Browsing in category 'Vocal Communications'
Are You A Subdued Wallflower or a Spiky Thistle?
In our attempts to promote ourselves, our brands, teams or organisations, there is a sweet spot somewhere between being a Subdued Wallflower and being a Spiky Thistle. We don’t want to be the shy, unnoticed bundle of fear in the corner, and we certainly don’t want to become the brash in-your-face-noise-machine who talks at everyone and connects with no one. […]
We Are All TV Presenters
At a recent TV Presenting Course that we ran in Dublin, Ireland, it became very clear to me why most ‘presentation skills’ type courses fall short of achieving the results they should be getting – those results being a more confident, persuasive and eloquent speaker. In fact most of them miss the point completely! They fail to acknowledge the most […]
Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Communication
Like many of their generation, my parents subscribed to the monthly publication ‘Reader’s Digest’. In the 1960’s it sold 24 million copies each month and was available in over 13 languages. Full of articles, short stories, humorous anecdotes, word teasers, cartoons, advice and insights on every imaginable topic and advertising from around the world – it was a vital literary […]
Smile, We Can Hear You! Does Your Voice Charm or Alarm?
A smile can be charming and distractingly disarming. What better way to put people at ease than with a friendly display of your pearly whites! There is truly nothing more mesmeric than a beautiful smile. However, with a slight change in the facial muscles, and a distinct change of purpose, we notice a grimace of pain, anger or aggression. In […]
Vocal Aphrodisiac
So, it’s official. If you’ve got a great voice, you’re going to have a better sex life, and live longer! I must fire my Marketing Department. How could they have missed this opportunity to promote the importance of improving vocal skills?!! Actually, the original research conducted by Dr Gordon G Gallup Jr., and Dr Susan Hughes, highlights many interesting results, […]
Smart Phones vs Smart People
Last year I read research which revealed that smart phones are now outselling desk top computers and more than 57% of people in Japan are reading their emails only on their iPhone, Blackberry or Galaxy. The statistics showed that USA, Canada and Europe are not far behind and very quickly heading the same way. As if there wasn’t enough pressure […]
Charisma – Fact or Fiction?
Charisma is one of those words that is hard to define. Ask 100 people to explain why someone is charismatic, and you’ll notice that very quickly it becomes subjective – “the passion in her voice”, “his confidence”, “her intelligence”, “the way he moves”, “the connection to her message”… etc. Each of us has our own process of evaluating what’s important […]
Improve Your Word Power – 8 Ways To Say Yes!
Yes is a very old word. It entered English before 900, and comes from the Old English word gese loosely meaning “be it.” Before the 1600s, yes was often used only as an affirmative to a negative question, and yea was used as the all-purpose way to say “yes.” Aye. This archaism is still used as the formal response meaning […]
The Lessons of Excellence in Sport
George Best, Bobby Charlton, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney… No – don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that these are all great public speakers! However they have all proven themselves to be some of the most skilful footballers of recent times. You’ll guess from my choices that I am a fervent Manchester United fan, […]
A Shredded Voice is Not Recyclable!
Can you imagine a Tennis Player without a tennis racket, a Photographer without a camera, a Make-Up Artist without brushes, or a Teacher without a voice? Without the tools of the trade, there is no job. Occasionally the Tennis Player’s racket will break a string, but that’s ok – they always seem to always have a couple of hundred wrapped […]