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One of the hottest topics[br]in courses and books nowadays,

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with regard to leadership communication,

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is the concept of executive presence.

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What does it mean? How do you define it?

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And can it be taught or learned?

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The Center for Talent Innovation[br]identified three main pillars of it:

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appearance, communication[br]skills, and gravitas.

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Gravitas means things like[br]"Do your words have teeth?",

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"Are you able to make[br]the tough decisions and stick with them?"

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One of the missing pieces

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when you think about what's integrated[br]really between the lines of broad concepts

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like communication skills and gravitas

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is vocal executive presence, as I call it.

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It's the missing link.

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How do you sound when you're making[br]those tough decisions?

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Does your delivery reinforce your message[br]and establish the image that you want?

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Or does it undermine it?

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What happens if I'm trying to diffuse[br]a tense situation and I say:

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"OK, everybody just calm down now,[br]we need to reevaluate the situation."

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At worst, I'm just adding[br]fuel to the fire,

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and at best, you may later on[br]gently suggest that I switched to decaf.

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It's about how we connect.

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I end up working a lot with people

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who are preparing for presentations[br]and for press conferences,

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and they make statements like:

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"We're very passionate

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about helping children and improving[br]the quality of our schools."

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And I think to myself:"Really?[br]Because you could've fooled me."

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There's a claim of passion,[br]but there's no evidence thereof.

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The problem is a disconnect

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between the choice of words[br]and their execution, their delivery.

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And this creates a problem of credibility.

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Now, there's a historic and seminal study[br]that looked at feelings and attitudes

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as a result of the consistency[br]or inconsistency

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in verbal and nonverbal messaging cues.

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And what they found was

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that when they ask people[br]to evaluate speakers

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as far as whether or not they thought[br]the speaker sounded sincere,

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38% of that evaluation was based[br]on the tonality of the speaker's voice.

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Tonality being things like the ups[br]and the downs in your intonation patterns.

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In contrast, only 7% of those decisions

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were based on the speakers' words[br]that they chose,

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and the remaining 55%[br]were looking at non-verbal cues,

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were based on non-verbal cues[br]like your posture, your eye contact, etc.

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Now, this is a study.

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We have to be careful[br]because many people love to misquote it.

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And you'll hear people[br]make grand statements

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like: "Well, you know,[br]55% of all communication is non-verbal."

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That's not remotely accurate and it's not[br]what the study was talking about,

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but what we can take from this study,

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and a lot of subsequent[br]research in the area

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is the importance of sounding credible.

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Now, I'd like you to think about this

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in the context of how you personally[br]prepare for some sort of presentation.

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Do you spend 38% of your time[br]working on the delivery?

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If you're like most people,

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you probably spend the vast majority,[br]if not all of your time,

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working on the content: your outline,[br]your script, your PowerPoint slides,

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making sure you got cool graphics[br]and some snazzy animations,

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crunching your data[br]to put into your spreadsheets.

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But then, after all that work,

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we sort of wing the delivery[br]hoping it will be good enough.

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And in the end,[br]that's just comparatively weak,

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and it can undermine[br]both your immediate goals and objectives,

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as well as your long-term[br]image and reputation.

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The fact is, if you want[br]to be seen as a leader,

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you have to sound like one.

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You have to demonstrate[br]vocal executive presence.

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Now, a part of vocal executive presence

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is the ability to read an audience[br]and identify the kind of person

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from whom they would be most open[br]to receiving your message,

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and then figure out[br]what that kind of person would sound like.

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Now, to an extent, we're all born[br]with the voice that we have,

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but we do have a lot of control[br]over how we use it.

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Margaret Thatcher is[br]a great example thereof.

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She was the first woman[br]in British Parliament,

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and she was overtly mocked[br]by a lot of her opponents

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with phrases like: "Me thinks[br]the Lady does screech too much"

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because when she was passionate[br]in her arguing certain points,

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her voice would go higher[br]and become rather shrill.

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So when she decided[br]to run for Prime Minister,

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she worked with a tutor[br]from the National Theater

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who helped her to lower her pitch[br]in order to sound more authoritative.

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And this is really important

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because the voice has both cognitive[br]and emotional effects on the listener.

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Let's start with the cognitive.

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We talked about tonality, that 38%,[br]the highs and the lows in your voice.

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And if we use this strategically,

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we can actually help the listener to focus

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on the most important words[br]and parts of the message

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which makes for a lighter processing mode

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and helps them understand and potentially[br]remember what we're saying.

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And this can have a persuasive influence.

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When we listen to speech,

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we process it in what are called[br]tone units or chunks.

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And we start first by fixating[br]on the intonation pattern

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and anchoring what we listen to[br]to where those highest peaks are.

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And then, if necessary,

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we allow our imagination to fill in[br]whatever is in those lower sound valleys.

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An example of this is in song lyrics.

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We've all had this situation

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where we've been singing along[br]to our favorite song

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and suddenly, we realize that, or perhaps[br]somebody else not so gently points out,

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that we've been singing the words wrong.

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You've ever been there?

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A lot of nodding.

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There's a classic song,

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"What a wonderful world"[br]by Louis Armstrong.

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I think everybody knows this one.

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And in it there's a line that talks about:

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"the bright blessed day[br]and the dark sacred night."

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But when I was a kid[br]I thought the line was:

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"the bright blessed day[br]and the dogs say good night."

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(Laughter)

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Now, does this make any sense whatsoever?

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No, but I accepted it,[br]in part because, first and foremost,

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it matches those intonation patterns[br]and it also matches at those pitch peaks,

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the vowels, these syllables[br]that are up at the top.

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And then, in the parts[br]that were less salient,

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that were less emphasized,[br]in those pitch valleys,

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I let myself make up the rest.

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This also reflects why effective speakers,[br]when they're speaking,

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will emphasize the most important words[br]with higher pitch.

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Now, tonality, if we use it strategically,

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can have a good influence[br]on our very first impressions

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in attempting to establish[br]ourselves as leaders

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from the moment we meet somebody.

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It's really important, of course,

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to make a good, strong,[br]memorable first impression.

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But this is difficult[br]when a lot of people feel

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like they're not even good at[br]remembering people's names.

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You ever feel like that?

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Well, I'm going to absolve you[br]of about half of that blame.

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And that's because when most people[br]introduce themselves to you,

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they pronounce their own names wrong.

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OK, well, technically maybe not wrong,

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but they pronounce them in a way that uses[br]a rhythm and an intonation pattern

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that does make it more difficult for you[br]to understand what they're saying.

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And, by the way, I absolve you[br]of only half of that responsibility

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because the other half of the time

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you're the one introducing yourself[br]to somebody else.

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So, if I want to know[br]that I'm introducing myself

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and helping the listener[br]to really understand my name,

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and by understanding,

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then they can hopefully remember it,[br]and thereby remember me,

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I want to start by letting my voice go up,

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up like this, on your first name,[br]as if to say, "I'm not finished yet,"

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and then at the top,[br]we'll have a little break,

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that little pause that will allow for[br]a sound break to indicate word boundary,

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and then, at our last name,[br]we want to go down, let the pitch fall,

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as if to say, "And now I'm done,"

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like you're putting[br]a little local period at the end.

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So instead of blurring your way[br]through your introduction,

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like, "Hi, my name is Laura Sicola,"[br]and bla-bla-blah,

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I want to focus and help[br]my listener to understand,

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and so I'll do my best to say to them,[br]"Hi, my name is Laura Sicola."

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And you'll be amazed at the difference[br]this strategic tonality can make

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even in something this small.

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Now, of course, if we're haphazard[br]in our use of intonation,

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and putting it in the wrong place,

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we can have the exact opposite effect.

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We can distract the listener's attention[br]from what's most important,

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and make it harder for them[br]to process what we're saying.

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And one of the most common and,[br]in my opinion, annoying examples of this,

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that's becoming more and more[br]prevalent in society nowadays,

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is a phenomenon called "up-speak,"

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otherwise known as up-talk[br]or, more technically, high-rise terminal.

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And that's the pattern[br]where people are talking,

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and they keep adding[br]these question-like tones

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at the ends of all[br]of their phrases and sentences,

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"You know?", like they're implying

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a bunch of little "OKs" and "rights,"

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one after another,

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like there's some sort[br]of deep-seated insecurity

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and pathological need[br]for constant validation?

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(Laughter)

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You know?

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The problem with talking like that[br]is that what ends up becoming emphasized

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is just whatever randomly falls[br]at the end of the phrase.

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It doesn't help anyone[br]to process what you're saying.

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And that monotonous lilting upswing[br]time and again can be rather hypnotic

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and so, after a while,[br]we don't really know

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if the audience is listening to[br]anything we're saying, much less what.

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By the way, I should also point out

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that this is not just[br]a "Valley Girl" kind of phenomenon,

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like a lot of people seem to attribute it.

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More and more nowadays,[br]this vocal crime against humanity

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is being perpetrated[br]by men and women, old and young,

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highly educated and lesser educated.

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So, congratulations guys,[br]you've closed the gender gap.

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Way to lead!

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(Laughter)

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So from there, one of the other issues

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is that when people,[br]of course, hear up-speak,

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they tend to have a very negative[br]and even visceral response.

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It's not only the antithesis[br]of vocal authority.

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It's almost like the vocal equivalent[br]of hair-twirling, you know?

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So, when people have[br]that visceral response,

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this will bring us to now talk about[br]the emotional effects of voice.

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Let's start by thinking about some people[br]who have really distinct voices.

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We'll start with James Earl Jones,

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perhaps best known[br]as the iconic voice of Darth Vader.

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Now, in my opinion, with that deep,[br]rich, bass voice that he has,

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he could read the ingredients[br]of the back of a bottle of shampoo

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and it would sound like poetry.

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But he probably[br]would not have been as successful

0:11:36.956,0:11:40.292
if he had tried to play[br]the role of Elmo on Sesame Street.

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(Laughter)

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What about someone like Fran Drescher

0:11:47.250,0:11:53.472
with that completely unmistakable, whiny,[br]nasal voice right out of Queens, NY?

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She was great on TV as The Nanny,

0:11:56.250,0:11:59.821
but she probably would have been[br]less successful as Darth Vader.

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Can you imagine her standing over[br]Luke Skywalker saying,

0:12:04.044,0:12:06.661
"Luke, I am your father!"

0:12:06.662,0:12:09.012
(Laughter)

0:12:10.239,0:12:12.326
It's just so doesn't work!

0:12:14.125,0:12:17.124
Now that's a great voice for comic relief,

0:12:17.125,0:12:20.542
but it's not necessarily[br]the voice you want to encounter

0:12:20.543,0:12:22.807
when you're looking[br]for a funeral director.

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It's all about context.

0:12:25.709,0:12:30.567
In the funeral context you're looking for[br]someone who sounds sympathetic,

0:12:30.568,0:12:34.229
who sounds compassionate,[br]who sounds like you can trust them

0:12:34.230,0:12:38.730
to take care of you and your family during[br]your time of greatest emotional need.

0:12:40.230,0:12:41.436
And the problem is

0:12:41.499,0:12:45.500
that when we find someone[br]who has a voice that we find unpleasant

0:12:45.501,0:12:49.441
or somehow seems[br]to lack the characteristics

0:12:49.442,0:12:53.401
of the kind of person we're looking for,[br]- doesn't sound like that kind of person -

0:12:53.402,0:12:54.913
we can tune them out.

0:12:54.918,0:12:56.642
We can sort of shut down,

0:12:56.643,0:12:59.295
and we don't even want[br]to hear the rest of the message,

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no matter how important[br]the information is.

0:13:01.620,0:13:06.135
Subconsciously, we really want[br]the messenger's voice to fit the message.

0:13:07.028,0:13:10.160
Now, does that mean that[br]vocal executive presence is about acting?

0:13:10.161,0:13:12.668
No, on the contrary,[br]it's the exact opposite.

0:13:12.669,0:13:15.959
You have to be authentic.[br]You have to be yourself.

0:13:15.967,0:13:17.875
But the key is to recognize

0:13:17.876,0:13:22.160
which parts of your personality need[br]to shine through in a particular moment

0:13:22.161,0:13:25.429
and how to transmit that[br]through your voice and speech style.

0:13:26.818,0:13:28.883
Now, you're listening to me here today

0:13:28.884,0:13:33.098
in part because the way I am presenting[br]to you makes sense to you

0:13:33.099,0:13:36.860
and will match your expectations for[br]what a TED talk speaker should sound like.

0:13:37.773,0:13:42.079
But I can't use this same speech style[br]when I'm talking to my 3-year old nephew.

0:13:43.845,0:13:47.625
He'd wonder what happened to aunt Laura[br]because I don't sound like fun any more,

0:13:47.650,0:13:49.618
and he'd probably stop playing with me.

0:13:49.718,0:13:51.844
But at the same time,[br]I can't come here today

0:13:51.844,0:13:54.321
and talk to you in the same way[br]that I talk to him.

0:13:55.015,0:13:56.910
Can you imagine if I started by saying:

0:13:56.911,0:13:58.689
"Everybody, I've got a great idea!

0:13:58.714,0:14:00.954
Let's talk about vocal[br]executive presence!"

0:14:00.954,0:14:01.954
(Laughter)

0:14:02.158,0:14:05.263
You'd be like, "Are you kidding me?[br]Who is this nut?

0:14:05.264,0:14:09.333
What can she possibly know[br]about leadership or executive anything?

0:14:09.334,0:14:11.625
And, for that matter, who invited her?"

0:14:11.626,0:14:13.404
And by the way, it was them.

0:14:13.429,0:14:14.562
(Laughter)

0:14:15.824,0:14:19.435
I call it "working your prismatic voice."

0:14:21.099,0:14:23.583
In the end, I'm not acting.

0:14:23.584,0:14:25.543
It's just a matter of recognizing

0:14:25.544,0:14:30.766
and being aware of the two audiences'[br]different needs and expectations.

0:14:30.767,0:14:33.501
And then identifying[br]which parts of my personality

0:14:33.502,0:14:35.835
I want to let come through and how,

0:14:35.836,0:14:38.139
in order to ensure[br]your openness to my message.

0:14:39.389,0:14:43.875
And with regard to the big notion,[br]the metaphor, the prismatic voice,

0:14:43.876,0:14:48.818
in many ways, in the same way[br]white light would pass through a prism

0:14:48.819,0:14:53.131
and break in all the colors of the rainbow[br]that make up that white light,

0:14:53.132,0:14:55.458
when the white light of your personality

0:14:55.459,0:14:58.374
passes through the prism[br]of some situational context,

0:14:58.375,0:15:01.386
you need to look at all of the colors[br]that are available,

0:15:01.387,0:15:03.687
all the different parts[br]of your personality,

0:15:03.688,0:15:08.041
and decide which one you need[br]to highlight in the moment and how,

0:15:08.042,0:15:11.700
in order to be most effective[br]and appropriate for that moment.

0:15:12.667,0:15:15.418
And if you can figure out[br]how to do that successfully,

0:15:15.419,0:15:19.676
then you can create your own, unique,[br]and authentic sound of leadership.

0:15:20.252,0:15:21.646
Thank you.

0:15:21.647,0:15:24.081
(Applause)