Our voices depend on the body for their resonance and sound. All of the qualities that we most admire in a voice: solidity, security, confidence, colour, magnetism and even assertiveness, depend on the way we use our body’s resonance when we speak and how we project our voice.

English language courses tend to focus on the assimilation of grammar and language structures, comprehension and writing exercises, and also the development of listening and speaking skills. Although these are essential building blocks for laying the foundations of a solid understanding of the language, the key role of the voice and the rhythmic and dynamic characteristics of verbal communication are rarely taken into consideration.

As children and teenagers, we begin to experiment both consciously and unconsciously with our voices and the way we use our bodies to create them. Almost a ‘right of passage’, it is the way that we use the voice and the vocal and rhythmic elements of the language, in combination with the words that we express, that conveys our individuality and establishes our place in social groups.

As in all other languages, in English the sound of the voice and the way we use the rhythmic, melodic and musical aspects of the language itself, become part of a native speaker’s oral communication abilities. As an essential part of communication, the voice carries meaning and allows us to finetune or even transform the significance our words. It helps us to draw people in, to invite, to persuade, to encourage and to sell. It also allows us artfully redirect a conversation, tactfully reject an idea, show agreement, create alliances and finally close the deal.

Whether you’re a company director, looking to enhance your communication skills in presentations, a consultant designing your next pitch, structuring your message to reach your client, or you are a singer, aiming to convince an English-speaking audience, using the voice and the rhythmic qualities of the language as way of enhancing your fluency, will change your ability to communicate in English, and the way that you and your message are perceived.