"I think your work as a coach makes the difference between your books and all the other ones I have read about public speaking - you guide without telling what to do and you work on the person more than the presentation itself - so the work becomes a journey of self-discovery. Thanks"
Dan Howard

This easy-to-read eBook has EVERYTHING you'll need to speak clearly and with authority, passion and confidence

(there is also a special section for speakers who like to sing)

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SAY; IT’S HOW YOU SAY IT
Develop your voice into an asset

– some more info about the eBook by Pete Miller

This eBook has been adapted, revised, improved and enlarged from the audio CD and CD-rom video recordings of ‘5 EASY STEPS TO A FANTASTIC VOICE’.

It is the last media in the series on Voice – I have resisted putting it together until now because, as I make the point in all of the recordings, improving your voice is like learning to swim – you will eventually have to stop reading, put down the book and start exercising - like you will eventually have to jump in the water.

With that said, there is still much to be appreciated in this text. Many people’s preferred learning style is via the eyes rather than the ears; while others like to back-up and consolidate what they hear with the actual words.

A great voice comes from the body – it is a physical process. It cannot be ‘thought’ into existence. Compliment your reading with as much practise as possible. Afterall, we have ample time to apply what we learn since most of us talk all day; and some of us into the night, and even some when we are asleep …

Introduction
You are about to start the same journey of discovery that took me from someone who had a lot of trouble getting people just to listen to me (because of the way I spoke) to now being able to command an audience of hundreds - just with a little knowledge about our number one communication tool; and that of course, is our voice.

I believe that a great voice is everyone’s birthright. It should not be a privilege - enjoyed by a few actors only. However, on that point, an actor is totally useless if they do not possess a flexible and responsive voice.

A great voice is sitting idle in all of us. They say we only use a small part of our brain potential and the same goes for our voice potential. One of the three parts of the brain – the Communication part – just sits there like a library of un-used books – never read. Use these 5 Steps as the ‘key’ to open the library for ever more; never to close.

You don’t have to go out and buy a “Great Voice” software package and then install it in your body; you already have the hardware installed. All you have to do is know how to use it properly. I am writing here about you having great communications skills that really get your message across.

Just to give you confidence that this instruction actually works, my friends will gladly testify to the dreadful sound that I inherited from the tough ocker Aussie environment that I grew up in. “How ya goin’ mate? Good onya!” You can physically see their relief, when I now open my mouth to talk and they’re not confronted by that nasty noise.

The purpose of this book is to introduce the 5 easy steps that I took to change my voice from being an aggressive, nasal and sharp sound to a voice that people now love to listen to and compliment me on its warm and engaging tone.

Like many people, my voice used to work against me. Sadly, it remains the “Achilles heel” for many spokespeople, presenters and trainers and severely limits the potential of what they are trying to say.

If you do speak in public, then your ability to communicate is crucial to the success of your assignment. I believe that at least half of a speakers’ prep time should be spent on content and the other half should be given over to increasing the humanness of the presenter, in other words, control of your body and voice. You can do the Content but let me be your own private voice coach.

On the other hand, many of us spend all day on the telephone, in group meetings or talking one-on-one, all the time using our personal audio fingerprint - in other words, the tone of our voice - to persuade and coerce.

With the help of these short steps that warm up your voice and give you control and confidence, you can start to influence any audience and get them to do and think what you want. Once you can capture an audience with your voice, you’ve got them for good.

From what they hear in your voice, your audience will make strong judgments about you. They decide whether you know what you’re talking about, whether you care about what you’re saying, and whether they should listen.

Your voice not only determines if you will be heard, it gives colour and meaning to your words. And working on a subliminal level, it conveys subtle messages about you as a person.

I started to do these 5 steps in my car because I did - and still do - a lot of live presenting work. As a Compere or Master of Ceremonies, a warm resonant and friendly tone is essential when it comes to moving an audience into action.

When I was an actor, I had the luxury of a big theatre to warm-up my voice, maybe even an hour before the show started; but as a professional public speaker, I am often afforded no such luxury. Now I need to be ready to perform from the moment I get to the venue.

Please keep in mind the reason why this is not a great long series, but neatly contained in this booklet, is because success with your voice is in the “doing” of it (or in other words, the practice), not the “thinking”. You cannot imagine your way to a great voice. The way you sound is a physical, muscular thing – it’s achieved within your body – not your mind! We must all discover the fantastic voice that lies within the body of each one of us.

And of course, we have ample time to rehearse the 5 easy steps to a fantastic voice because we spend such a large part of our like talking!

Please do not attempt a quick vocal warm up without first reading through this book. Besides the quick warm up there is some information for singers, and some specific ideas on how to sound cool, calm and collected when you are performing live on stage. Lots of great advice, collected from many years of study. But I must mention before we start, the influence of three great voice coaches, Mr Seth Riggs and Dr Morton Cooper and Mr Peter Snow. I am indebted to their great open ideas on the possibility of how we all can sound, without the influence of too much science.

Simplicity is the intention to keep in mind here. The moment you begin the 5 steps, you should start to notice a difference. I realise that they might seem incredibly simple, but that is the secret. Remember, the title says 5 EASY steps.

If the body is a house and the eyes are the windows,
then the voice is the door.
Which way do we usually enter a person’s house?

If you do:
One step daily you will feel better
Two steps daily you will notice an improvement;
Three steps daily your friends will notice a difference;
Four steps daily your clients will notice a change;
Five steps daily your bank balance will notice a big difference.

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