- 09 Feb, 2024
- 0 Comments
- 4 Mins Read
It’s Valentine’s Day on Wednesday – do you celebrate?
Whether you’re a celebrator of the day or not, you can’t really escape it. Signs of red flowers, chocolates, and hearts are everywhere.
You may decide this is the day you are going to ask someone a big question, or a little question. You may pluck up the courage to even just speak to someone.
It’s fairly likely you’ll be feeling some nerves when it comes to this, so here are a few tips to help you get over your nerves and put your best voice forward. Because let’s face it, listening to a smooth voice the response to any question is more likely to be a positive one.
#1 Relaxing your face so you don’t look like a deer stuck in the headlights (as in so you look more relaxed than what you are probably feeling). You might want to do these in a room by yourself although with a group of people can provide some laughs –
- Open your eyes wide, as if surprised, relax. Repeat three times
- Wriggle your ears
- Twitch your nose
- Move your eyebrows up and down as fast as you can, move one of your eyebrows up and down at a time.
#2 Correcting your posture will automatically make you look taller and leaner, if this is something you’re aiming for. It will also help you with breath control and helping your muscles as you age. Try these exercises, they are easy and quick to do.
- Stand with feet hip width apart. Arms hanging loosely at your side. Come up onto your tip toes and slowly lower your heels so your weight is evenly balanced on three points. The ball of your foot underneath your big toe, the ball on your foot underneath your little toe and your heel.
- Put a finger on top of your head and push your head up against your finger. Pull your tummy button in towards your back. Take your finger away but keep standing straight and tummy pulled in and shoulders down.
# Learning to control your breath as you speak means you can get what you want to say out on one breath, this will definitely help you sound like you are feeling calm, the listener is more likely not to interrupt and you end up speaking with authority.
Try this exercise, it is excellent for your flexibility and strength as well as breathing.
- Pretend there is a large ball (about the same size as a Swiss Ball) in front of you. Squat to pick it up, and as you start to pick it up, breathe in. Keep inhaling as you lift the heavy ball up over your head, and at the same time slowly rise up out of your squat until you are standing upright. Hold the imaginary ball above your head for the count of 3, and then pretend to throw the ball as far as you can across the room with a loud ‘Hahhhh’. Fabulous stress release too.
#5 Creating a tone of voice that people want to listen to. A poor tone of voice is like listening to a great song through the cheapest speakers money can buy
Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana both had a breathy tone, and Margaret Thatcher had a harsh tone, until she got speech lessons. Try these exercises and you’ll have a voice smooth like honey in no time. 🙂
- Drop the jaw several times and say – Mah Mah Mah
- Say this really fast ing, ing, ing, ing, ing
- Poke your tongue our as far as it will go. Let it lie still. Do this twice.
- Say the word BOOM on a long breath. Feel the vibration in your lips, throat, and cheeks
- Open your mouth wide and breathe in through your nose and out though our mouth. Do this three times.
These exercises are all easy to do, they take no time at all, they are fun and with regular practise you can improve the tone of your voice. You will also find your confidence boosting, your ability to speak with more confidence at work will increase too.
If you want to find more tips, techniques, strategies to work on your voice, the clarity of your speech and confidence then join us for the live training this week. If you’ve been sitting on the fence this week is the week to come and check out the 3 for 1 bundle. It’s a great deal, huge value for money and you could win your money back!
January’s winner was Jessy, who got a Clear Speech for Children course FREE. This month it could be you. If you have any questions, would like more info, have decided, yes, I’m going to do it, click on the View Courses Here button below.
Have a great week, Miriam.
PS – My book, Say It Clearly & Confidently is on sale for only $3.99USD on Amazon for this week. Click on the View Books Button to take a look.