3 Keys to Sounding Like a Leader in Business
Have you ever thought about hiring a voice coach to improve your public speaking skills? Many of my clients actually hire me because they want more sales, but they also want to create more impact when they speak and they know that voice coaching and presentation coaching can really help them reach their goals. What if I told you today that those things are truly possible when you learn how to master your own voice for business? In this video, I’ll be showing you the three keys to sounding like a leader in business.
Hi, my name is Elisa James and I’m the voice mastery mentor. I help business owners and entrepreneurs raise their bottom line and teach them how to speak with confidence and sell with confidence and passion and authority and I can help you as well. If you want to be more effective in business, you are in the right place.
1. The Breath of a King
Today, the three keys to sounding like a leader in business, are you ready? They may be a little different to what you think. Number one, the breath of a king. The person with the most power in any room is the person with the most controlled, relaxed and well managed breath function. Now, that may sound a little odd to you, but let’s look at a stressful situation for a minute. When somebody is really stressed or in crisis, which may be simply an event at work or a difficult meeting or a conflict of some sort, at home or at work, most people tend to go into fight or flight or freeze mode, which is really just the nervous system trigger designed to keep us alive. It’s the warning system in the brain, but it works so much faster than the frontal lobe. The problem is that the frontal lobe is where we need to make careful and calculated decisions.
When we’re in fight or flight, it overrides any of that sensible thought, because the brain is then drained of oxygen and blood, because what our body is doing is trying to pump the oxygen and blood into the muscles so we can run of fight instead, which is sensible, right, for survival. But the problem is, right now the option for our modern day society is that we don’t fight or flight anymore, we tend to freeze. But this is the worst thing we could do, because the adrenalin that’s pumping through our system is designed to make us move, not freeze. We tend to hold our throat tight and we tend to squeeze our abs and we don’t have enough air or oxygen to think. When you’re public speaking or in a conflict during a meeting, when we need to speak up or speak out in business, this is the worst thing that we can do.
Now think of the way a king moves through the castle. Standing head held high, he moves and stands and breathes with power and confidence. He breathes in a deliberate, relaxed and purposeful way. So to feel the breath of a king, all you have to do is stand tall, feel your abdominal’s disengage from any tension, feel the breath come right down into the lower part of the lungs and you’ll automatically feel more powerful, more in control and certainly more focused, because you have blood and oxygen flow to the brain, which is what you needed to think and make decisions, right?
2. Slow Down & Enjoy the Silence
Number two, slow down. Enjoy the silence. Silence has power in it. When there are spaces in music and conversation, it usually does one of two things. It makes people squirm and become a bit uncomfortable, or it helps people think. It helps people digest and assimilate the information. Both of these tools we can use in public speaking because, let’s face it, making people squirm in the uncomfortable silence does make people pay attention, it’s like, “This is silence”, they panic a little bit, just a little bit. The silence also helps them digest the previous sentences that you’ve just said. So take your time. Breathe, slow down, enjoy the spaces in your speech and watch how the audience responds, because silence can be very powerful.
3. Eliminate Fillers
Number three, eliminate all of those fillers that annoy people. Many of our audience members and clients will lose the plot if you use fillers in a sentence. Fillers are things like, “Like, um, eh, uh, um kinda like, um you know, um.” They are all those things that fill up sentences that are absolutely unnecessary. The problem is of course that people are afraid of silence, so they add all these fillers instead of silence. It’s better just to have the silence, so go back to step two. You make more impact with your customers if you take out the fillers and just embrace the silence.
When you’re making a speech or making a presentation keep your sentences short, take a breath, and stand up straight and enjoy the silence. I bet you’ll notice a difference right away, because people will pay more attention to you and they’ll listen for longer, which is a good thing. My name’s Elisa James, I’m the voice mastery mentor. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post and I look forward to seeing you another time. Remember to like and share. See you then.
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