Voice & Speaking Skills For Dummies

Ever wondered why nobody hears you in meetings, or wished people would take you more seriously? Or maybe you feel insecure about your high-pitched voice? This book helps you to discover the power of your voice, understand how it works, and use your voice like a professional whether in meetings, or addressing an audience.

Learn to:

• Communicate successfully using the power of your voice
• Experiment with volume, speed and pitch to maximise your vocal potential
• Speak with confidence and make a great first impression

Find your voice and have them hanging on your every word

Whether you dream of commanding thousands with the power of your voice, or you'd just like to get your point across more clearly and convincingly, you've come to the right place. Not another presentation or public speaking primer, this book schools you in timeless principles that work equally well when addressing packed stadiums, in intimate gatherings and even during one-to-one conversations. Discover how to use your voice to surprise, seduce, soothe, intimidate, amuse, motivate and more. And, with the help of fun, easy voice exercises, you'll quickly master critical elements such as breathing, rhythm, modulation, pitch and pacing.

• Breathe free – discover how to free your voice from bad habits and 'voice gremlins' and improve your range and authenticity with breathing exercises
• Practice makes perfect – speak more clearly by experimenting with vowels and consonants, and playing with your pronunciation
• Learn why timing is . . . everything – sustain a slow authoritative pace or energise your listeners with a faster pace
• Make it resonate – use every great speaker's secret weapon, resonance, to get under an audience's skin and convey confidence, passion, authenticity and statesmanship

Open the book and find:

• How to overcome fear to help you speak more effectively
• Top tips for making a great first impression with your voice
• Advice for conquering stuttering, hesitation and the stop reflex
• Speaking in public for every occasion and audience
• How to use your voice effectively in different professions
• Advice on leading with your voice
• Tips for celebrating your accent and using it in interesting ways
• Ways of sounding like you mean business

Find your voice, and communicate with confidence

Ever wondered why nobody hears you in meetings, or wished people would take you more seriously? Or maybe you're unhappy with your accent, or you feel insecure about your high-pitched or monotonous voice? Voice and Speaking Skills For Dummies will help you to discover the power of your voice, understand how it works, and use your voice like a professional whether in meetings, addressing an audience, or standing in front of a classroom. Take a deep breath, relax those vocal cords, and make your speech sparkle!

We're not all planning to become politicians, or likely to address large audiences on a regular basis, but we all need to be able to communicate well to achieve success. Certain professions require a high level of vocal confidence, notably teachers and business leaders. As well as using body language effectively, we also rely on our voice to convey passion, exude enthusiasm, and command attention--and that's before we've considered the content of our words! A clear understanding of how your voice works, how to maximize its effectiveness, and ways to overcome voice 'gremlins' such as speaking too fast, stuttering, or sounding childish, is pivotal to enabling you to succeed, whatever the situation.

• Highlights the importance of your voice, explains how to use it effectively
• Gives you confidence in public speaking
• Helps you use your voice to make a great first impression in all aspects of your life
• Includes a CD with vocal exercises to help you communicate with confidence.

Whether you're looking to improve your speaking skills for work or personal gain--or both--Voice and Speaking Skills For Dummies gives you everything you need to find your voice and communicate with confidence.

Note: CD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase.