Communication skills

Ahead of the Italian Song Festival, San Remo, I always get interviewed by some reporter looking for some tips for their readers. This time it is the turn of Oggi, which presents 5 tips to keep your voice from aging.

Here is an excerpt; you can read the entire article in Oggi Number 5, Feb. 2, 2023.

Taking care of the voice is not just for singers. Vocal cords suffer from the wear and tear of time, cold, dry environments and irritating foods. To keep them in shape, follow 5 tips inspired by the routines of artists and vocal coaches.

No to icy or hot drinks. Let’s dispel the myth of hot milk with honey: milk increases mucus production and heat dilates the tissues of the vocal cords. Cold, on the other hand, makes them contract too much. Either way, the voice suffers. Hydrating the vocal cords is essential, explains vocal coach Milena Origgi: “Drinking water goes down the esophagus and does not touch the vocal cords, which are in the larynx. But at least two liters of water a day hydrates them from the inside.” 

Little “singers’ herb.” Sore throat lozenges made from erismus, the so-called “singers’ herb,” act as an anesthetic: reducing pain, they give the perception of speaking or singing better, but they lead to straining the voice. No alcohol (and no smoking). Alcohol dehydrates the vocal cords, affects their tone and, by producing a brief vasodilation, gives the il- lusion of having a warm apparatus. If one “warms” the voice by drinking, after a few minutes of speaking or singing there will already be a need to clear the voice.

If you are looking for de real tips and “secrets” for speaking well and especially making yourself understood, you have finally found them. 

If you have already tried to educate yourself on this topic, you have surely noticed the repetition of solutions and explanations that have nothing to do with “speaking,” that is, using your voice, and especially with making sure that you have been understood: you will have found more tricks and wiles that do not consider at all the way you speak.

Who doesn’t dread the moment when someone, perhaps during a job interview, asks you to briefly introduce yourself? 

Yet, the subject we are asked about is the one we should know better than any other: ourselves. 

Out of the thousands of things you could say, which could be the most interesting to make an impression? Surely the key point is just how to start a kick-off speech. 

This first step will define your personality, at least for your interviewer: the employer. 

What is the mistake to absolutely avoid during a job interview? Do not repeat what you have already written in your Curriculum Vitae, partly because it has already been evaluated before the face-to-face meeting, so it is important to add new information that on paper may not transpire.

Mastering your voice and emotions is key to presenting successfully, laying out ideas and plans in a concise and successful way.

What does “Elevator Pitch” mean?

Elevator Pitch is an idiom that could be expressed as “quick and short chat” or even better “flash presentation“. The idea behind this communication technique is to take advantage of short moments of “dead” time, such as the time you spend in an elevator between floors, to introduce yourself concisely and immediately empathize with the other party.

You need to be prepared because when you have the opportunity to “accidentally” meet someone important, perhaps at a job interview or a business meeting, you have at most a few seconds to grab their attention and immediately define why we are important to them.