At the CIO conference I spoke to this week, I was preceded and followed by CIOs on the agenda.  I was (secretly) delighted; CIOs are, to be blunt, not known for their charisma.  Thinking very selfishly, I figured that it could only help me look good if the CIOs were highly technical, dry, and by their very presence liable to induce professional envy into the hearts of the audience. 

Then I learned that I was to be preceded by the CIO from JetBlue, who was giving away airline seats.  And followed by the CIO of Google, who was….the CIO of Google. 

So much for advantage to the communications expert.  I couldn’t afford to give away free tix and Public Words Inc is never going to be as big as Google.  Ever. 

In the event, I’m big enough to admit that I’m small enough to have watched the two speeches with a very critical eye.  What were they doing wrong, I wondered, that I could avoid and perhaps even slyly refer to (at least as far as the JetBlue guy) in my talk?

And what actually happened really surprised me.  Neither of these two worthy gentlemen were breathing.  At least not properly.  It’s a common problem among speakers today, because so few get any technical training, and we spend so much of our time sitting – in front of computers, on airplanes, on sofas in front of the TV, and so on. 

It’s very difficult to breathe properly while sitting, especially if you’re slouched.  So you tend to breathe shallow, brief breaths that keep you alive but that do nothing for your voice. 

And that bad habit spills over to speaking, an activity that demands good breathing if your voice is not going to betray you.

What can go wrong?  Your voice can lack strength, and thus authority.  It can become too nasal (something everyone loathes).  And it can become too gravelly.  Americans in general have a tendency to speak from the back of the throat, trying to sound like the Marlboro Man, I suppose.  This tendency compounds the gravel problem that can come from not breathing deeply.  The JetBlue speaker’s voice lacked authority and the Google speaker’s voice was too gravelly. 

How do you combat the problem?  Get up from the computer, now!  Breathe deeply in by expanding your belly like an eyedropper, tensing your diaphragmatic muscles, and pushing the air slowly out your mouth using those stomach muscles.  Your shoulders should not move.  If you do this right, you should be able to breathe out (while talking) for a good 30 -45 seconds.  And your voice will have ample authority and resonance, and be a delight to listen to.