Take the competition out of your conversations by being an active listener. Truly engage with what the other person is saying. Avoid interrupting. Listen to what they are saying instead of thinking about what you want to say next.
This way you will not feel the need to raise your voice to be heard over theirs, but can be involved in the conversation on an even playing field. Control your environment. Do your best to change the elements in your environment which may cause you to increase the volume of your voice.
The more you can adjust the environment to be ideal to hearing what you are saying, the less need you will feel to speak loudly. Move closer to the person or people you are talking to. The more distance between you and your audience, the more likely you will feel the need to raise your voice to fill the void. Speak in a small room. Large rooms eat up sound, and you may feel the need to speak up. Choose small rooms for quieter communication. Be assertive using communication skills instead of volume.
Your opinions are valid and deserve to be heard. There is certainly no need to disrespect them. Assimilate with the group. When speaking with a group of people, there is an urge to talk over others, one-up the other people, or hijack the conversation. As people continue to make these mistakes in a group, the entire group will increase in the volume of their speech.
Use body language to indicate that you would like to speak. Try raising a finger, nodding, or shaking your head. When you do have the floor, make your point quickly, before someone else jumps in.
Part 2. Breathe from the diaphragm. Place one hand at the top of your stomach and the bottom of your rib cage. Inhale into this area and attempt to make your hand rise using your breath. This will put your breath in the right place rather than pushing speech from your nose, chest or mouth. Forcing breath from these places can be grating and loud. Relax your throat. Having tension in your neck can lead to trying to force the sound out of your throat. Relax your throat in order to relax your voice.
Place one hand on your neck and speak normally to assess the tension in your throat. Release the air slowly with a gentle hum. Repeat this several times until you begin to feel your throat relaxing. Vary your volume level. This will help you be heard as well as hearing yourself.
Speaking at the same volume, tends to have the effect of the listener tuning the speaker out. This could lead to frustration and tempt the speaker to be even louder. Experiment with varying your volume level. Try speaking at almost a whisper. Make your voice quieter until someone asks you to speak up. Try raising your volume only on the word you would like to emphasize. Enlist the help of someone else.
It can be difficult to hear yourself. Ideally you would hire a coach to be an outside ear. They can assess your volume and your needs, then lead you through some exercises which will help you learn how to control your voice. I this is not an option for you at this time, ask a friend to give you feedback. If you are working on your own, ask a friend if they have noticed a difference. Give them permission to point out when you raise your voice. IE 11 is not supported.
For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Politics Covid U. News World Opinion Business. Share this —. Follow NBC News. Your voice is your most powerful performance tool for motivating listeners. Learn how to use yours effectively!
Download my free cheat sheet , "5 Key Tools of Vocal Dynamics. This keynote speaker was obviously successful to have been given a high-profile slot at the conference , even though he had a poor vocal style.
But who wants to be in that position? People respond to your voice in ways that predate modern speech by tens of thousands of years. Critical factors in influencing people — including likability, trustworthiness, credibility, expertise, and the ability to work well on a team —depend in part on how you sound when you speak to others. So if you haven't done any work in this area, perhaps it's time to get started.
Below are 5 ways you can strengthen one essential component of an engaging vocal style: a warm and pleasant voice. Let's look at how you can consciously work toward improving this winning aspect of your voice so that people will respond to you positively.
Those who've read my articles over the years know that diaphragmatic breathing the key skill in achieving a powerful voice while reducing speech anxiety and nervousness. It's also an asset in knowing how to boost your focus and presence. In addition, proper breathing also helps create a softer and more pleasant sound in the voice. If you have a harsh or nasal voice my main complaint with the speaker I found online , giving yourself a sufficient "cushion" of air will help diminish the harshness.
Also try this: eliminate nearly all the air in your lungs and try to speak in a large room. Not much power in that voice, is there?
Instead, fill your reservoir with air so your voice "floats" softly and pleasurably, with no harshness in evidence. It's also OK if it's someone important in your life, who is going to be embarrassed after realizing they've been drowning out the rest of the restaurant for 30 minutes.
Some people are inherently loud because of their physical build — they have large larynxes and vocal cords [source: The Body Odd ]. Other loud talkers were raised in environments where commotion was the norm and they had to speak up to be heard.
People who are hard of hearing may have trouble modulating their voices [source: Shellengarger ]. No matter the cause for the volume, loud talkers fall into two camps: those who know they're loud, and those who are clueless. Either way, communicating your concerns requires some sensitivity and patience on your part, but you may end up making your environment a little calmer and quieter. Approaching a stranger about loud talking might seem daunting — and in a lot of cases, it's really not worth bringing up.
But there are some exceptions. A sleepless red-eye flight. A ruined romantic dinner. A movie you can barely hear. At times like this, it's fine to excuse yourself and politely request, "Could you please speak a bit more quietly? You can also ask a flight attendant, wait staff, or movie theater manager to intervene.
Telling a friend or family member that they talk too loudly is a conversation that should be handled privately.
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