VOICE Coaching

Course Code : VT - AmandaH

Duration : The coaching will consist of four, two–hour sessions initially.

The participant may then decide if s/he wishes to develop these skills further.

We strongly recommend a follow-up session a month or so later, to reinforce the changes implemented, discuss and role-play solutions to new problem areas and further motivate and strengthen the learning.

Workshop outline

The coaching is designed to focus on the participants’ existing strengths and to develop on these. Therefore what is given below is the type of content that is usually explored, but the coach will be led by their needs.

Understanding the voice: breath work and control

You can be persuasive and credible by learning to:

• control your breath: sound clear, confident & in control
• control your voice: create interest using techniques like pause, pitch & pace
• manipulate your voice for successful results: learn how to power the voice to add to the message

Analysing your image as a communicator

The outcomes of this session are to understand how:

• others perceive you as a communicator
• to enhance your personal strengths and minimise your weaknesses as a communicator
• to express messages with energy and natural vitality

Dynamics of first impressions

• Make an impression: use techniques that grab attention & leave an impression
• Personal and professional image: maintaining credibility, professionalism and directness
• Expectations: yours & other people’s

Enhancing voice mechanics

Here you will:

• change pace, rate and speech rhythms for enhanced clarity
• work with emphasis, pause and inflection
• play with power, projection and releasing tension in the voice
• practise speaking with precision and confidence
• become more emotionally expressive

Honing professionalism: maintaining credibility, proficiency and directness

Explore ways to:

• project a positive image: appear calm, controlled & enthusiastic
• boost confidence: examine self-esteem & self-motivation
• make an impression: speak with enthusiasm & conviction
• feel comfortable with delivery: create an aura of authority

Understanding non-verbal cues

• recognise the psychology of non-verbal communication: how to use body language to enhance the message
• use non-verbal cues: emphasise points with gesture, expression, posture and tone
• instil confidence in others: the dynamics of first impressions
• read the body language of others: acknowledge the subtext

People skills

• Communication etiquette: how people like to be treated; effective individual and team communication
• Assertiveness: taking control of the communication process
• Managing different working and personality styles
• Dealing with difficult people

Listening skills

• Understand how to listen sensitively and accurately
• Listen for subtext
• Empathy, reflection & summary
• Get the message
• Decode messages
• Keep the message clear and focused
• Identify and anticipate the needs of the audience/client

Presenting with confidence

• make an impression: usetechniques that grab attention & leave an impression
• make visual aids effective: adapt visual aids to be more than illustrative
• field questions: deal with tricky questions in a constructive way
• humour: develop humorous techniques other than joke-telling