Bianca’s note: These are some of the topics I cover in my forthcoming book – How to Present on Video. Also, I am experimenting with a different format – let me know if you want more short-form tips like these.
Your viewers will tolerate poor visuals in a video but they will click away in an instant if your audio is irritating and yes, this includes your speaking voice.
It’s all about that Bass
There is no point in having a great face, good posture and compelling video message, only to undermine it with a shrill, screechy-sounding voice.
Screechy voices, distortion, and scraping sounds trigger a stress or irritation response in the human brain (a pre-wired evolutionary survival mechanism). These can also create an unconscious negative feeling or association with you, your brand and your messaging.
The Power of a Voice
Think of the speaking voices of Morgan Freeman, Dame Judy Dench, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons – how do they make you feel when you hear them speak? That is the power of a voice. Used well, the voice can be a fine instrument. It can move and inspire people. It can create massive change.
The same can be said for trained singers vs those with poorly trained voices – which ones are more enjoyable to listen to?
Genetic Survival
As part of our genetic survival mechanism, we are unconsciously programmed to react negatively to unpleasant sounds like “screeching” because we associate this with warning calls from animals to alert us when a lion is nearby.
Think of a voice that is shrill, screechy, or jarring. How does it make you feel? Most of us will feel irritated, instinctively turning our heads away trying to mentally tune them out and get away. That is your brain’s pre-wired evolutionary survival mechanism kicking in.
When presenting on video, our vocal quality can help or hinder our message. The impact of our message may “fall on deaf ears” simply because they find some element of your voice irritating to listen to. If your viewers comprise mainly introverts, they will be even more sensitive to irritating noises.
Over time, these viewers may unconsciously associate you or your brand with pain or annoyance.
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Psychological Manipulation
Horror genre filmmakers use these screechy sounds to great effect aka “the jump-scare”. This is typically combined with a visual cue of something jumping out at the character on screen. This is how filmmakers manipulate the audience to them on the edge of their seats, ready to flee. They are triggering your freeze-fight-flight survival mechanism and priming you to remain in a state of fear or low-level anxiety for the duration of the movie.
This is the beauty of psychological manipulation in filmmaking. If the filmmaker is successful, the chosen sounds will trigger your primitive Moro startle reflex. An inborn reflex that causes our head and shoulders to flinch, or startle backward, in a response to fright or to an unexpected noise or sound. This primitive reflex is hardwired into our DNA to help protect us from a threat. The very same one that kept your ancestors alive while navigating the perils of life and predators on the African planes.
Remember that you can Book a time with me to troubleshoot your video creation or a production challenge.
Cheering you!
Established in 2006 Bianca Te Rito, founder of STEBIAN.com provides an exclusive, consulting service helping business thought leaders, speakers, award-winning authors & VIPs productize their thought leadership and present themselves, their products, services, or brand message to their target audience in the most effective way possible on video. Get the tailored expertise from a real-world operator with over 20 years of TV/Film industry experience working in front of and behind the camera. Learn more about our custom offers here.