3 Mistakes Introverted Women Leaders Should Avoid if They Want to Exude Presence Through Their Tone of Voice

Before reading the article, this week on the Quietly Visible podcast, I speak with Susan Heaton-Wright, a virtual impact, communications and speaking expert for introverted women leaders on how to make the most of their voices when wanting to command the room and have presence. Click on the podcast link above, open in another tab, and save to listen later. And don't forget, please subscribe, share, and leave a review.

Many introverted women leaders mistakenly think that in order to have executive presence, you need to be loud, or you have to be able to think quick and respond on the spot. However, that is not the case. You can exude presence as a quiet, thoughtful thinker.

Tone of voice, body language, and other non-verbal cues also contribute to the ability to have a presence and command the room. Someone whose presence I greatly admire is Barak Obama, who is reported as being introverted.

If we look at his tone of voice, I think he is softly spoken, comes across as a thoughtful thinker, and has mastered presence and how to command a room.

A STRONG, QUIET PRESENCE - a bit like a huge mountain in the distance. Presence, yet allows you to live and lead but you have an awareness of their strength and support.

Juliet Bellagambi

In one of my articles about presence, I wrote about a strong, quiet presence and Juliet Bellagambi commented that it is a bit like a huge mountain in the distance. Presence, yet allows you to live and lead but you have an awareness of their strength and support.

If you want to develop your executive presence (without putting on a persona and pretending to be someone you are not), here are 3 mistakes to avoid when it comes to your tone of voice.

1. Speaking too fast

When public speaking, whether it be standing up and delivering a talk, or speaking at meetings, many people speed up their voice when they feel anxious. Because meetings are not generally inclusive for the introverted preference of thinking and reflecting before responding, many introverted leaders find them challenging.

This can exacerbate meeting anxiety, and when speaking, you just want to hurry up and get it over with. As a result, you start speaking faster, which can lose your audiences attention. Develop an awareness of when this happens so you can take some breaths and slow things down a bit. This will help you to maintain presence.

2. Speaking in a monotone voice

A lack of variation in pitch can become boring for the audience, causing them to disengage. Varying your pitch (appropriately) comes across as more engaging. However, by being less monotone, don’t think that you have to be overly animated and expressive. Doing so is likely to disengage people as well, it can also come across as inauthentic.

Find the balance that works for you. Ways in which you can adjust your pitch include emphasising significant words. Pausing and using the power of the pause. Putting some emotion into what you say.

3. Apologetic talk

I have often seen women use apologetic talk when they need to deliver a challenging message, when they doubt themselves, or when others are speaking over them.

Presence helps to instil confidence in a leader. Apologetic talk does not give off presence and does not instil confidence in others. It will undermine the influence you have as a leader.

If you are prone to apologetic talk, be mindful of this and change the words you use to affirmative and assertive talk.

If you want to assess your tone of voice, practice your talks and video record them with your smartphone. Review how you come across. What is your body language like? What is your tone of voice? Identify what you can do to develop and improve.

If you need support with working on your speaking voice, there are various apps that you can use to analyse your pitch, volume, and how you come across. Or work with a coach who can help you develop.

So, whilst you don't have to be loud to stand out as a leader, you do need to have presence, and tone of voice plays a significant part in your ability to exude that presence.

When you think of leaders whose tone of voice helps them to exude presence, what are the things that stand out to you about their voice? Please let me know below.

About Me

I am an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach, Speaker and Trainer, and 4 times LinkedIn Top Voice UK. Known as The Coach for High Achieving Introverted Women, I coach women who are senior leaders to be visible, to confidently exude presence, to influence, and make an impact.

I also provide workshops, webinars and talks on personal development, career development and leadership development.

If you are an introverted woman and a senior leader and want to increase your confidence, influence and impact, take my free assessment and get a report identifying areas to develop. You can take the assessment here. 

?My book Quietly Visible: Leading with Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman addresses many of the challenges that introverted women face as leaders and shows you how to overcome them. It was listed as one of the 10 best self-development books written by women to read during lockdown by BeYourOwn. You can get your copy here along with a FREE recording of my How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome workshop.