Vanessa Van Edwards explains why a networking leader's wavering voice might be genuine nervousness or a learned habit from childhood anxiety that stuck around. She recommends working with a vocal coach on exercises to lower pitch, strengthen vocal power, and build confidence.
I'm a part of a marketing networking group, and the leader of this group actually has a voice that tends to waver. It sounds like she's really nervous every time. Oh, like this?
Like it kind of wavers like this, and you can't really hear it?
Yes. Are there certain types of voices that just can't tend to vocalize with power, or is that actually just psychological, like a nervousness?
I would guess it's probably nervousness, but it could also be learned habit. People who speak really high voices, and they're actually not nervous anymore. They could go lower, but they're so used to speaking that way. Maybe they were nervous as a child, and they just never got more confident. Or you had someone who spoke in that kind of voice, and now they always speak in that voice.
Van Edwards is definitely knowledgeable, definitely confident. She's been doing this for a long time. So what tips would you have then for somebody who's finding themselves stuck within a vocal range or a vocal melody?
Probably work with a vocal coach. I worked with a vocal coach just as a speaker, and if you are doing a lot of speaking or you cannot get yourself out of a certain range, we actually have body language trainers who are also vocal coaches. Either find a vocal coach, work with a body language trainer, but sometimes you need actual exercises to be able to do it. I would recommend that for her.
