***How Confident Do You Sound If You Are Soft-Spoken?

Volume is an aspect of your personality that can say a lot about you. Yes, there was a time when women spoke in a very soft voice. It was considered a feminine trait: demure, coy, flirtatious. It was also a time when women were treated as 2nd class citizens. In today’s highly competitive business world, however, there is no room for the voice which is difficult to hear. Your volume, or lack of it, may be saying something about you which is not correct whether you are male or female.

Lacking in Confidence: those who speak softly may be regarded as unassured, insecure, doubtful, shy, or unassertive. It is even possible that you could be considered untrustworthy because your lack of volume may appear that you are hiding something. One of Canada’s prime ministers would speak in a normal volume of sound when giving a prepared speech. When he was questioned by the press in an informal situation, however, he would soften his volume. Whatever the reason for his change in volume, the impression he was giving was that he was ill-at-ease speaking extemporaneously.

Unfortunately there is often not enough time in business, or even our personal lives today, for making a good impression the 2nd time you meet someone. You will be judged, either rightly or wrongly, when someone makes your acquaintance the 1st time, either over the phone, in person, or in a webinar. If others struggle to hear you, there is the possibility that they will not give you another chance to repeat yourself. If your business depends on being heard when you express yourself, it would be wise for you to learn how to increase your volume correctly so that you are not wasting your time and their time constantly repeating yourself. One of the best exercises you can do is to record yourself talking or reading and then record something from the radio or television. Make sure the professional's voice is being played at a proper listening level. Play back the recording. If you set your microphone the same distance from the speakers of the radio or TV as you did for your own voice, you will hear a difference: the professional speaker's volume will sound normal; your volume will sound less than normal. There is no better test than the above exercise because you must first hear yourself as others hear you. If you want your colleagues, friends, and family to heed your words, they must first ‘hear’ those words. Do not allow your volume to give the wrong impression of you. Both your business life and personal life deserve better than that.