How to Train Your Voice to Be More Charismatic

There is an interesting article in the Wall Street journal, by the same title, about the charismatic influence your voice can have in your professional life. Having analyzed the voices of leaders in countries such as Brazil, France, and Italy, scientists have found that those who exhibited charisma “use their voices to dominate, rouse and influence a large audience.” By analyzing the voice and speech patterns of various political leaders and CEOs, they discovered that there were two areas which strongly influenced how these speakers were perceived by audiences. Both the depth of the voice as well as the ability to be expressive were the two most common characteristics of charismatic leaders. As an example, they discovered that “CEOs with lower-pitched voices typically manage larger firms, make more money and last longer on the job than higher-pitched peers, studies at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business have found.” The scientists also found that speaking with expression – which means varying your pitch throughout your delivery is as important as the quality of your sound. I refer to this as color – the life, the emotion, and the animation you express by means of your vocal variety, facial expression and body language. While none of this information was new to me, it is interesting that they seemed surprised by their findings. Let me ask you. Would you prefer to listen to a deep, resonant voice or one which is high-pitched, squawky, or shrill? The title of the article, however, was misleading because they did not discuss how to train your voice to be more charismatic. So I will. There are two things you must do to improve your voice and speech patterns:

1. Use your chest cavity to power and amplify your voice. Most people do not use their chest as a vocal resonator, instead relying on their throat, voice box, mouth and nasal cavities to do all the work. 2. Speak with emotion if your voice is a monotone. Should this apply to you, you must first give yourself permission for your emotions to be heard and seen. A flat or boring voice does not sell.

While this study only dealt with the male voice, the results they found are also true for the female voice. The most effective female broadcasters, for example, have voices which are deeper in pitch and warmer in quality than the average female voice. They sound authoritative; they sound professional; and, given the right tone, they can sound very alluring.