THE BRAIN AND THE BUTTERFLY NET
Chris Voysey
Your voice is such an important part of how you connect through communication. It is key to building your brand. I am a speaker on 'VOICE POWER' and a Voice Coach and Communication Skills Facilitator.
Having been an actor and a copywriter, I have a fascination with words and their impact – spoken or written. The words themselves (and the manner in which they are conveyed) have occupied me in some way or another for the past 50 years.
Take a headline for example; how interesting that a headline written one way can be so much more effective at catching the reader’s attention than a similar headline written a different way.
Or a monologue in a play? Words that grab and hold you – or not - as they are spoken by one performer for the next 30 minutes of your life (it can feel like a lifetime if the words are badly written or badly spoken)
The opening of a speech or keynote or sermon – a paragraph or two that will probably decide the degree to which your attention is going to be held.
What makes the difference between the one that works and the one that doesn’t? No easy answer. Sometimes the result of disciplined research, inspection and thought. Other times completely random mind movements.
When do we know which of those approaches might work? In my experience you simply do not. You have a go at both. But you certainly know when you’ve got it right.
This is why both sides of the brain are so important. The left for explored knowledge and research, the right for the totally random out-of-the-blue picture-thoughts that might fly by. Both need to be captured … one on paper or laptop, the other in a butterfly net.
Words are brilliant when they are used with power and purpose. Otherwise they are just words. Make sure your words do the work they’re designed to do – convey a message, give a clear instruction, celebrate an event, inspire a response, clinch a sale - both the words you choose and the way you choose to put them across, written or spoken.