How to improve your speaking voice | Wendy LeBorgne | TEDxCincinnati

a new and quick idea every day from the most important tedx talks in the world i am

your

presenter tosa leone and these are tedx shorts are you aware that within seconds of

speaking

our

voice

can influence how people perceive us? Dr. Wendy Laborn has been a

voice

pathologist for decades and today she shares the five elements that will make all of our voices sound stronger and more confident. As a voice pathologist for the past 20 years, my job has been to look at what elements go into the most elite voices and what gets them hired professionally, and how we maximize those elements goes far beyond the words we say correctly, so there's that old saying that it's not just about what you say but how you say it and there are a lot of coaches who talk about intonation and things like that, but the reality is the combination of certain elements that go into creating of

your

brand voice, so let's take a look at these five elements.

The first thing is the intensity of the voice. There is a comfort level to intensity. If I take a simple prayer, I need you to do this today. and the only element that changed is the intensity. I need you to do this today, suddenly everyone takes a little step back because they suddenly perceive me as aggressive or assertive or potentially if I were at a sporting event. enthusiastic if we take that same sentence and all I do is change the intensity I need you to do this today I am potentially perceived as shy or unsure of what I'm talking about the second element that goes into voice marking is inflection or intonation in the music We rarely hear a piece that is on one note from the beginning or the end, which would be quite boring, so the international speech patterns are what make it interesting at both ends, we have a singing rhythm where it sounds like If you were talking to a two year old all the time and you are perceived as unintelligent in what you are saying or we have the complete opposite where someone doesn't totally change your tempo or their inflection I need you to do this today they are bored they are not interested ​​in what they say and they are not connected to that the third element that goes into your brand is speed, that is the speed or how slowly you speak, so if we have a person who speaks super fast, I needed you to do this today, suddenly you feel very rushed, you are a little agitated by what they have to say, similarly, if we slow down that pace. of speech I need you to do this today I am perceived as condescending because I am talking to you with disdain because I speak very slowly just like in music it is the give and take of the rhythm of what we do that makes it interesting the fourth element is the frequency the Frequency is measured in hertz and we know that there is normative data for men, women and children here in the United States and abroad on what the average fundamental frequency should be for us to like their voice, so frequency becomes important.

The fifth parameter that is interesting in our voice brand is quality and the quality can range from clarity of voice to hoarseness or a rough and hoarse voice, so those five elements are ultimately what constitute your voice brand. Our voices are made of cartilage, ligaments and muscles. We can train those individual elements of the voice brand using the principles of exercise physiology and the principles of motor learning to maximize what you have because your voice defines you and your voice can empower you. The tedx talk you just heard was recorded at a tedx event at the university of cincinnati in cincinnati ohio all tedx events are independently organized by volunteers who believe in ted's mission of ideas worth spreading.

Special thanks to the organizing team at tedxu cincinnati. I want to hear the full talk. Find Wendy's talk and more at ted.com. tedx shorts i'm a tosa leone thanks for listening and see you next time