Loud & Clear! Vocal Coach for Confident Speaking at Interviews!
Interviews can rapidly become high-pressure situations, as you have to face a panel of strangers to justify why you are the right person for the job. This article explores using your voice effectively in an interview to project confidence and authority.
When preparing for interviews, most people focus on the content of their responses and overlook the importance of delivery. While doing your research to learn more about the position and formulate answers to potential questions is vital, you also want to complement this research with work on your delivery.
Your voice is a powerful tool that can help you project confidence, authority, and credibility in an interview. By understanding how to use your voice effectively, you can make a strong impression on your interviewers and increase your chances of landing the job. Moreover, your interviewer will want to see how you handle stressful situations and sound under pressure.
Thankfully, you can hack your voice to sound more confident in an interview by following a few simple tips.
Vocal Advice for Interviews-Hack Your Voice
As I have hinted above, interviews are one form of high-pressure performance aimed at convincing your interviewers that you are the right person for the job by communicating your strengths, skills, and experience in the most favourable light possible.
Your voice is crucial to this performance, as it is your primary tool for conveying your message. As such, it is essential to use your voice effectively by following these tips:
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Pay attention to your posture
Your posture plays a significant role in how your voice sounds. If you are slouching, your vocal cords will be constricted, making your voice sound less confident. On the other hand, if you sit up straight, your vocal cords will be more relaxed, resulting in a fuller, richer-sounding voice.
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Speak at a moderate pace
If you speak too slowly, you will sound unsure of yourself. On the other hand, if you talk too quickly, you will come across as nervous or too excited. While there’s nothing wrong with being a little nervous in an interview, you want to avoid sounding like you are about to jump out of your skin.
Speaking at a moderate pace strikes the right balance between these extremes and makes you sound confident, calm, and in control.
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Find the middle range of your voice
Most people speak in a high-pitched, breathy or low, monotone voice, which communicates either anxiety or lack of confidence, neither of which are desirable in an interview.
Instead, you want to find the middle range of your voice, which will make you sound more balanced and confident. This is not always easy, as it requires you to be aware of the pitch of your voice. However, with practice, it will become second nature.
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Treat your interview as a performance
Prior to your interview, take some time to practice by filming yourself and recording your voice. Pay attention to how you walked into the room, how you sat down, your posture and your tone of voice.
Did you recline or fidget? Were you speaking too quickly or slowly? Did you find the middle range of your voice?
By treating your interview as a performance, you can hack your voice to sound more confident, poised, and professional.
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Note your key points
This is not about reciting or memorising a script; instead, it is about having key points you want to ensure you hit during the interview. This will be based on your research of the company and the position you are interviewing for.
By having a few key points in mind, you can stay focused and avoid rambling, making you sound confident and in control.
Hack Your Voice-Case Study
I recently worked with Alice, who worked in the theatre world and is now in the corporate sector. Her natural speaking voice was high-pitched and breathy, which made her sound nervous and animated. Although her nervous/passionate energy was charming on stage, it wouldn’t translate well in a boardroom.
The first thing I always do with clients is to conduct a vocal assessment to see where their natural speaking voice is. This allows me to identify the key areas we need to work on.
In Alice’s case, I noticed she had a high-pitched voice. While there’s nothing wrong with that, she needed to learn to speak in other ranges depending on the situation. For example, if she’s giving a presentation to clients, she’ll want to use a more moderate and authoritative range to project confidence.
Following my vocal assessment, we worked on finding her middle range by doing a decent exercise. This involved her slowly going from a high pitch to a moderate pitch. We then treated the interview as a performance by using her middle pitch voice, maintaining eye contact, and paying attention to her posture. Lastly, we focused on the key points she wanted to communicate in the interview.
Hack Your Voice to Sound More Confident
When it comes to job interviews, confidence is key. That said, many people need to realise that their voice plays a significant role in conveying confidence. Although you might not naturally have a deep, authoritative voice, there are things you can do to hack your voice and sound more confident.
You can follow the tips above to get started. However, if you want a bespoke solution tailored to your specific needs— this is where I can help. Get in touch for more information.