Leila Thigpen, a professional voice coach, gave podcasters tips on how to use their voice for impact at the International Podcasting Expo. She gave us tips on breathing, speaking and how to use our voice for impact on our podcasts.

Here are some tips from Leila:

• You don’t need to stand to make your voice carry. Just sit in a good position and tuck in your butt.
• To have impact, speak slowly, speak broadly and speak distinctly. In particular, emphasize the last letter on each word. She took people through an orator exercise to practice speaking broader.
• Someone asked about accents. Leila said that because podcasting isn’t national radio where everyone has to have the same sound, you can be unique and keep your accent.
• Leila took us through a pitch exercise and said that varying pitches helps to add variety to your podcast, especially if there’s only 1 host.
• I asked Leila for tips on how to avoid the intake of breath right before talking. Leila said that this is because the throat feels closed. She recommended that you think that you’re going to yawn right before you speak and that will open up your mouth. Telling your conscious that you’re going to yawn helps you avoid the intake of breath.