Set Your Voice Free: How to Get the Singing or Speaking Voice You Want

by Roger Love

Return to the speak-singing exercise we did earlier, your ten to twelve lines of written conversation, and this time break the sentences into phrases that each convey important parts of your message. For instance, if your thought is “Helen, I want to go out with you…,” you might break it into “Helen / I want to go out with you / we’ll talk / we’ll get to know each other / after all / it’s you / you’re the only one / the only one I want.” Before you can speak-sing it, you need to know what kind of song this is. If it’s a love song, you’ll deliver it differently than a children’s song, emphasizing different words, and of course adding very different emotions. Often we don’t stop to consider the emotional weight we want our words to carry because we’re so focused on the words themselves. It’s helpful to ask: If this speech/talk/conversation were a song, what kind of song would it be? That’s the same as asking, “What kind of energy do I want this communication to have?” Is it a stirring inspirational hymn? Rousing march? If you liken your speech to the Michigan fight song instead of a folksy country tune, you’ll help yourself produce a very specific effect.