Last week, we considered whether your voice attracts or repels others. This week, i am going to focus on how to make your voice more attractive.

I clearly remember the first time i heard an audio recording of my voice, i was at primary school. I was shocked; it didn't sound at all like the voice in my head; i had a nasal voice! It took hearing my voice to motivate me to change it. It didn't help that i suffered from hayfever and asthma. It wasn't until i was at college that i managed to improve the quality of my voice and it wasn't until my mid- late 20s that i finally understood how to do so without losing my voice every time i delivered group lessons or workshops.

In the following video, i teach a series of vocal warm up exercises to improve your voice.

Here are some more precise recommendations to solve specific issues:

Nasal voice: lower your bottom jaw and hum. Move your lower jaw backwards and forwards to shift the resonance into the throat. When speaking, remember to activate the muscles in your lower jaw in order to stop the air passing too harshly over your vocal chords- in the warm up, i call this exercise 'stifling a smile'. 

A soft voice: this can be of particular concern to men. Focusing on expansion and stifling a smile will improve the instrument that is your voice. If you think about the casing of a guitar, for instance, it is hard and thus produces a strong sound. Imagine what a rubber guitar would sound like... Be careful to expand the throat and cavities at the back of the mouth rather than tensing them because tensing will mean that there is less space for the sound to resonate in.

Remember that the warm up is an exaggerated version of what is required. Just practicing the exercises before speaking will improve your voice because once you are more aware of your physiology, you will find it easier to control where the sound resonates.

Finally, remember that these exercises are about making the best of your voice. Your physiology will impact the final result. For instance, if you have an overbite, your teeth aren't correctly aligned, which means that you don't have enough space in your mouth for your tongue, which makes it hard to pronounce consonant sounds, such as 't'. Making a conscious effort to somewhat re-align your top and lower jaw when talking can make a big impact here.

For best results, practice the warm up exercises in this video daily:

Short vocal warm up for clear speech and strong resonance from Francesca Gordon-Smith on Vimeo.

Whether you like it or not, your voice categorises you. It speaks volumes about who you are and how you feel. It gives people an idea of where you're from and whether you are switched on and emotionally balanced. When someone picks up the phone to you, they will quickly read in between the lines and assess what kind of person you are and whether they want to interact with you.

This whole process is holistic, so ideally we work not just on the voice, but mindset as well, so that when you communicate your voice and emotions are in alignment and saying the same thing.

For further information about training in spoken communication and mindset, contact Francesca directly:

Anxiety is a state that comes from within. Yes, of course external factors play a part, but the final decision as to whether you feel anxious is yours. Anxiety can be very useful, as it acts as a warning signal; If you feel anxious about an upcoming commitment, it usually means that something needs to be changed. If you need to pack for your holiday, the anxiety serves as a reminder to finish your packing. If you have a public speaking engagement coming up, perhaps the anxiety is a reminder that you need to prepare your speech. If you have been invited to your ex's wedding, then the anxiety may just be a warning sign that you shouldn't go! Only you can decipher your anxiety. Ask yourself BOLD questions and you will receive BOLD answers.

If your anxiety relates to things outside your control or you struggle to find a rational explanation for it, then my latest hypnotherapy audio may be just what you are looking for. Let go of anxiety now is available on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon music.

Anxiety is an emotion like any other. Some people are better than dealing with it than others.

In this video, I explain how to let go of anxiety and rapidly change the way you live your life.

Please do forward this blog on to family and friends if you feel they would benefit from these insights too.

I first experienced the power of hypnotherapy just after graduating when i took a job in public relations. I was feeling the pressure and it was having a negative impact on my health. I took a train from Victoria to a little town south of London. I went with an open mind; i was optimistic and ready; the perfect mindset for a successful outcome.

After the first session, i returned home feeling calmer already. I was getting ready for bed when i discovered the first shift. For two years or more, i had had a red mark on my shin the size of a 50 pence piece; it looked a little like a cross between eczema and a blood blister- it didn't hurt or itch, but i had visited the doctor to see if i could remedy it, in vain. To my great surprise and utter disbelief, it had vanished completely! I stared at the place it had been, i even checked the other leg to make sure i wasn't mistaken; nothing; it had healed. Not once had i mentioned this to the hypnotherapist; it wasn't something that i considered to have been a product of my mind. I had suffered from eczema as a child and had just accepted it.

At this stage, i didn't entertain the idea of becoming a hypnotherapist, but the experience did open my mind to the power of our thoughts and i began reading about the unconscious. A few years later when i began offering lessons in spoken communication, i recognised that a therapeutic offering would really complement the practical training that i was already providing. I chose Neuro Linguistic Programming and Hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is great if you are someone who wants to surrender to a process and not become too involved yourself. Conversely, Neuro linguistic programming is perfect for those who prefer to participate actively in the session. I like both as they are very solution focused and only require a brief explanation of the problem before moving away from it; most people find this to be a great relief.

If you are interested in experiencing hypnotherapy or sharing this wonderful tool with friends and family over Christmas; i have just released my first hypnotherapy audio on iTunes and Amazon.

If you like it, please do leave me a review and share the link with friends and family.

For sometime now, i have intended to provide an alternative to face-to-face or skype lessons in accent reduction. My 6 month one-to-one course in accent reduction has proved a great success. Yet, i can't help thinking that i could work more effectively in order to help more people to improve their speech. To this end, i am creating a course that has been long awaited by many. A digital course in accent reduction. This does not replace one-to-one lessons, but can be taken as an alternative or alongside Skype lessons. I am now in the final editing phase and intend to launch the programme in the next two weeks.

This course is for anyone who would like to transform their accent or speak in a more polished manner. It is for both native speakers and those learning English as a foreign or second language. In addition to covering the 44 sounds presented in the international phonetic index, i also cover vocal projection, resonace, warm up exercises and mindset. Anyone who has taken Skype lessons with me, will be familiar with the course style and delivery. Having said this, almost all the content is new.

I am currently releasing sneak previews of the course via YouTube. Here is one such video:

People often come to me to learn how to communicate more confidently. Everyone has a different agenda; for some this could mean learning to say what they mean with their partner, family or colleagues, for others it is all about reducing their accent and learning to speak with clarity and confidence. Occasionally, I am asked how to present via video and this is something I take great pleasure in sharing.

I love working on this last one because I know how difficult it was for me to start with! To be honest, some of my early videos could do with being deleted J

After years of practice, I can now just be myself on video and speak freely without needing to over prepare or practice. So, how did I manage to achieve this?

Effective preparation is key here. I ALWAYS ask myself a few questions before starting:

1. What is my topic?
2. Who is my audience?
3. What are my objectives?

If you consider this blog, for instance, the answers to the above questions would be as follows:

1. The title says it ALL
2. People who want to learn to make videos without over preparing and to appear natural
3. To enable my listeners to present themselves authentically via video

Here is how to do it:

1. Brainstorm your idea; make a few notes if this works for you
2. Once you know exactly what you want to say, create a mind map. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, or need to upgrade your skills here, check out:http://www.tonybuzan.com/about/mind-mapping/. Make sure you use as few words as possible and lots of pictures and different colours to make it memorable (images are easier to remember).
3. Spend some time looking at your mind map. Look at it, taking in the entire presentation as a whole and then look away. Do this several times until you can ‘see’ the whole presentation in your minds eye.
4. The very most important tip is to forget that you are speaking to a camera and to imagine that you are speaking to your target audience; have one specific person or group of people in mind, if it helps.

To start with, you may find that it takes a few attempts, but when practiced regularly, this process will enable you to make authentic videos of you being yourself whilst presenting your message clearly and concisely. 

Here is an example of me doing just that!

After today’s session with a client, I’ve been mulling over the fact that confidence is different things for different people. For those that it eludes, it can be a case of them having a fear that over shadows their best self. For those who feel confident most of the time- I don’t think anyone can be at their best 24/7, but for those who feel mostly ‘great’, I believe that it is all down to what they focus on. A positive person focuses on positive things, a fearful person focuses on their fears. What does a confident person focus on?

This varies from person to person. For today’s client it was ‘fear of being judged’ and ‘stress’ on the negative side, versus ‘determination’ and ‘ feeling relaxed’ on the confident side. For him, it was a case of realising that both emotions were simply habits and that both had his best interests at heart; to succeed. He was then able to let the ‘stress’ go and to let the ‘determination’ take over.

In short, whatever we focus on, we get more of. So, its ‘fear’ or ‘confidence’, you choose!