Last week, I had the chance to sit through another LP meeting and hear the presentations of various managers from the same firm.
I was struck by one simple thought. A soft-spoken manager gave me cause to suspect his level of confidence and decisiveness.
His colleagues who spoke before him were more senior and they also projected their sound more easily. When he stepped to the lectern, I was immediately struck by the absence of force in his voice.
I leaned in to listen, and while I could capture most of what he was saying, I was concerned about the impression he was creating. I thought about yelling, “Can’t hear you,” but hesitated.
Instead, I got the A/V guy in the sound booth to turn up the volume.
Electronic amplification is not always available, but in this case, it was the only thing I could do to help my client. Immediately, I experienced his voice as the dominant signal in the room. You could not ignore it. Before, he seemed to have trouble penetrating the space. Now, with boosted volume from the microphone, he became the voice of authority.
The human voice is a powerful instrument of emotion, and in business, the most important emotion is confidence. I don’t think a confident voice has to be loud, but I do think it needs to be full of intention. An adequate degree of intention leads to a voice that reaches the ears of the listeners, and has enough oomph to register on the emotional centers of the brain.
The voice we use needs to inspire confidence and belief in the people who are listening. Anything less will open the door to doubt, and that can eventually lead to problems with clients being lured away by other, more inspiring voices.