The Sound of Your Voice | "Can Your Voice Survive the Holidays?" Article

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Can Your Voice Survive the Holidays?
By Dr. Carol Fleming

The Scene:

A holiday gathering with lots of effusive people talking, loud music, traffic/restaurant noise, shrieks and laughter.....

The Plot: You are simply trying to make yourself heard over all the above.

The Result: You scream your conversation, your throat starts to really hurt, and you lose your voice by the end of the evening. You try to whisper and even that hurts. Your vocal folds are swollen, red, sensitive and sore.

Would you like to have a different outcome?

Consider this your survival guide for communication in the Holidays (or any other noisy time). I want you to know how to protect yourself from the noise, how to hear other people better and how to make yourself heard more easily. Try out these suggestions at the next Chamber mixer, network gathering, or insane party. Talking is supposed to be a pleasant activity!

1. Reduce the Noise Level

Sometimes it only takes a request to get the volume from the sound system lowered. If nobody says anything, it will be assumed that it is OK. So say something. Since people are hardwired to talk louder than the ambient noise level, the louder the sound surround, the louder you have to talk to be heard. You've noticed that you automatically speak in hushed tones in very quiet places, haven't you? This is an unconscious attempt to establish an appropriate signal-to-noise ratio. You are doing the same (but opposite) adjustment when you find yourself yelling at a party, but here you pay a painful price for the extreme effort; vocal fatigue and strain and laryngitis. So the obvious first thing that you can do is to reduce the noise whenever possible.

2. Move away from the Noise

It always amazes me how people are willing to tolerate the discomfort of room noise when they could reduce the assault by taking just a few steps away from the noise source. You can position yourself behind some kind of barrier to the loudspeaker, or you can lead your conversational partner around a corner. It also helps a little if you turn away from the noise source. You notice our ears are built to be maximally functional for sounds that we face. So turn your back to the noise. And, it really helps 'catch' your partner's speech if you are willing to cup your hand behind your ear when they are speaking. It's surprising how well this technique amplifies their speech.

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3. Get closer to your conversational partner

You may have to get your face within inches of the other persons face in order to understand what they're saying and to make yourself heard. You will do this more comfortably if you are secure about breath odor. Sorry, it has to be said. Many people keep a distance, don't speak out when they talk, for fear of offending. This really makes it hard for the person to hear you. And if you keep this 'closed mouth' form of speech at the same time that you are forcing your voice to be heard, you will have added physical discomfort to your psychological ill-ease. And people will still have trouble understanding what you just said

4. Keep your speech lively on the face

People speech-read faces far more than they realize. We are experts at deciphering the minute twitches of muscle that shape a speech sound or an emotional expression. You will be doing people a great favor if you consciously articulate your speech with more energy in the face. Repeat the sentence, "Put the front of the tongue in the front of the mouth" and focus your attention on the anterior part of your speech mechanism as you make these particular speech sounds. This is the area I'm talking about. Your speech will be easier to see and hear if you try to place your speaking in this area. (No, I promise that you will not look as funny as you feel.)

5. Drink! Water!

Actually, the time to load up on water is several hours before the vocal strain begins. I'll spare you the juicy physiology, but, trust me, it makes your vocal folds much more comfortable and capable of staying that way through an evening. The "hard" stuff (alcohol) is just that, hard on your vocal folds. Let me note that the likelihood of saying smart, appropriate comments intelligibly is not directly related to your alcoholic intake, even though it feels that way. You will not be nearly as witty as you think. But you may be loud,.....very loud indeed.

6. Keep it light

In noisy circumstances, it's a good idea to try to save the long, meaningful conversations for a more comfortable time. Keep your statements short and simple if you want your conversation to be easily understood. Subtleties and unusual vocabulary will be lost in the hubbub whereas commonalties are more likely to be perceived. Wit takes a drubbing when you have to repeat the line three times. Don't open any topics that do not lend themselves to shouting ("I said she's a pain in the butt!! Ooops. Sorry.")

If you do end up with a persistent hoarse voice and pain in the throat, don't be afraid of having a throat specialist take a look. Just to be on the safe side.

Contact us today to discuss how our workshops, coaching and training products can improve your Personal Professionalism and Communication Impact.

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