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Barry White - A great speaking voice and singer
It seems to be a general understanding that the voice we have is a part of us and cannot be changed. Indeed many of us may not even consider such a thing unless we're an actor, politician or radio presenter. But just in the same way as a comedian or mimic can make themselves sound like another, we too have the ability to influence the way our voice sounds. But what's wrong with our voice anyway?
Well, nothing is wrong at all. We're fine as we are, but that doesn't mean we may not make changes. Just as we may choose nice clothes to wear for special occasions and we can endeavour to look nice so we are appealing. And our voice is only an extension of this. The way we walk in the door is considered to form 80% of people's first impressions of us. It's that quick. When we open our mouths, we may continue to dazzle, or their perception of us might just drop through the floor. Our voice is such a powerful tool that it can make people love us, make deals and swing public opinion. And it can be sooooo sexy.
Improving our speaking voice doesn't mean that we lose our accent, personality or character. Indeed regional accents are sought by television producers for their presenters as they make them identifiable, likable and familiar. All it means is that we help our best qualities to show through and to produce a pleasingly rich, varied and clear voice, that has good articulation and resonance. But unfortunately our voice can be detrimentally affected by our posture and habits. And just by freeing ourselves from some of these tendencies, our voice can change remarkably and quickly. I've heard men and women's voices change in ten minutes just by letting go of the tensions in their neck, shoulders and chest. And it can sound so good!
I'm going to write a bit about voice and how we can help ourselves, over the next few weeks. The idea came to me as BBC Radio 4 starts a two part series this evening at 9.00pm called A Voice Like Honey. But it's all very well, TV and Radio celebrities demonstrating their beautiful and modulus sounds, and then hearing about what surgery can be conducted to help them overcome problems. What about the rest of us? I enjoy working on voice, because it can be changed so easily with a little care, and by doing so we may just have our friends drooling at our dulcet tones. I'll pick up again on this later....
To see all the posts in this series 'A Voice Like Honey' click Here.