Don't Lower Your Voice

• 00:04 And now I want to talk about the number one thing people do to make their
• 00:10 voices better that doesn't work, that in fact makes their voices worse.
• 00:17 The number one thing I found people doing, women but also men,
• 00:21 is they try to lower their voice to sound deeper and more authoritative,
• 00:27 because they're concerned that their voice is too high and
• 00:31 they won't be taken seriously.
• 00:35 Can you hear how annoying that is, how fake it sounds, how phony?
• 00:40 You do not have to have a low voice in order to be considered serious or formal.
• 00:48 In fact, that's a way to make yourself sound ridiculous.
• 00:53 Lowering your voice does several awkward things.
• 00:57 First of all, it makes you more monotone if you're down like this all the time,
• 01:02 it is in more of a single tone area.
• 01:04 So it's easier to put people to sleep.
• 01:08 The other thing is unless you are a trained Broadway actor or actress, and
• 01:13 you've been going to acting school for two dozen years, you're going to be acting.
• 01:18 And you know what, it's really hard work to act.
• 01:22 You've spotted bad actors that you don't like on TV and movies.
• 01:26 Well guess what?
• 01:27 That bad actor had a lot more practice than you did.
• 01:30 So if you start acting like you have this rich deep resonant voice,
• 01:35 it's going to sound phony.
• 01:38 It's going to sound pompous, it's going to sound ridiculous.
• 01:41 Here's the thing about the voice tones, you don't need a deep, deep, deep voice.
• 01:48 What you need is a real range.
• 01:50 If your voice occasionally goes high, great, that's a tool.
• 01:56 Now if you're like this the whole time,
• 01:58 then that's not a problem of having a high voice.
• 02:01 That's a problem with being monotone, because you're that high all the time.
• 02:05 Unless you're Minnie Mouse or you consume a lot of helium,
• 02:09 that's actually a rare thing for people to have.
• 02:14 So I want you to promise me one thing.
• 02:17 You can work on all sorts of vocal exercises if you want.
• 02:22 But don't try to lower your voice.
• 02:25 It's simply not effective, it's not needed.
• 02:28 Look at some of the most famous successful TV commentators.
• 02:33 They don't talk like this the whole time.
• 02:35 They have a whole range, then when they get excited it goes up.
• 02:41 That's what allows your voice to be magical, to be powerful is full range.
• 02:47 Don't fight it, don't hold it in.
• 02:50 I don't want to have a high tone, people won't think I'm serious.
• 02:55 Please, come on, get over it.
• 02:59 Now I do believe a lot of women have been sold a phony bill of goods on this issue.
• 03:05 Because many women have been told, well, it's a man's world and
• 03:09 you won't be taken seriously unless you speak with a deep voice like a man.
• 03:13 That is not true my friends.
• 03:19 Does Oprah Winfrey talk like this all the time?
• 03:22 No, and she's been extraordinarily successful.
• 03:26 You want to use your voice.
• 03:30 And again, I get back to these things I've mentioned earlier.
• 03:32 It's hard to be an actor.
• 03:35 It's really, really hard to be an actor.
• 03:39 And if you try to act, it's really easy for people to spot it and
• 03:42 say that person's acting, that person's phony.
• 03:46 Well, now you have a problem much worse than your voice.
• 03:50 You have people doubting your authenticity and think you're being a big phony.
• 03:55 Now, people will forgive a voice that's a little scratchy or
• 03:59 isn't necessarily as beautiful as what you hear on FM radio.
• 04:04 But people are very unlikely to forgive someone being phony,
• 04:09 being fake, putting on an act.
• 04:14 So be very, very careful about trying to lower your voice.
• 04:21 In fact, I urge you to be careful about doing anything to dramatically
• 04:26 change your voice.
• 04:27 The key you're getting from me by now is to use your own voice,
• 04:32 but to use your voice as it sounds when you're relaxed,
• 04:37 having a spirited conversation with someone.
• 04:41 Where you've got the highs, the lows, the fasts, the slows, and
• 04:45 everything in between.

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