Episode 138
Stop Saying Um: 6 Voice Techniques That Make You Sound Like a Pro
"Do I really sound like that?"
After editing thousands of hours of podcast content at Bamby Media, I can tell you this reaction is universal. It’s so common to have that moment of vocal horror when you hear your recorded voice for the first time. The way you think you sound can often be very different to how you actually sound, and it can be really confronting.
Maybe you’re a mumbler, speed talker, “ummmm”er or you’re just boring as hell. It’s all valid, and I’ve heard it all.
The good news? Most vocal issues that make you cringe are completely fixable with the right techniques. In this videdo I will give you some tips to help you out.
CHAPTER MARKERS:
00:00 Introduction: Overcoming Voice Insecurities
00:22 Warm-Up Techniques for a Better Sound
00:48 Common Voice Issues and How to Fix Them
02:05 Slowing Down Your Speech
04:59 The Power of Pausing
07:06 Improving Your Vocal Tone
10:42 Using Melody in Your Voice
12:35 Learning from the Experts
13:43 Conclusion and Final Tips
BAMBY MEDIA LINKS:
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Transcript
Oh my God, I sound awful.
Speaker:Do I really sound like that?
Speaker:I sound so bad.
Speaker:These are the comments that I get in my emails from clients when they've
Speaker:recorded something and they're like, oh God, I hate the way I sound.
Speaker:How do I fix this?
Speaker:We went through in a separate video where I spoke to you about just the little
Speaker:techniques that you can do to actually warm up your voice, because that's a very
Speaker:important part of actually having a sound that you like in your podcast episode.
Speaker:Your videos or your audio book, all those techniques in the warmup are key.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:So watch that first or listen to that first.
Speaker:Once you've done that, then we can move on to the things that
Speaker:could definitely help you actually sound better in your recordings.
Speaker:There are a lot of things that people get agitated about when
Speaker:they listen back to themselves.
Speaker:And in fact, we have had clients that that's why they start working with us.
Speaker:'cause they're like, oh my gosh, I don't want to edit myself because
Speaker:I can't stand listening to myself.
Speaker:I want someone else to produce it so that I never have to hear it.
Speaker:That's valid.
Speaker:You can do that, that's fine.
Speaker:But if you are not in that space, if you can't afford to outsource all your things
Speaker:and you need to edit it yourself, you've gotta get a bit more comfortable with.
Speaker:The actual way you sound.
Speaker:Some things you can't fix.
Speaker:Some things are just your voice and that is more of a, like you, being confident
Speaker:and comfortable with who you are as a person and the way you sound as a person.
Speaker:Some of those things are little intricacies of your actual voice
Speaker:that will always be there, that are, are part of your voice.
Speaker:And let's say for example.
Speaker:English is a second language and you are struggling with the
Speaker:way you sound speaking English.
Speaker:That is not really something that you can change that much
Speaker:over a short period of time.
Speaker:If you are trying to improve the way you sound in English, and maybe you
Speaker:have an accent, this is not the video for you because that's not something
Speaker:I have any skills in, but do know that it, it does take considerable
Speaker:training to train out an accent.
Speaker:If we think about this now.
Speaker:The first thing that most people hate is the fact that they talk really fast.
Speaker:We can definitely fix that.
Speaker:Talking really fast can be because you literally aren't breathing,
Speaker:you're not breathing enough.
Speaker:We went through that in the previous episode and video as well.
Speaker:You need to relax in order to get the pace that you want.
Speaker:Giving you an example here.
Speaker:If I'm all hyped up, let's say I'm gonna talk about myself.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Brianna.
Speaker:I'm the head of BA Media.
Speaker:We're a podcast and video production company.
Speaker:We work with founders of brands and we help them produce podcasts for
Speaker:their brands to help their podcast grow and their thought leadership.
Speaker:See how fast that was?
Speaker:Like that was really fast and also made me feel a bit manic like when
Speaker:I'm actually talking, that's too fast.
Speaker:How is someone going to listen to that and take in all the information?
Speaker:They're not, they're gonna feel like you are uncomfortable, and so
Speaker:that's gonna make them uncomfortable.
Speaker:And then probably turn you off.
Speaker:The way to combat that is to just slow down, is to actually put like
Speaker:a post-it note or something so that you remind yourself to slow down.
Speaker:If we try that same sort of thing again, let's say I'm gonna talk
Speaker:about myself, which is one of the hardest things for people to do.
Speaker:They don't like talking about themselves.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Brianna.
Speaker:I'm the head honcho here at Bambi Media.
Speaker:We're a podcast and video production company.
Speaker:We are based in Australia, but we have clients that we work with.
Speaker:All over the world.
Speaker:We work with founders of brands, helping them build their thought leadership,
Speaker:their personal brands, through the power of podcasting and video production.
Speaker:How is that as a reference to the other one?
Speaker:I got out what I was going to say more.
Speaker:It also allowed me to think about what I wanted to say more
Speaker:because I was talking slower.
Speaker:So it allowed for me to process what it was that I wanted to say before I said it.
Speaker:And again, this is a skill.
Speaker:It's not something that you'll be good at straight away.
Speaker:You may need dot points.
Speaker:This is what I'm gonna say next, and then this.
Speaker:And then this.
Speaker:That's okay.
Speaker:That's fine.
Speaker:It's not a great idea to use a teleprompter if you can avoid it or
Speaker:to have too many notes or scripting.
Speaker:The more you have a teleprompter or scripting, the more options there are for
Speaker:you to actually speed through the content because you're just reading it and then
Speaker:it starts to feel and sound like you're reading it, and that's not genuine at all.
Speaker:I have no notes here.
Speaker:I have no script.
Speaker:I have no nothing.
Speaker:I'm just talking to you like you are someone in my house, in my studio.
Speaker:I'm talking to you like I would a friend and it's okay if I stuff up.
Speaker:It's okay if I say some words that I don't necessarily wanna
Speaker:say because they'll be edited out.
Speaker:That's the point of editing.
Speaker:That's why editing is, is such a good thing.
Speaker:If you can afford to actually have it edited.
Speaker:That's the first thing.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:We wanna breathe.
Speaker:And then we wanna actually be really cognizant of the fact that
Speaker:we need to slow down when we talk.
Speaker:And some of the ways that you can build in the slowness is actually just pausing.
Speaker:There's a pause right there.
Speaker:So when you pause, that allows for space that allows for you to feel like you have
Speaker:taken ownership on what you're saying.
Speaker:And the listener, it actually gives them a moment to go, oh.
Speaker:This person's intriguing.
Speaker:This person feels different from other people 'cause they've paused and
Speaker:they're not thinking that necessarily.
Speaker:Like, they're not like, Ooh, this person, blah.
Speaker:It's, it's like a subconscious thing that they're actually perceiving you
Speaker:in that way because you have pause.
Speaker:So using pauses when you're podcasting, when you have videos, uh, that you're
Speaker:recording, when you're doing audio books, the power of the pause is huge.
Speaker:It is so big, and it will also actually stop you from saying, um, and uh, because
Speaker:you've paused instead, the power of the pause is so much better than the power
Speaker:of an, um, when someone says, um, and especially when they say too many of
Speaker:them, it makes them sound a bit like.
Speaker:They don't know what they're talking about.
Speaker:They don't feel like they're as much of a thought leader, I suppose, especially when
Speaker:I come across that and I'm seeing that, you know, in podcast episodes or videos
Speaker:and there's just saying I'm all the time.
Speaker:I'm like, man, just take a break.
Speaker:Just take a pause.
Speaker:You will come off so much more confident if you take out the, um,
Speaker:and you replace it with a pause.
Speaker:So that's my next tip.
Speaker:Replace the um, with a pause.
Speaker:And allow yourself that, just silence that feels awkward because the silence
Speaker:that to you feels awkward is actually powerful to the person listening
Speaker:and to the person watching you.
Speaker:And if the pause is too long, you can just tighten it up
Speaker:and just edit it a little bit.
Speaker:That's completely fine, but you can't really lengthen.
Speaker:Something if you've spoken too fast or if you put too, too many ums in,
Speaker:especially with video, trying to cut out all those ums is an absolute nightmare.
Speaker:So just pause.
Speaker:Just take a pause, relax, and chill.
Speaker:And you'll be fine.
Speaker:The next thing we're gonna talk about is the actual tone of your voice.
Speaker:So people saying that they sound boring.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:That is also something like a monotonous tone.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So this is an example of a monotonous tone.
Speaker:So I've got these microphones here in front of me.
Speaker:I've got a dj, I, uh, mic.
Speaker:I've got a. DJI, Mike Mini, although that's the other way around.
Speaker:Sorry, that's the Mike Mini and this is the DDJI.
Speaker:Big one, and I've got a road.
Speaker:This thing, it's so hard for me to be monotone, right?
Speaker:That's so boring.
Speaker:I wanna go to sleep.
Speaker:It's putting me to sleep.
Speaker:Instead of that, what I want you to do is actually, now I'm talking
Speaker:to you, my cheekbones are up.
Speaker:This is something that we learn as singers, as vocalists, to
Speaker:have your cheekbones up, it means that you're kind of smiling.
Speaker:You're smiling as you're talking, and that gives you more energy as a speaker,
Speaker:and it actually makes you come across more energetic to the person listening.
Speaker:More bubbly, more excitable, just a bit more fun.
Speaker:It's more than I would be if I was talking to someone on a couch next to me.
Speaker:I wouldn't be like.
Speaker:Hey, here's my cheekbones, you know?
Speaker:But there's like, there's an element of it.
Speaker:I still do it most of the time when I'm talking because I want
Speaker:to appear more enthusiastic, and I am a very enthusiastic person.
Speaker:So I use my cheekbones and a smiley sort of vibe to the way I talk, so
Speaker:that I come across in a way that people are excited to listen to.
Speaker:So if we do the same thing again right now.
Speaker:I've got in my hand the DJI MIC mini, although this case is quite big for what
Speaker:you would think is a mini microphone.
Speaker:And then I've got this other one here.
Speaker:This is the DJI MIC Pro and I also have this other little one here.
Speaker:This is the Road Mic Mini.
Speaker:I'm yet to review and battle all of these together.
Speaker:That is a video that's coming soon.
Speaker:FYI.
Speaker:Can you hear the difference between that?
Speaker:I would hope so.
Speaker:A lot of the time you're probably listening and looking
Speaker:at that and being like.
Speaker:Of course they need to speak with more energy, but the amount of people
Speaker:that don't, their default is no, the default is they don't do it.
Speaker:That is something that is a skill that you have to develop.
Speaker:So instead of coming with the frown, like the, the sad eyes and the no.
Speaker:No cheek bones up and they're just kind of you, your resting bitch face instead
Speaker:of coming like that, which is the, you know, it's your normal face, that's fine,
Speaker:but it's not how you present for camera.
Speaker:You present for camera by, uh, cheekbones up.
Speaker:Maybe my eyebrows are up a little bit and I'm just.
Speaker:Presenting in a way that is a little bit more engaging to the person
Speaker:actually watching and listening to me.
Speaker:Even if you're not recording video, this is a very good habit to get
Speaker:into because you sound better, you just sound better, right?
Speaker:You sound clearer.
Speaker:You have more space inside of your mouth because your cheekbones are up.
Speaker:Your palette is more open and you will just have a better experience overall.
Speaker:So that's my next thing, right?
Speaker:You've got some breathing techniques to slow you down to improve your pace.
Speaker:We've got some pausing happening so that you're not uming and ahing all
Speaker:over the place and that you are building that thought leadership by having the
Speaker:pause, the power of the pause, and then you are using your cheekbones and a
Speaker:smile face to actually improve the way you sound to get rid of the monotone.
Speaker:These are the keys.
Speaker:These are the big things that people often don't think about when they are.
Speaker:Recording and it's a lot of the reason why they think they sound
Speaker:bad is because of those things.
Speaker:The other thing that we can do, and you may have noticed I've been doing
Speaker:throughout this whole thing, we use like a melody to the way we talk.
Speaker:So instead of it being like, I'm just the same note, this is the same note
Speaker:that I'm talking, that will mean that I sound monotone because I'm just using
Speaker:basically the same note all the time.
Speaker:Instead, we create a melody to the way we talk, where we go up and we
Speaker:go down and we go up and we go down.
Speaker:So that you sound more interesting.
Speaker:See?
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:I went down more.
Speaker:Interesting.
Speaker:If you're trying to get your point across.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:I went up point across.
Speaker:Then you come down after that.
Speaker:Today I am gonna talk about this microphone right here
Speaker:and why it's not very good.
Speaker:So I went up here and then I went.
Speaker:Not very good.
Speaker:So we've got use of tone, use of actual melody in the way we sound to make you
Speaker:sound more fun, to make you sound like you know what you're talking about.
Speaker:More to make you sound like they want to keep listening to you
Speaker:because you have a nice feel.
Speaker:You have a nice sound.
Speaker:I mean, I hope that that's the way you feel when you're
Speaker:listening and watching me.
Speaker:Right now, I have a tonality that.
Speaker:Makes you feel warm, makes you feel comfortable, makes you feel like
Speaker:you wanna keep listening to me.
Speaker:And that's from these things that we've gone through.
Speaker:Play with this inflection, play with this tone, play with this melody in your
Speaker:voice, and it's not gonna be something that you're good at straight away.
Speaker:And sometimes you go overboard too, where it's then you start
Speaker:going up all the time and then.
Speaker:You wanna go down and like it's too much.
Speaker:So you'll have to find a middle ground where you start to present in a way
Speaker:where you're not giving it too much energy and making it sound really weird.
Speaker:Uh, you'll get better at that over time the more you do it, but
Speaker:it's something to be aware of.
Speaker:You need to have melody in your voice.
Speaker:I would also recommend that you watch some other people or listen to, if you
Speaker:have other people that you listen to and you watch on YouTube or podcasts
Speaker:or whatever, listen to them and listen.
Speaker:Not to what they're saying, but the way they're saying it.
Speaker:Simon Sinek is a, is a really good example.
Speaker:I really like the way he speaks and he's got a lot of power in the way he presents.
Speaker:He uses a lot of pause.
Speaker:He also uses a lot of melody in the way he speaks as well, so that again,
Speaker:he's a thought leader in his space.
Speaker:I'm very sure of what he's saying based on the way that
Speaker:he's presenting the information.
Speaker:So make a little list of some people that you really find powerful.
Speaker:In your industry or in your field or people that you wanna learn
Speaker:from and listen to the way they talk, not what they're saying,
Speaker:but the way they're speaking.
Speaker:And then you'll be able to, based on this episode, this video that I've just
Speaker:shared with you, find and, and, and kind of recognize the tools that they're
Speaker:using to improve the way they sound.
Speaker:And you'll be able to then emulate that and try those things for yourself.
Speaker:I really hope that this was very helpful for you.
Speaker:I'm very passionate about helping people sound better and feel more confident in
Speaker:their voices, and so if I've helped one person today, that would be amazing.
Speaker:If you have some comments, if you have any, like particular, uh, what about this?
Speaker:I have this particular really annoying thing that I do.
Speaker:Just put it in the comments and maybe I'll do a video on how to
Speaker:address that particular concern.
Speaker:Or if I don't know.
Speaker:I can certainly refer you to some fantastic public speaking coaches
Speaker:and voice coaches that will help you through any particular challenges
Speaker:that I can't help you with as well.
Speaker:That's it for this video.
Speaker:That's it for this podcast episode.
Speaker:I hope you have enjoyed it and have a wonderful day.
Speaker:See how I went down at the end?
Speaker:Do that as well.
Speaker:Bye.
