If the letter U was uncomfortable, the Letter V is invariably vicious!! However, with a little bit of visionary application I think I may have something.
We all know that times are tough, and it could be that the vicissitude of the days has made you a vulnerable victim who is now voraciously pursuing a vacancy with valour! Thankfully you are able to vanquish the more valueless and vague nightly alarums with soothing valerian tea; and you arise again next day ready to be victorious!!
Phew!!
Let’s be serious for a while, and look at the situation you will find yourself in when you have been successful in obtaining the interview. We have discussed how our body language will impact on our interviewers and how what we do can affect the perception they have about us.
We may have heard that is the most important part of communication – what we do, rather than what we say; but let me tell you what you say and how you say it is critical to your chances. It is only when what you say and what you do are in variance that movement will overcome the verbal message.
So we come to what we call the ‘medium of the message’ – and in this case the main medium is your Voice. The interview is a series of questions and answers, and while resumes, CV’s, and references are important as background material to sift out the ‘possibles’ from the ‘impossibles’ it is only at the interview the abstract becomes the personal. They want to get to know you; they want to hear your ideas, to discuss your experience and to discover your potential.
Now while good expressive body language will certainly be effective in validating your message – it is, in the end, the message conveyed by the Voice alone that will decide the outcome. Which is why we need to take some consideration on how we use our voice. Have you really given your voice some thought? Have you made an assessment of the quality of your voice? There are some simple questions that will give you the answers; if you are not sure yourself, ask someone you trust to answer them for you.
Question 1 – Are you a Boomer or a Whisperer? – We all have an internal volume control which sets the loudness of our speaking. We can, of course, alter that when needed; when trying to make ourselves heard in a party we might turn up the volume; if we are conversing in church we would turn the sound down to a more appropriate level.
But it is our normal conversational level that we need to be aware of; only then can we make various adjustments to suit the venue and the people. Your aim is to project a volume which is perfectly audible but without shaking the window frames. It might need practice. Especially when nerves can do amazing things to perfectly normal activities. When we are really nervous, our voice can tremble, shake and almost disappear. This kind of problem can best be avoided by handling the nerves, but there could be another problem that needs addressing
Question 2 – Are you a Wet Weather Whiner or Sensationally Sunshine? Which means do you have expression in your voice? Can you project Light and Shade? Or sadly, are you one of our monotone individuals who refuse to move out of the key of D?
Changing our basic delivery techniques can really change the vitality of our voice. It can add energy and excitement; it can convey sadness and thoughtfulness; it can persuade or it can annoy. We want ours to persuade, and to do that we need the variance that vocal variety can bring.
If we do not have it naturally, then we need to practice it, and we need to start now. The best way is to read aloud – and if you have children then you are streets ahead – read them fairy stories. Try to depict the various characters by a change to your voice; experiment and find out just what you can do by deliberately becoming melodramatic. Trust me, the children won’t mind, they’ll love it!!! So read to your own children, the neighbours children, your nieces and nephews and if you are desperate – read to the dogs and the cats!.
You could of course, read poetry in the bathroom – but you might have to warn the family out first!
Find out more on how to improve the quality of your voice here.
From all the ‘V’ words, the ones that can really add value to your chances – or destroy them completely – is the vibrancy of your voice.
Get that right and you could probably sell Snow in Alaska!
Michele @ Trischel