Hint\u2026keep your voice low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The way in which we speak can give clues to our personalities<\/a> faster than one might think. According to some communication <\/a>experts, it only takes 0.2 seconds to determine the confidence level of another person, based merely on their voice. That translates to one fifth of a second!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author and communications professor Vanessa Van Edwards (@vvanedwards<\/a> ) has shared an Instagram Reel <\/a>wherein she gives a quick rundown of the theory. Her spin is taking the idea and teaching people how to \u201csound confident\u201d in just 200 milliseconds. She equates confidence with \u201cleadership\u201d skills and gives a quick step-by-step tutorial on how to embrace it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Edwards begins the clip with a chyron that reads \u201cHow to sound confident in 200 milliseconds.\u201d Over her voice she writes, \u201cThe Neuroscience: Research shows that event-related potentials\u2026distinct peaks in brain activity\u2026spike in the brain about 200 milliseconds after hearing a voice, spiking much higher when the speech is perceived as confident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She explains, \u201cOne of the mistakes that leaders use when they sense nervousness is that they begin to question. Research has found that someone decides how confident we are within 200 milliseconds of hearing someone speak. I always make sure that my first ten words, I say them in the lowest natural tone that I have, without a question inflection. We don\u2019t like leaders who question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are examples. \u201cQuestion inflection sounds like this. I\u2019m so happy to be HERE?\u201d The uptick on \u201chere\u201d is obvious to make her point. She adds, \u201cMy name is Vanessa? Excited to be back?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, she explains, leaders should sound like they have authority over their words. \u201cWe want our leaders to \u2018tell us.\u2019 We want our leaders to be confident in what they say. And so as a leader, you need to make sure you\u2019re not asking your name. You\u2019re not asking your opening line. You\u2019re not asking your statements. You are not asking your mission. You are STATING. And that is very contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research Van Edwards is perhaps referring to is a study published in 2015 by Xiaoming Jiang and Marc D. Pell at McGill University titled, \u201cOn how the brain decodes vocal cues about speaker confidence.\u201d<\/a> The way it worked was this: \u201cWe recorded listeners\u2019 real-time brain responses while they evaluated statements wherein the speaker\u2019s tone of voice conveyed one of three levels of confidence (confident, close-to-confident, unconfident) or were spoken in a neutral manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cPeaks in brain activity\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stating your mission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do you sound confident?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n