Motivation on the Run

In this series on silent languages, and how we “speak” them, we now come to voice. I have already written about the language of both personality and body, and still want to discuss surroundings and words. Now, I hear you saying, “how can voice be a silent language?” Well, I’m glad you asked.

As we speak, we convey a lot of information about ourselves without realizing it. Listeners can detect nervousness, excitement, fear, or lack of concern, to name just a few. How are these things determined? Not by what you are saying as you talk, but more our perception as we listen to you. We hear the emotions and can understand where you are and how you feel.

A quiver in your voice means you are nervous and are in an uncomfortable position. It will usually mean you are in a place that is not familiar either. So now, without listening to the words you are speaking, I can tell all this about you. You are in an unfamiliar, uncomfortable position and you would rather be somewhere else.

What good does it do me to “speak” the silent voice language? By knowing how you feel, (in this case, nervous) I can act or react in a way that puts you more at ease. I can use words that comfort or encourage. I can position myself to be non-threatening. I can smile …

You get the idea, use the knowledge to defuse the nervousness. This allows you to have more control in the situation.

The other indicators that the voice give off, excitement, fear or lack of concern, mentioned above, have similar stories, but there is more.

Inflection of the voice can tell us a lot, as well. Anger is an emotion that causes a lot of inflection in the voice. Think back to the time you did something real bad, and your mother got angry. The first thing that happens is you learn all of your names. First, middle, and last, and sometimes more. “LARRY RAY HENDRICK!!! YOU GET IN HERE THIS VERY MINUTE!!!”, my Mom would say in a nice calm voice … NOT!

Now what can you tell from the tone of her voice and the inflection. I don’t need to go there, because you have all experienced this or something similar at some point in your life. I just hope it wasn’t at work, that would be bad. My point though is to pay attention to the more subtle emotions that reveal themselves in the same way. You have to pay close attention and focus, but that is what you want to do anyway, isn’t it?

As you can see, the voice can give away a lot, and not in talking, but in the emotions is conveys as someone speaks.

What examples can you give that illustrate this point. Let me know.