Angela Lansbury and Cate Blanchett spoke briefly at last night’s TONY AWARDS ceremony.  They both have magnificent speaking voices.

They were not alone.  Most Broadway actors have strong speaking voices.  The question is:  did they become successful because they were gifted with such speaking voices, or did they work to develop their instruments?

The answer?  Who knows?  Some of us are born with a distinctive speaking voice, some of us are not, and others work their butts off to develop their speaking voice so they can have the career they want.

You are not an actor, and yet like an actor, your success depends on the impression you create and on how you perform on the job.  In fact, the sound of your speaking voice is arguably the most memorable thing about you: it echoes in the minds of those who have met you and worked with you.  Yet most of us get no training on how to use our speaking voices.

That’s too bad, because the speaking voice is perfectly trainable.  It can be tuned, like a guitar or a piano.  And training your speaking voice can be incredibly fun.

Here in New Jersey, training the speaking voice is a personal and professional goal for many.  Whether they are young women seeking to increase their image of authority and gravitas when they speak, or men with successful careers who want to minimize the stigma of an accent, they seek out private or group instruction in training the speaking voice as a passport to success.

Training the speaking voice covers:

• how to breath in order to support your sound
• how to release habitual tension in the speaking process
• how to expand the range, resonance and deep dark color of the voice
• and how to enunciate vowels and consonants with clarity and precision

Because New York and New Jersey are melting pots of ambitious and successful people—people who see opportunity and want to take advantage of it—many of them want to develop their speaking voices as their number one calling card.

Also a large number of major corporations in New York and New Jersey want to retain highly skilled knowledge workers who must interact with teams and present their specialized knowledge to others.  Helping these people to contribute to the organization is one of the many reasons why companies seek out training for voice and speech.

The speaking voice is the world’s greatest instrument—of leadership, change, and communication.  Tune your instrument.  Practice your instrument.  Become a master of your instrument. 

The rewards, for you and your company, will be positively resounding.

Sims Wyeth is an executive speech coach in Montclair, NJ specializing in presentation skills and public speaking training in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers. Learn more public speaking tips at www.SimsWyeth.com.

Browsing the web recently, I ran into a video teaching the purpose and structure of 3-minute elevator speeches.

The advice was sound for structuring a formal talk, but I couldn’t conceive of an elevator speech lasting three minutes.

I could see an elevator dialogue being three minutes long, but not an elevator speech!

Three minutes in an elevator listening to someone trying to sell me on her business sounds like an eternity.  Three minutes at the water cooler would be half an eternity. And three minutes at a networking event would be long enough to make me look for the guy passing the little crab cakes. 

We all recognize the increasing value of brevity and concision, but three minutes does not feel brief and concise in an elevator, or any other social or public setting.  

I recommend an elevator dialogue that starts with an elevator question.

How about this for a starter after you’ve rubbed elbows with (and introduced yourself to) a VP of Marketing.  You ask each other questions, he finds out you’re an expert in the principles and practices of persuasion, and then you ask him if you can give him your value proposition.

“How long is it?” he’s bound to ask.  If you say three minutes, you’re dead in the water. 

You say, “Short,” and begin. 

“What is the value of your Brand Directors being able to make their plans clear and exciting to the organization?”

The answer should be, ” Uh…that’s important.”

You say, “Why is it important?”

And he says, “Because it saves time and money, reduces indecision, and gets the whole machine humming — it improves the vitality and energy of corporate life.”

Then you ask, “How are your Brand Director’s doing?”

He says, “Okay.”

“What if they were doing great?  What if you could take time and cost out of the marketing process, and at the same time electrify the brand teams?”

He might look at you a little skeptically at that point, but admire you for your enthusiasm.

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” he might say.

And you, taking the bull by the horns, say, “Listen.  Every day, information is sneaking off to make babies with other information.  The world is overrun with information, and it’s only getting worse.  The most valuable thing on this planet is a person who can create a sense of clarity and alignment out of the tsunami of information that demands our attention.  The ability to communicate well is a hard corporate asset masquerading as a soft skill.  It’s the ultimate competitive weapon.  And that weapon can only be developed through training.”

He looks at you, and says, “You really believe this, don’t you?”

You say, “Yes, I do.  I’d like to schedule an appointment with you to show you how my company can save you time, money, and frustration, and give you the one competitive advantage that is hard to replicate overnight.”

And more than likely, he’ll say, “Okay, give my assistant a call and get it on the books.”

How long was that?  A minute and 10 seconds.  And it wasn’t a monologue.  Yes, it had a speechy part, but it was based on asking questions, listening, and asking follow up questions.  And only once, when he tried to dismiss the argument, did you get on your high horse and get salesy. 

The world has hype-fatigue.  Engage in dialogue.  Don’t make speeches in elevators.

I had an interesting session with a new client.  Let’s call her Fiona.  She came in from the field to take a position in marketing with a major pharma, and has discovered that, at her company, your career depends largely on how you present. 

Amazingly, they don’t offer any developmental support for people coming into the job.  But she pushed her boss for help, and he relented.

Here’s a rough summary of what I learned about her experience in pharma marketing.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I have not heard this before, and I have been deep into pharma marketing for 20 years.

1. Everyone wants to get promoted.  The easiest way to get promoted is to get visibility in front of senior people.  And the easiest way to get visibility is to present to them.

2.  If you’re not a good presenter, your boss will know it and will be reluctant to stand you up in front of the senior execs.  She could be afraid it will hurt your career chances and her image as an up-and-coming executive who is the fire under a red-hot group of high achievers.

3. Presenting marketing information internally is essentially selling ideas, and if you can’t get listeners to understand and believe in your idea, they are unlikely to see you as a good marketer, even though your ideas may be strong.

4.  Finally, everyone listening to your presentation is so busy that they don’t want presentations to go on for too long, and therefore they don’t ask questions.  They’re afraid of being seen as the “problem” person, or the “know-it-all” who makes everyone else look bad.   She said the preferred method of presenting is, “1, 2, 3…Poof!”

This means that you show your slide, say up to three things about it in a confident voice, and then move to the next slide (as in “Poof.  It’s gone!”)  Everyone will be pleased that you got through your material quickly, and displayed confidence and conviction as you spoke. 

5.  Finally, while every product and market is different, the process of marketing is the same across brands.  This causes many presentations to look and sound the same, i.e., they’re boring.  So listeners like it when you’re articulate, energetic, and concise because you save them from the embarrassment of falling asleep.

She says you’re especially valued  if you have a highly expressive voice.

Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun in this big pharma.  But if you want the rewards–the promotion and the fatter check– you gotta  sing for your supper. 

And the name of the song you have to sing?  “1, 2, 3…Poof!”