According to the BBC’s revision pages for speaking the English language, tone is an important component of speech:

“Your tone of voice, like your body language, can affect the meaning of the words you say. In successful communication, your tone of voice must match your message.
“In a presentation, discussion or conversation you can change your tone at different stages to help keep your audience’s interest. A speech delivered in the same tone throughout (ie a monotone) will be boring as it seems to lack the necessary emotion and conviction.”

At Voice Synergy, we aim to help clients explore their voice to discover the range and vocal variety of what is available to them.

We all have speech habits, just as we have behavioural habits, which can be changed for the better. Perhaps we speak in a monotonous way, perhaps our voice lacks interest, or maybe we are just too shy to speak up and lack the confidence to use our voice in an interesting way.

It is a compelling journey once you have begun to learn more about how your voice can add interest to what you are saying. You can use volume to draw attention to important sections of your talk – either speaking more quietly or by speaking more loudly in some parts of your speech.

Vocal tone is an interesting concept. When we are young we are sometimes chastised for using a certain tone of voice. A voice can carry and create emotions. Try saying a simple sentence out loud, such as, ‘Would you like to sit down.’ Now use a variety of emotions to vary how your voice sounds while still saying the same short sentence. Think of anger, pity, threat, excitement, sarcasm or optimism and use each of these emotions in turn as you speak the sentence.

Sometimes an accent carries an over-riding tone, for example the Birmingham accent has a slightly ‘minor chord’ to it, in musical terms. An Italian New York accent has a forceful and confident tone and an Edinburgh accent is associated with honesty and clarity giving the words a trustworthy tone of voice.

If you begin to think about how you want your message to be received, you are halfway to becoming more interesting as a speaker. To enthuse or encourage your listener, you will need to sound inspired yourself. To deliver instructions to someone, think about the subject and become familiar with the instructions so they become interesting to you and in turn, you will sound connected with your topic.

You want your listener to take away the message you are saying. Think about who they are and what they want from you. The more interesting and compelling your voice sounds, the more likely they are to hear you and take away key points from your speech.

Try recording your voice and speak two or three sentences, noticing how your voice sounds when you use different energies in your speech. Notice what sounds better, how your voice sounds more interesting and focus on developing in that direction.

If you need help with developing an interesting voice and finding a positive vocal tone to develop your career, please get in touch for a free initial consultation.