, a lot of things to include in order to be able to be clear and concrete, and then to get to the heart of words and effect efficiently and effectively.
SPEECH COACHING TIPS super.simple.effective.
- “In important conversations, draw your attention not only to the content of the conversation but also to your own emotional state and that of your counterpart. Keep asking yourself, “Who is leading – who is following here right now?”, “Do I want it to be the way it is right now?“
- “Stay awake – for all possible signals in conversations that your counterpart sends out, that have an effect on yourself and your voice: because your own emotions determine the voice! – Then you decide: “I decide who or what I am giving power to” and with this awareness you have taken the first step out of the powerlessness. You decide how far you go!
Keep at it – it is worth it!
Yours
Voice Expert.
