The voice can become a working tool if it is properly trained to achieve a certain goal. If you need to sound authoritative because you are performing a task where you must express knowledge of a subject, be confident or give orders to others, you can work your voice to project what you want. The skill to sound authoritative at will is especially useful when voice acting a strong, dominant character.
Consider these tips below to make your authority stand out.
Using an authoritative tone correctly
- Express self-confidence without appearing pedantic
- Speak clearly
- Be cordial
Reality indicates that speaking in an authoritative tone makes others perceive you as confident. People listen to you better, pay more attention to you and therefore your message is better assimilated. This is very useful if you want to impose an idea, enforce an order or demonstrate mastery over a subject.
Generally speaking, to make your voice sound more authoritative you should speak in a deeper tone, have perfect diction, speak fluently and look at others with confidence.
Build the confidence
You must appear confident so that others perceive you that way, even if you feel nervous or anxious. If you work on a confident image, others will accept your authority and for males, it may help you sound more masculine. When communicating with others, maintain body language that projects self-assurance. This is achieved by facing your audience or microphone if you’re voice acting, standing up straight but relaxed and maintaining a smile, it helps to look pleasant.
Even if you’re only voice acting, maintaining confident body language will help to create a confident-sounding voice. Your body affects how you sound. Especially the posture since it physically influences the airflow through your respiratory system.
Acquire a deeper voice tone
The deep tone of voice is the one that projects authority the most and the best. Even if you already have a deep voice you can reinforce it by doing various exercises and if you don’t it’s almost a must.
The following tips and exercises will help with the deeper voice:
- Yawning
- Belly breathing
- Speaking from the chest/throat area
- Relaxing your upper body with stretches
- Maintain good posture
- Speak slowly
Deep-sounding voice will help you to sound much more authoritative and is very useful when taking a role of a policeman, mayor, sheriff, judge or other authoritative character for the voice acting gig.
Managing emphasis
One of the most effective keys to sounding authoritative is to manage emphasis in your verbal communication. This will make others perceive you as confident and they will want to hear every word you say. To achieve this, simply pronounce the words or phrases that matter most to you at a higher volume. It is also useful to pause before you say a key sentence of your speech.
This way your audience will pay close attention to you and your message will be perfectly interpreted. As you can see, a clear message manifests the authority you want to project to others. It also shows that you know what you’re saying and gives trust to your speech.
Communicate in a fluent manner
- Pronounce sentences at a slower pace
- Structure sentences so that they are as clear as possible
- Control your breathing
To sound authoritative is a goal that can be achieved if you speak fluently. The key is to breathe properly so that you can then speak at an appropriate speed, which ideally is slow. Your verbal communication should be preceded by relaxed breathing that shows you are confident. When you speak slowly it tells people that you’re confident in what you’re saying and you know that it’s important.
On the other hand, rushing your sentences will feel like you don’t want to waste someone else’s time because you don’t believe in what you’re saying and that emits lack of self-confidence.
The sentences you deliver should be well structured so that they are more understandable and you can sound authoritative. Although it may seem too basic, a well-structured sentence simplifies the message you want to communicate and therefore others will understand you better.