In these days of diet conscious, exercise conscious and health conscious living, we are all paying much more attention to how we live, what we eat and how we take care of our bodies. Isn't it strange then that one of the most important areas of our body - the one we use to motivate, influence and communicate with others on a daily basis, is one that we often neglect, abuse or fail to develop to its full potential.

Of course I am talking about your voice; the means by which you can convey your sense of enthusiasm, joy, passion and energy to the world, or the means by which you do none of these things!

Each voice is as unique as a fingerprint and forms part of our sense of individual identity. It provides a major way in which we convey emotion and meaning to each other (e.g. through emphasis and tonality) and yet many of us unintentionally limit ourselves in its potential and use. We become used to the range at which our voice operates and therefore doing something different with it can initially feel 'odd' or 'awkward'. Of course, we also hear our voice differently to the way that others experience it. From the inside it may seem as though we are speaking with appropriate feeling and intonation, because we know the intention behind what we are saying - we are already thinking and feeling it. However, that may not be the way it is received by the other party. Through awareness and practice it becomes possible to increase the range, flexibility and impact of any voice. This in turn reinforces our sense of self-esteem, self worth and overall effectiveness in our communication with the rest of the world.

As you already know, oral communication is made up of two major elements, its sound (vocal effects) and the actual words used (the content). The words are formed through 'shaping' sounds into recognisable patterns, and the sound itself is created through the rapid opening and closing (vibration) of two flaps of tissue called the vocal chords. This vibration results in the vocal chords hitting each other regularly like two hands clapping at great speed (hundreds of times per second). As we change the frequency of this vibration, information about emotion, moods and inner attitudes is conveyed to the other person. In the ideal world, the words we use and the meaning they convey are one and the same thing. However, if the speaker is unsure, lacking in confidence or offering a message which is different to their inner feelings, we get what is called 'incongruence'. In this case, it is the vocal effects which create the sense of incongruence, not the actual words.

Before you start however, it is very import to warm up. As with any form of exercise you are likely to be using movements and muscles that are unfamiliar so to avoid straining your voice be sure to start gently before pushing your voice too hard. It is also helpful to take frequent small sips of water in order to keep the voice well lubricated.

Breathing provides the force behind your voice. It is fundamental in developing vocal range and projection, and in aligning your intended message with the message being received.

Your breath is controlled by the muscles in the chest and abdomen. It ranges from shallow to deep, rapid to slow and is linked to the representational system in use. For example, someone who is processing visual information is likely have rapid shallow breathing, located high in the chest, whereas someone who is breathing more slowly and deeply from the lower abdomen is likely to be processing more kinaesthetically.

This difference in breathing rate and location will affect the sound being made. High shallow breathing will result in a faster rate of speaking with a higher tonality, and lower abdominal breathing is, by its nature, slower and deeper in tone. You can experience this for yourself...

• Start by speaking aloud in your normal voice - each time you take a breath, where in your body do you feel it?

• Now consciously speed up your breathing rate and at the same time, use only the upper part of your chest to take in a breath - notice how that feels.

• Then feel your breath moving down into your lower abdomen, so you can feel the muscles of your stomach moving in and out. Pay attention to how much deeper your voice now sounds and how much it has slowed down.

If you think about it, it is perfectly logical that changing the location of your breathing should change its sound in this way. If your breathing is shallow, there is not much air in your lungs so you have to talk quite quickly to get the words out. Then, because the air is moving rapidly over your vocal chords they will vibrate more quickly and produce a higher 'note'. The tension in your chest and throat muscles will also add to this affect. Similarly, abdominal breathing is slower because it takes longer to draw it into the body, it moves more slowly over the vocal chords and the muscles of the chest are more relaxed, so the voice is slower and deeper in tone.

Another way to become familiar with shifts in breathing patterns is in the following exercise - best done with someone you know quite well!

• The person whose breathing pattern is being explored stands comfortably and breathes in and out while the other person observes the areas of expansion.

• Placing one hand, palms down, on each of the partner's shoulders, the explorer senses the amount of movement in the rise and fall of the shoulders (clavicular expansion). Then the explorer places a hand, palm down, across the front of the partner's chest and senses the amount of movement in this area (thoracic expansion), particularly feeling for the elevation and expansion of the upper chest.

• The explorer then holds the sides of the partner's rib cage feeling for the sideways elevation and expansion of the chest.

• Next the explorer places a hand, palm down, on the partner's abdomen feeling for the protruding and receding of the belly and the amount of abdominal expansion.

• The explorer than encourages the partner to increase movement in areas where there is little expansion and decrease movement where there is a lot of expansion, whilst the partner observes how this influences feelings and sensations.

It is also important to remember that your internal emotional state will affect your breathing and therefore the way your voice sounds. If you are feeling nervous, tense or lacking in confidence, this is likely to create tension in your chest and neck. As your throat becomes dry your breathing rate will increase and your voice tone rise. A fast, high pitched voice is not so appealing on the ear and harder to listen to, as the information may be coming at the receiver at a rate that is too fast for them to process effectively. Therefore you may feel that you are not being listened to - your nerves increase, and your voice gets even higher and faster! It's a vicious circle.

However, by taking control of your breathing, moving it down into your lower abdomen, your voice will slow and deepen (and your heart rate and tension will lessen as well).

The final element of breath control is ensuring you have enough breath to speak, and don't run out of breath half way through a sentence. When you do this, your voice drops away and your words will be lost. Good breath control depends on there being enough air in the lungs and a very simple way to develop lung capacity is as follows...

• Take two or three deep slow breaths. Then, take a final deep breath and begin to count very rapidly in a soft voice - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 etc. etc. See how far you can get on one breath. This is your benchmark. As you practise this several times a day, you will begin to notice how much farther you can count as your breath control (and capacity) develops.

Most of us speak within a fairly limited vocal range most of the time - except in situations where the dog has just dug up your prize dahlias, you are reading a favourite story to your children, or perhaps attempting to lull the baby off to sleep!

Our voice feels familiar to us, and exercises to develop its range may feel extreme on the inside, while sounding just the same to someone listening on the outside. A good way to begin is to experiment with making different sounds. Listen to people on the radio or TV and see how close you can get to mimicking the way they speak, for example...

• Try speaking in a tight, clipped voice (like John Major, or the Queen!)

• Now try a more 'breathy' tone (like Joanna Lumley, or Charlotte Green on Radio 4)

• Then a full, rounded tone (like a classical stage 'actor' )

Of course, any exponent of NLP also has a range of tools available to help develop their vocal flexibility. Matching, pacing and leading are important keys to establishing and maintaining rapport. So, when you are listening to someone's voice, ask yourself "If I were going to match their vocal range - how would I do that?" Hear your voice in your own head speaking like the other person, with their volume, pitch, intonation, rhythm. This will provide the mental rehearsal before engaging in 'live' conversation.

There are a number of elements involved in vocal range and flexibility, some of which are listed below, with exercises that will help you develop these aspects of your voice.

Please make sure you have thoroughly warmed up your voice before beginning any of these exercises ...

Loudness

• Ranges from quiet to loud

• An increase in pressure of breath rising from the lungs causes the vocal chords to vibrate with greater force, resulting in a louder sound

• Exercise - developing loudness...

Pitch and pitch fluctuation

• Ranges from low to high

• The faster the vocal chords vibrate, the higher the pitch of the note produced. For example, to sing the lowest C on the piano requires 32 vibrations per second and, for the highest C, 4186 vibrations per second is required

• Exercise - developing pitch...

Now you have explored the spectrum of loudness, return to a note in the middle of your pitch range and begin ascending and descending in pitch with moderate loudness. When you reach what feels like the top of your pitch range, try adjusting the loudness to see if this helps you go higher that you have before. Do the same thing when you reach what feels like the bottom of your pitch range. When you have found the level of loudness that enables you to extend the ends of your pitch range, practise going a little higher and a little lower than you would normally so that in time you extend the range of pitches available to you.

Articulation

• Sculpting the voice into vowels and consonants

• Formed by the combination of mouth, jaw, lips and tongue

• Exercise - vocal warm-ups...

These tongue-twisters are particularly good for preparing the voice for speaking and enabling you to project your words more effectively. Say each of them out loud 4 or 5 times, as quickly as you can...

For the lips...

For the tongue...

For the back of the tongue and soft palate...

As I mentioned at the beginning, your voice is the means by which you can convey your sense of enthusiasm, joy, passion and energy to the world (or not!). No matter how much you may wish to convey a particular emotion, if that is not the one being heard by the other party, or there is some incongruence in the way you are delivering the message - that is the meaning that will be received - 'The meaning of your communication is the response it gets'!. In NLP we also operate from the presupposition 'Mind and body are one cybernetic system', so when considering how to use your voice to convey the desired emotion, we must also take into account how your congruence (or lack of it) is affected by your internal state.

As you know, the way you feel on the inside will be reflected (in some degree) in your body posture, gestures and movement, and this in turn will affect the way your voice sounds. I'm sure you will have had the experience of sensing how someone is feeling as they walk into a room, purely by noticing their body language, or knowing that the comment "I'm fine" actually means they are anything but fine! No matter how skilfully you try to hide it, some degree of your internal state will be picked up by other people, even if they don't know how they are doing it.

We have already explored ways of developing the behavioural elements of your voice, so the final piece is to consider how to increase awareness of your internal state, and use this to achieve congruity with your intention and the message being received. The most effective way to do this is by feeling the desired emotion yourself first and the following exercise will help with this...

• Working with a partner or small group, choose a favourite piece of poetry or prose. (Something like The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll works well, as it is open to lots of different interpretations)

• Read it through and divide it into 4 or 5 sections (or separate the verses if you are using a poem). Decide on a different emotion you would like to convey for each section - don't tell anyone what they are.

• In your mind, step into that emotion. Feel it in your body as if you are experiencing it now.

• Read the first section from that state, concentrating on conveying that emotion to your partner.

• Take feedback from your partner on what emotion they were picking up from you - is this the same or different to the one you had in mind?

• Move on to the next section, step into a different emotional state and read that piece from that state.

• Take feedback again from your partner.

• Continue to the end of the piece and then swap over.

By taking feedback on how congruent you are becoming, your confidence in extending your vocal range and its flexibility will markedly increase. It's not often we have the opportunity to hear this sort of direct feedback, but it is invaluable in becoming aware of the impact of your voice in communication.

So, how are you thinking differently about your voice compared to when you began to read this article? It is a wonderful instrument with amazing potential and an immensely powerful tool for enhancing your impact, influence and presence. So why not nurture it, develop it and play with it - and above all find yourself really enjoying your voice.

Sources: 'The Healing' Voice by Paul Newham; The Excellent Voice Company Ltd; other original material by the writer.