On Monday, the fabulous Susan Heaton Wright explored how to present ourselves with confidence using our voice and our body language. This perhaps should have been the first session in The Confident Mother online conference given that I am doing so much talking!
Susan is a former opera singer (and now runs the live entertainment company Viva Live Music with her husband) so really does understand how to present with confidence on stage. But not only on stage. She is an expert in understanding the voice and how your posture and body language can affect your voice, whether this is for public speaking, pitching to a client, presenting at a board meeting or in your everyday life situations. She shared some very simple examples of how Diva Feet, Sitting Diva and the Power Breath change the tone, the pitch, the distance of your voice. And because we all interpret a person’s expertise, knowledge and confidence FROM the way they talk and hold themselves, this is invaluable.
I am quite comfortable with public speaking per se in that I do not lack confidence. However my challenge has always been that I have a quiet voice. I asked Susan for tips on how to project my voice more effectively. She explained how the bones in the human body act as our resonating chambers. Men use the bones in their chest; women need to focus on using the ones in their head. So her advice to me, is to let my voice go into my facial mask – into my eyes and my head.
I loved Susan’s tips on how to build and develop your speaking experience but what I loved most were her final words: Be Brave, Be Firm, Be Heard!
If you missed the interview, you can invest in the complete Confident Mother library.
Anybody else reminded of Mud’s Tiger Feet?
[…] When somebody walks into the room, we tend to make a snap judgement on that person based on the way they carry themselves. When you think of a confident person, what body language comes to mind? Use this to your advantage. First impressions do count. Stand tall. Think about your body language at meetings – do you wrap yourself up to make yourself small? This might be subconscious but next time you are in a meeting, notice what you notice about the way you sit. Sit up at the meeting table. Speak up. If this doesn’t feel comfortable or natural, then fake it until you are it. My interview with Susan Heaton Wright shared some great tips on how to talk with confidence. […]