At a recent women’s conference for supply chain managers I conducted a Negotiation workshop. After the session a young woman asked me how she could be more effective as a negotiator.
I immediately noticed her strong accent. She spoke in a soft, sweet, high-pitched voice. She also spoke rapidly. I had difficulty in a noisy room understanding her. I asked her to slow down.
Keiko shared that in her native Japan men find her soft high voice appealing. We talked about the differences in men’s and women’s negotiation styles.
In general, men prefer to hear a low, slow-paced female voice with some vocal variation. I personally have found that some men have difficulty understanding people with accents.
My husband has been hearing challenged for years. He lost his ability to hear high pitched voices first.
I suggested that Keiko slow down and speak in a lower tone, especially in a negotiation. I also mentioned the benefit of finding a voice or presentation coach. I retained a presentation coach when I first began to speak professionally. My voice needed some work. I also needed to learn how to use the tools of a professional speaker, specifically how to handle a microphone and the technology tools available in the meetings industry.
I often record my presentations for replay later as a learning tool. I need to know when my voice raises, goes lower, speeds up or slows down. If my voice is running on autopilot, the message I want to send may not be the one the audience hears.
Keiko could also benefit from recording her voice in various settings. She might listen to her telephone voice and her meeting voice.
Have you listened to your voice lately? What grade would you give yourself?
How do you find a presentation or vocal coach?
Google is one way. Another is to locate a local chapter of the National Speakers Association. Visit http://www.nsaspeaker.org/ to find the chapter nearest you. There may be a member in the chapter who specializes in presentation and voice development.
Good luck to Keiko and to all negotiators. Learn to use your voice effectively. It is one of your most powerful negotiation tools.