Do you lose business once you open your mouth?
Excluding certain instances (like singing in the shower), for
many people, the sound of their own voice isn't exactly music
to their ears. In a recent study by Bruskin Goldring Research in
Edison, New Jersey, 15.6 percent of respondents said they'd
prefer a friendlier voice, 14.2 say they'd like to sound more
powerful, and 14.1 percent want their voices to sound more
confident.
Yet while some of us merely dream of having the bold voice of
James Earl Jones, as a small-business owner, you should actually
take the sound of your voice very seriously, says Jeffrey Jacobi,
author of The Vocal Advantage (Prentice Hall) and a member of the
speech communication faculty at New York University. Why? Your
voice, he says, has a huge effect on your business's bottom
line.
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"Having a bad voice or speech habits can cost you
business," insists Jacobi. "You could be losing millions
of dollars a year in lost sales and unmotivated
employees."
In fact, your voice may be making all kinds of unwanted
impressions without your knowing it, says Jacobi. Speaking too
fast, for example, makes you appear untrustworthy. Weak voices
command no respect. And if your voice is flat and monotonous,
people are likely to ignore you or tune you out.
How do you know if your voice is failing you? According to
Jacobi, some red flags are if your voice trails off at the end of
sentences or quivers when you get nervous, or if people often
interrupt you, talk over you or ask you to repeat yourself.
Fortunately, you can subtly change your voice through exercise
and achieve dramatic results, says Jacobi. Use a tape recorder to
record a few minutes of your speech, or ask friends or colleagues
for their honest opinions. If you hear something you don't
like, Jacobi advises consulting a voice trainer or a book on the
subject for exercises that can help strengthen, modify or change
the pitch of your voice. -Heather Page
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