For a few years now internet marketers have been able to not care too much about their own personal appearance or the sound of their voice. As long as there was one presentable photo (often taken years ago 🙂 ) the words on the site were all that mattered.
Things have changed in the last few months though and the increasing need to use audio and video on websites mean that internet marketers have to consider their visual and oral appeal if they are going to use these powerful tools.
I went to a website of a guy (I won’t name him for fairly obvious reasons) who I have learned so much from over the years. For the first time I heard his voice. I just couldn’t believe what I was listening to – his accent was aweful and delivery was dull, flat and totally uninspiring. If I had not known better I would have left the site in a flash.
I have been doing some audio recording myself recently and know how difficult it is to just talk to yourself into a microphone BUT I am improving. Just as with any skill it takes time and some effort to get things right.
I found that if I read from a script – it sounded just like that – read from a script.
If I went at it on the fly – quite a few umms and urrs slipped in.
Your voice is very much like a fingerprint and it conveys so much more than your written word.
Your voice is a persuasive power. . . use it!
An ugly voice turns people away as effectively as does a dirty body. Public relations status, and person-to-person relationships, are dependent upon the personality you present each day. Remember that your voice CAN be appealing.
It CAN be persuasive if you utilize the unique power of using words to your advantage.
Your voice can be a stimulant. It can be a depressant, a hypnotic, or a press agent. It can calm people in pain or excite them. It can convince those who have a lot at stake to act against their better judgment. It can turn suggestion into command and elicit cooperation when all other efforts have failed. It can convert to action.
Your Voice can be your power!
Spoken words reveal attitudes. They spotlight a thought and the very tone of words may imply what words themselves do not say.
Because 95 per cent of all human beings misuse their voices, they often say what they have to say in a manner they later regret. They misuse their voices and it is this misuse of tone, rather then content, which is so often misconstrued.
This means that a voice which is monotonous, lacks vitality, flows without end, is emotionless, carries negative inflections, or is scratchy or loud, is bound to be irritating to people. You simply don’t get through when this happens.
If your voice is dull, people expect that you will be dull. If your voice is gravelly, rough or uncouth, people classify you as gravelly, rough or uncouth.
So although you can and should use audio and video on your site be sure that the voice used is not working against you. It is best to test your efforts out on a few people and see what their comments are. As in all Internet Marketing – test – test – and test again.
ARE You HARMING YOUR SUCCESS CHANCES WITH AN IRRITATING VOICE?
The kinds of voices which annoy people:
Apathetic voices
Booming voices
Emotionless voices
Gutteral voices
harsh voices
Hissing voices
Loud voices
Monotonous voices
Nasal voices
Rapid-speaking voices
Scratchy voices
Shrill yoices
Very soft voices
Voices begging sympathy and whining
Voices filled with poor grammar
Voices filled with slang and profanity
Voices without articulation
Voices without breath control
Voices with downward inflections
Words interspersed by gulping, smoking, eating, blowing, and so forth.
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