Last Saturday I was teaching tennis to small kids for a few minutes as my lead coach had to leave earlier. I had to play a couple of games with them. I found myself in a very uncomfortable situation. My voice was quiet, the kids did not listen to me. I felt as if I was not in control of the lesson. To make matters worse, a group of parents were observing me and I felt as if I was put under a microscope and they all were judging my under-performance. It was terrible for my self-esteem. I came home and started to analyse what had happened.
I can easily speak in public and hold Toastmaster bronze reward for my achievements in public speaking. My voice is loud enough when I know what I am talking about.
I have recently passed exams in Level One tennis coaching with great results. I learned theory. But I have never organised kids' games which is a very different skill. As I lacked confidence in teaching kids, my voice became quiet.
Our voice power and confidence level work together. When we speak loud enough we feel more confident, and when we feel confident we speak loud enough. Vice versa, when we lack confidence, our voice often automatically gets quieter.
"There will be times when it is necessary to change the amount of volume we use when speaking. In normal conversation, no effort or changes will be required. When communicating with an audience, however, the amount of projection of the voice (or loudness) obviously depends on the situation you are in: how big is the room, how many people are you talking to, how far away are they, are you inside or out in the open?" (Get Rid of your Accent Part Two).
I did not make an effort to be louder on court and sounded a bit weak. If my voice was louder, my audience, the kids would be more engaged.
In conclusion I want to say that our voice is a powerful instrument to enhance our confidence. We can learn how to play it well with the app Power,Pitch,Pace,Pause.
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