A reviewer of mine recently told a colleague of mine that Adam Eason (meaning me) “likes the sound of his own voice.” Damn I do!
So I want to tell you how and why I say that answer.
If he were about to put you into hypnosis, and then yelled at you “Okay, relax, go into hypnosis” in a shrill voice in a way that’s hard to understand, do you think you’d respond by relaxing and walking out? in hypnosis? I guess it’s unlikely that my voice is like that to help the hypnotic process.
Our voice is a tool that can be used in many aspects of our lives; at work, at home, with friends, family and colleagues and more. The way we use our voice influences how people react to us and behave towards us.
To be a good hypnotist, it is important that you practice your hypnotic voice before working on a subject. Some hypnotists use a soft monotone which bores me, some use a sing-song voice and some use a natural but slower and lower tone of voice to induce a hypnotic trance. We hypnotists even suggest when talking to our hypnotic subjects that “My voice is very calming and relaxing for you.” We don’t always actually say those words; rather we hint at that with the way we use our voice.
The way you use your voice creates a reaction in everyone you communicate with and you can use it to your advantage with surprising results. Imagine if you had a hypnotic voice, how would that affect the different circumstances and events you find yourself in?
Before writing about how to develop that voice, I recommend that you be congruent. It is good to model a successful hypnotist or other hypnotists and hear good quality hypnotists and how they use their voice, however it is important that you keep the essence of who you are. You must be true to who you are. It can be relaxing and calming, in its own way, too. You’re not Paul McKenna, you’re not Adam Eason, so don’t try to be them. Learn from how we use our voices, but stay true to your own style.
Tune in to the tonality that you feel comfortable with and that will give you the best results. This often means speaking in a relaxed and reassuring way: slowly, with pauses, in a low, soft voice. You don’t have to be Barry White, but you know what I mean here, don’t you? Barry White wasn’t exactly magazine cover material, however, you know he was extremely sexy, attractive and seductive thanks to the way he used his voice.
Not only was it deep and rich, but it was often slow, considered, and deliberate. He was helpful and easy to listen to. Former James Bond actor Roger Moore had a voice with very similar qualities. We can see how the actors, announcers and singers use his voices and we can use our own voices accordingly. These people speak from the stomach, they speak from the abdomen, not from the throat, nose or chest.
I remember being shown an exercise in a hypnosis training course with Richard Bandler once and pointing to each other’s nose, then throat, chest and abdomen while speaking from each of those places: The difference was amazing and how everyone reacted to the sounds. fact was even more surprising.
In previous articles, I have been writing about how to use language to communicate with another person’s unconscious mind. Using good vocal tonality is of great importance when you are communicating with the unconscious part of someone’s mind. Good hypnotists will often have the same quality of voice control as good actors and public speakers. It is important that you are able to extract as much meaning and feeling from your words as possible. Even think about making the words sound like what they mean.
A great way to improve your tone is to do this fairly simple exercise:
First, position your body with your back straight and the crown of your head pointing up. Take a deep breath in from that area just below your belly button and push into that area as you inhale.
Second, as you look at the words I’m going to ask you to say shortly, consider what each word really means to you and what feelings you associate with each word. Think about what sound best represents that feeling.
Third, say each of these words out loud with a feeling attached to them, extract as much meaning as possible from these words, and say them hypnotically as if you want them to resonate with deep meaning within another person:
Love, relax, peace, joy, harmony, calm, wonderful, soften.
Then practice reading books aloud and acquiring the correct tone and words, getting each word to convey a message of meaning and feeling. Think about how this would work beautifully when speaking in front of others, in meetings, on a date, or whenever you want others to buy into your idea or message.
A good communicator will have clear distinctions in their tonalities of voice to communicate with other people on different levels. To master hypnotic communication, you must develop at least two distinct tones or “voices” for your interactions.
His first “voice” is his usual everyday voice. This will keep people wide awake when you talk like this. So use it only when he is awake and alert. The moment you start being influential, start changing your voice to your hypnotic voice.
By constantly using only your waking voice while your subject is alert, and your hypnotic voice when you are being influential or persuasive, both of your voices naturally anchor themselves to those states. Then when he’s really anchored, he can start using a voice to create that state.
Your posture affects your voice:
Posture and movement are an integral part of any use of the voice. Part of being able to use your voice well includes being aware of your body, identifying and correcting problems that arise due to incorrect posture.
This does not mean that your posture has to be perfect! Standing naturally and making sure your head, neck, and shoulders are relaxed is the correct posture for using your voice to maximum effect.
While most people do this automatically, there are others whose posture has become lazy or who have developed bad habits that can inhibit their voice.
Here are some poses do’s and don’ts to help you with the way you use your voice:
Do…..
– Be relaxed and natural.
– Keep your movements fluid
– Keep your chin level
– Keep your knees loose
– Keep your head up
– Keep your shoulders bent and relaxed
– Keep your toes pointing forward with your weight on your heels and soles
– Keep the front of your neck loose – do not stretch it
– Keep abdominal muscles relaxed
– Keep your back muscles relaxed
– Smile!
Whose…..
– Drop or hunch the shoulders
– Move stiffly or jerkily.
– Drop or tuck your chin in when attempting to sing low notes
– Stretch your head up when trying to sing high notes
– Stretch or push the abdominal muscles
Try this exercise to improve your posture and make your voice work for you:
Place a mirror in a position at the end of the hall or room where you can see the whole (or at least the top half) of your body.
Stand at the end of the walking space and walk naturally towards the mirror noting your movements and posture as you walk.
Compare with the dos and don’ts above and adjust your posture if necessary.
When walking, your weight should fall mainly on the balls of your feet, so that your heels lightly touch the ground, with most of the movement coming from your hips and legs. The upper body should remain straight, relaxed and not ‘rock’ from side to side.
Breathing life into your voice:
One of the pillars in learning to use the voice is knowing how to breathe correctly and learning to control your breathing so that it is used optimally when speaking.
When we are born our breathing is naturally correct, babies can breathe, scream and scream with optimal effect because they use their lungs without conscious thought. As we age, some people become lazy in their habits using only the upper part of their lungs, taking a shallow breath instead of a normal one.
Breathe from your belly. Hold one finger close to your lips and exhale slowly, the breath should be warm and moist and you should feel the action of the diaphragm as you exhale.
The stomach area should naturally move in towards the end of the breath, the stomach should not be ‘sucked in’ as this prevents the diaphragm from working effectively. Instead, the abdominal area should remain expanded to the level it was when you inhaled and allow it to gradually decrease naturally at the end of the breath.
Good respiratory support when using your voice for maximum effect requires good posture and abdominal breathing and adding qualities that you feel are desirable, engaging, resonant and congruent with how you naturally communicate. We use our voice so much, why not use it to its full potential, huh?
So today, have some fun using your voice to see how you can get people to respond to you differently, more progressively and positively, and maybe you’ll end up liking the sound of your own voice too!