When you are asked to speak “louder”, how do you do that?
In my recent speeches, some of the audiences claimed that they had no difficulty projecting their voices. And it turned out that what they claimed as projection was raising the pitch and even shouting.
That is not only the wrong way of projecting your voice, but also you’ll annoy the heck out of your audience.
During my trip in the States, many people complained to me about Hillary Clinton’s high-pitched voice, saying they couldn’t stand her voice and never got over the initial stage of her speeches. When you raise your pitch in order to be heard, you’ll end up in the same situation as Hillary’s. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for Hillary and stating the fact.
Raising your pitch and shouting are the best thing you can do to harm your voice. Both add a lot of unnecessary pressure on your vocal cords and make them damaged at the fastest pace.
To properly project your voice, you’ll have to learn to use your full body as a sounding board to increase the volume. To do that, you’ll need to work on proper breathing and developing full resonance. When you achieve that, you’ll be heard clearly without annoying your audience. Even better, the quality of your voice will bring out confidence and influence in you.
