All About You: Master your voice

EDITOR’S NOTE: Motivating employees to work safely is part of the safety professional’s job. But who motivates the motivator? In this monthly column, veteran safety pro and professional speaker Richard Hawk offers his entertaining brand of wisdom to inspire safety pros to perform at their best.

The human voice is the most diverse, powerful and organic sound-driven communication device on Earth.

That may sound like a bold statement considering the variety of creatures that can communicate using howls, clicks, whistles, meows, sonar, etc. But our voices can form words and sentences with symbolic meanings, which sets our “speaking” apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. And how we say something can drastically change the meaning of our message. Even a slight variation in our voice can turn what would ordinarily be a compliment into a sarcastic remark.

Mastering your voice is a skill that will increase your influence, make you more likable and, as a safety professional, increase the effectiveness of your communications in a wide variety of settings.

As a professional speaker, I’ve spent many hours working on improving the quality and persuasiveness of my voice. You can do the same. Consider how your voice comes into play when you:

1. Interact with employees on jobsites
2. Conduct safety and health meetings
3. Chair or serve as a member of a safety committee
4. Deliver formal training
5. Conduct root-cause incident investigations
6. Give safety update presentations

Here are the three aspects of my voice I work on, along with a few tips that I’ve found to be helpful.

Pitch

This is the up-and-down sound (notes) of your voice. When we’re excited or happy, we tend to speak at a higher pitch than when we’re serious or sad. So, if something you’re describing is lighthearted or about details that add to your story, but isn’t vital, it helps to speak in a higher pitch until you get to something of serious import.

Example: Higher pitch – “We have lockout/tagout procedures based on OSHA standards, and they’re designed to prevent injury from energy sources.” Not that this knowledge isn’t important, but it’s not as vital as this next sentence, which you’ll want your attendees to remember. Lower pitch: – “Never work on a machine unless you have turned off the power and put your lock on the open breaker or the machine’s on-off power device.”

One more point about pitch: A monotone voice is boring unless you’re speaking that way to be funny.

Power

This is the resonance of your voice. My best advice to improve the power (and control) of your voice is to practice breathing from your diaphragm. I’ve toured with musical acting companies, so this is a natural skill for me. If it’s not for you, there are free videos and apps that can teach you how to breathe and speak from your diaphragm. It makes a difference. Your vocal resonance will improve if you “breathe from your belly” instead of your upper chest.

Pace

This is the rhythm of your voice – and my favorite of the three vocal factors, particularly when it comes to giving safety talks and meetings. It’s easy and powerful to stop your pace with a pause. Renowned orator Winston Churchill would purposely include long pauses during his speeches to draw in his audience and make the point after the pause more memorable. Before you conduct a safety meeting or give a presentation, list a few things that you want to stand out. Then, purposely pause for a few beats before you make the vital statement.

A final point: Recording your voice and then objectively evaluating your pitch, power and pace is the most effective way I know to gain insight into improving your amazing sound device.

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