What does power sound like?
I’m not talking about the roar of a jet engine or a booming thunderstorm. I mean the sound of personal power — the sound of your voice.
If you’ve ever taken a course in public speaking, there seems to be some consistent advice when it comes to commanding a room: speak “low and steady,” avoid “upspeak” (ending sentences in a higher pitch, like when asking a question), omit filler words such as “um” and “like,” and, by all means, avoid sounding “emotional” at any cost.
Apparently leaders never use an unnecessary “like” or apologize too much or speak quietly. Apparently this is how we must sound if we want to be powerful, if we want to be taken seriously and respected — if we ever want to be successful.
If this is how you naturally speak, great. But for the rest of us — especially women, people of color, immigrants and LGBTQ folks who face increased vocal scrutiny — these traditional standards of power speech are often unattainable.
But the sound of power is changing, according to vocal coach Samara Bay, whose new book “Permission to Speak” makes the daring proposition that “when we change the story of what power sounds like, we change who has power.”
Bay, who has coached CEOs, celebrities, TED Talkers and political candidates, says sometimes sounding powerful means breaking bad vocal habits developed as self-preservation mechanics (like vocal fry and upspeak) that no longer serve their intended purpose.
Habits are not formed in a vacuum, and they can’t be broken in one either. According to Bay, breaking those habits and “normalizing vocal drama” needs to be a collective effort to address a global problem — as is solidifying the myriad ways to sound, and be, powerful.
“Keep track of those who speak up in voices that seem entirely unconcerned about the old standards, who just say what they came to say,” Bay writes. “Listen for them and think of them as stars mapping the new sound of power across the sky.”
