One of the most powerful skills for Executive Presence is the a warm downward inflection, what we call “the voice of certainty” — created when you drop your pitch at the end of each phrase or sentence, combined with a positive tone and soft smile to warm it up. .
Watch the 4 minute video below to hear what we mean.
The good news is how powerful this skill is. The possibly bad news is that, for those who have a tendency to use its opposite —upward inflection (sometimes called upspeak or uptalk) — it can be one of the most difficult to master.
It’s a two-part road to mastery. First, map in the downward inflection. Then practice warming it up by doing it with a soft smile.
Practice tips to map in the downward inflection — drop the pitch of your voice on all the words in bold below.
- To learn how to feel the difference between upward and downward inflection, try saying famous lines from movies and speeches with upward and then downward inflection:
- “My name is Bond? James Bond?” vs “My name is Bond. James Bond.”
- “I have a dream? vs “I have a dream.”
- “You had me at hello? vs “You had me at hello.”
- Use downward inflection every time you state your phone number or credit card number, eg “My phone number is 512-280-1380” or “My credit card number is 5555-1234-5678-8910
- End all your questions with a downward inflection. For ex, ask “What do you want for lunch?” Listen for whether your voice went up or down on the word “lunch”. If it went up, add a tag on, making sure your last word is at a lower pitch, for ex “Interested in pizza or a sandwich?”
- When you’re able to easily do the downward inflection, add a soft smile to the exercises.
You want to get enough practice so that it becomes second nature to you. Practice at 100% so that, in pressure situations, you use the warm downward inflection at least 60 – 80% of the time. That’s all it takes to convey competence, confidence, and certainty.
