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TOASTMASTER LIFE
THE VOICE
Maria Grazia Repetto
I often think back to that lady we had as a guest a
few weeks ago. She had a beautiful, musical, and
unique voice, I was impressed. When we speak,
what do we communicate with the sound of our
voices? Do we ever think about the value of voice?
When we give a speech, we always take care of
which words to use, which gestures, how to appear
in front of the audience, the expression on our
face... but we don’t think about the sound of our
voice.
Yet the sound of the voice is very important when
we communicate.
The sound of our voices is music, a music that we
learn to listen to since we are still in our mother’s
womb. The sound of the voice strikes us even
before words, and each word changes meaning de-
pending on the sound with which we pronounce it.
I remember a young man I knew in my teenage
years. He was a young man like any other, but we
girls were all in love with him. His relationships
were short-lived, there was always some reason for
him to break up with girlfriends. At one point he
asked me for a date as well. I accepted right away.
When he was talking with me his voice was hypnot-
ic. He was not saying anything special or unique,
it was the sound of his voice that was magical: it
didn’t matter what he was saying, his voice was
falling straight into your heart. I would have done
anything he asked me to do. Luckily my mom
stepped in and made sure the relationship ended. I
14 ONE COMMUNITY
hated that, but I recognize now that she was right.
Even today thinking of him, I can’t remember his
words, but I still hear that voice.
The human voice is music; using it in its maximum
expression is art. Our emotions are transmitted,
even before words, by the sound of our voice. The
expressive elements of the sound of the voice are
those of music: tone, tempo, volume, rhythm and,
why not? I would also add smile. The smile is a mu-
sical pause that attracts attention and emphasizes
the rhythm of the speech positively.
And silence also is important, as is sound. It is a
longer, more significant pause between one sound
and another. Sometimes silence is tactical, some-
times it screams more than a shout.
Every voice has its own beauty, just like the sound
of musical instruments. The most beautiful harmo-
ny in the world has always been the sound of the
voice of the person we love.
I’ve read here and there suggestions on how to im-
prove your voice: drink plenty of water to hydrate
your vocal cords, maintain correct body position,
don’t use only the upper part of your lungs, but
breathe deeply, just like professional singers do.
It’s also always a good idea to warm up your voice
before introducing yourself for a speech by alter-
nating humming with deep yawns. There are also
three other points we should pay attention to:
Monotony: a monotonous voice is boring and
makes people fall asleep.