Weekly Voice Insights #113 — It's Now or Never!

The Freedom to Try Something New!

As I prepare for my symposium session at ProjectSummit*Business Analyst World in Boston next week, I've been reconsidering something I've been doing regularly. At the end of my presentation, The Power of Your Voice, I sing the first verse of Stephen Foster's Beautiful Dreamer. I've deliberately placed it at the end because of what participants have experienced during the session.

Throughout the presentation, participants explore how they use their voices. We experiment with intention, breath, and tone, beginning with something as simple as the word “YO.” By changing the pitch, intention, and breath pressure behind that single syllable, participants begin to recognize how breath pressure influences volume and how the voice can communicate intention independently of the emotional meaning of the words themselves.

After they've had an opportunity to experiment with breath pressure and their own voices, I sing. I can take them through the Developing Your Authentic Voice pathway using the song as a demonstration. Singing slows the process down. The words are sustained longer than they would be in ordinary speech, the rhythm is slower, and the use of breath pressure becomes more apparent. Singing is also a more athletic use of the voice, making it easier to recognize how intention, breath, tone, and connection work together. Because participants have already experienced these elements themselves, they can now hear and observe them in a different way.

While I'm singing, I also encourage participants to consider questions about how they might apply these ideas to their own communication. I usually reserve 10 to 15 minutes at the end for questions, and in Chicago there were quite a few. When participants describe specific situations in which they might use these skills, I can connect the information we've just explored to situations they may actually be encountering.

One of the other speakers who attended that session told me how strongly he responded to the singing and suggested that I consider moving it to the beginning of the presentation.

I've considered opening with singing before, but I've deliberately avoided it because I was concerned it might make the session feel too performative. Yet I've also been paying attention to how other speakers begin their presentations. Some use humor, others create an evocative moment, and several keynotes I've attended have been quite theatrical. Those openings can engage participants immediately, and I've begun questioning why I haven't been making greater use of something I already know how to do.

What if I begin with part of Beautiful Dreamer? It's a relatively quiet song, with a beautiful text and a melody that many people will recognize. After singing part of the first verse, I could ask participants a few questions about what they've just heard. What did they notice about how I prepared to sing each phrase? What did they notice about the pauses and the pace of the singing? How did the sound of my voice contribute to what I was expressing? Was there a particular word or phrase that caught their attention, and what made it stand out?

That would give us something specific to work from before we begin the exercises. It would also introduce the four pillars of my Developing Your Authentic Voice pathway: intention, breath, tone, and connection. Participants would hear those elements in the song before we begin examining them individually through their own voices.

Then, near the end of the presentation, before the Q&A, I'm thinking about bringing back something I used during a keynote at BA & Beyond in Copenhagen. I performed a mashup of 'O Sole Mio and It's Now or Never, using an Elvis karaoke accompaniment track. Since It's Now or Never uses the melody of the Italian song, I can move between the two languages within the same performance. It sits higher in my vocal range than Beautiful Dreamer, giving me more natural volume and energy. The Italian vowels allow for a more open, sustained sound, while the English requires different articulation and phrasing. These physical differences become much more pronounced in this kind of singing. After participants have explored breath pressure, pitch, and intention through their own voices, they would have an opportunity to observe those same elements in a more athletic and expansive use of my voice.

I've found feedback from participants particularly useful when considering changes to my presentations. I use a feedback form, and I'm often interested in what people choose to comment on, which exercises they remember, and the questions they raise after experiencing the presentation. Their responses help me recognize what they've taken away and give me ideas about what I might do differently the next time.

I have an opportunity in Boston to make a choice. I can deliver the presentation in a way that I know works, or I can take a chance on something different. There's a line in It's Now or Never about spending a lifetime waiting for the right time. Well, the opportunity is here, and I'm taking it!

I'll have a chance to see how this works next week, and I'll let you know how it goes.(ooolala!)

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