The world of online marketing is constantly growing and expanding. Unless we have been living under a rock, we realize the importance of utilizing online marketing and the power of social media outlets to leverage and scale our businesses beyond our wildest imaginations. Even so, if businesses stand even a smidgen of a chance of getting eyes in front of their products and services, they must know how to engage in the masses by way of video and face to camera conversation. Video formats range from precorded downloads to reels to live video, and amongst all these entities, live video is king in terms of algorithms and views.
With that said, it only leads to the appropriate conclusion that, in order for brands to stay on the cutting edge of marketing, they must get really really good at video and communication.
Here, I’ve listed 10 Reasons Why You Need a Vocal Coach to Expedite Your Business Growth:
- Posture. When we don’t speak or sing for a living, we rarely have to think about our posture unless we have been told by a chiropractor not to slouch because it puts strain on our back and neck. But when we speak for a living, posture is KING and it is so important to understand how it not only affects how you look but how your voice sounds. A vocal coach will help you understand and implement correct posture in order to optimize the audience’s perception of you, your physical health and your breath management system that supports your voice as it speaks.
- Placement & Resonance. Again, when we don’t speak or sing for a living, we have no real need to actively or intentionally cause our voices to carry and be projected over large crowded rooms with ease. However, when you speak for a living, the need for your voice to resonate or carry without the use of a microphone is vital to your vocal stamina on any given speaking engagement or training. Not only is placement of tone and resonance an integral part of healthy speaking, but it is also important to note how bright or dark our voices tend to be and make adjustments for any given space we’re speaking in. A vocal coach will help you understand your own vocal resonance and help you build upon that so your voice is heard and pleasantly received by your audience.
- Breath Management. Once more, managing our breath is something we never have to think of unless we are professional speakers or singers, but it is crucial if we are! The idea of managing your breath goes as far back as the Italian Bel Canto style of singing and is just as relevant to our voice’s support today. The best analogy I can give is the picture of a swan on a lake. All we see is that swan gliding effortlessly across the water, but underneath the water, those feet are paddling like crazy. As speakers/singers, our breath management must be similar to a swan’s webbed feet: it must be doing all the work while our voices are above the water speaking effortlessly and effectively. A vocal coach will help you understand this breath mechanism and learn how to effectively use your breath as an engine that supports your vocal tract rather than making your vocal cords do all the work.
- Awareness. Most people use their voices all day to communicate with their potential clients and customers, but in order to be an effective communicator, you need to know how you sound and how you are perceived. A vocal coach will give you that vital feedback and help you build your strengths and zone in on areas that need improvement.
- Confident Communication. When is the last time you spoke with unwaivering authority and knew that what you were saying and how you were saying it was effective? A vocal coach will give you tips and tools to not only give your audience the information they need, but to deliver that message in a way that is well-received, gives them value and spurs them into action.
- Speech Variety. This may come as a shocker, but most speakers are snooze-worthy and lack the necessary dynamic nuances that keep an audience engaged. A vocal coach can help you understand all the tools (vocal color, tone, pitch, dynamics, tempo, expression, emotion) you have available to you when you speak.
- Vocal Health. You may have the information down and know the talk you’re about to give, but if you are not in the know or in the practice of vocal hygiene and ways to keep your voice healthy and happy, your speaking engagements may be impeded by some serious vocal issues — either now or in the future. A vocal coach will help you understand general practices for taking care of your most valuable instrument and making vocal warm-ups a built-in part of your everyday method of operation.
- Enunciation. If you speak to your audience like you speak to your friends and family, your message may easily get lost in translation or muffled. The challenge we often see is that most people don’t have a “stage” or “online” voice that differs from the way they speak on a daily basis, and they need one in order for people to understand their message and be moved to action. A vocal coach helps speakers learn how to enunciate by using beginning and ending consonants 10x more than they usually do, and helps them not only speak with more clarity, but also be understood more easily. “Diction is probably one of the most missed practices in vocal coaching. If your words aren’t heard, the story is completely lost by your audience, and they will miss the message.” – Tracy Reina
- Conviction. We have officially reached an exhausting era where so many people are talking, but so few people actually have something to say. A vocal coach can help you/your brand discover your mission, vision and values by helping you speak with true conviction and purpose. After all, isn’t that the whole point?
- Vocal Growth. As your message gets clearer and your business scales, your vocal delivery must reflect your message and brand’s growth. Speaking like the person you were when you first started out will not only fall flat, but it will deliver a confusing message to your audience. A vocal coach will help you understand how your voice, speaking patterns and behavior need to change as your brand evolves and scales.
So there you have it! This is not an exhaustive list of all the reasons why a vocal coach is not only important to your business/brand, but why it is paramount over all the other things you may be speaking $$$ on to stand out in your space.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this. Did you know vocal coaches help you with all these things and more? Have you ever worked with a vocal coach before? If so, what was your experience? If not, does this show you how important it is?