Acquire: Where Does Your Voice Go?

Have you ever had the experience of losing what someone was saying because they turned away?

Of course you have. We all have, because voices are directional.

Which doesn't mean that you can point your mouth like a nozzle and hope for the best -- Sound is a bit more complicated than that. It does mean that you can give your brain visual cues about how far you need your voice to reach and how you would like it to expand in space. You need the breath and voice function to fuel it all but your intention tells it where to go.

This also applies if you have a microphone in front of you or are speaking into a speakerphone. What is required is that you focus your sound directly where it needs to go. In these cases, you don't need to project your voice very far, you just need to be clear and focused.

So next time you have to speak to a group think about what your voice needs to do to reach your audience, take a breath and send it there.

Gina Razón is the principal voice specialist at GROW Voice LLC, a full-service voice and speech studio in Boston’s Back Bay.  She has over 16 years of experience both as a teacher of voice and speech, and a voraciously curious voice user.  Gina has worked professionally as a classical singer for over a decade and more recently as a professional public speaker.  For more information on the studio or to book Gina visit www.growvoice.com.