Think about those extremely successful people you know. I am sure that they're incredibly good at selling themselves — in another way, they're incredibly good at persuading other people.
Have you ever wished you could be more persuasive and charming like them? A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that changing your voice can help you achieve your dream.
Try to change your voice
In the study, the researchers conducted four experiments and found that the speakers were more successful in influencing the listeners’ attitudes and choices when they adjusted how they delivered a message, such as speaking louder, varying the pitch of their voices or pausing.
Although the listeners could realize that all the speakers were just trying to persuade them whether they changed their voice or not, those speakers who changed their voice and showed more confidence seemed to be more sincere to the listeners.
Try to become more confident
In order to probe the effect of confidence and the way it enhances persuasion, the researchers then carried out a supplementary study.
It turned out that the most persuasive speakers appeared to have genuine opinions, which were enhanced by confidence. Their confidence enabled them to be more effective at persuading others through their vocal tone, though their choice of words and building of sentences were not that good.
This finding suggests that one's voice can effectively persuade others even when words fail. "What is more critical is that persuasion attempts are executed in a manner that appears to reflect a sincere desire to help," the authors concluded.
So next time, when you are really trying to persuade someone, it is important to let them hear your voice. Here are some tips for you:
Believe in what you want to say
Look your listeners in the eye
Speak louder
Change your voice pitch and tempo
Use emphasis and pause
Let’s hope you can use your voice to build trust, to elicit sympathy, to broadcast injustice, or to convince them whatever you want to deliver.
