The secret is that Rachel Ray has a terrible voice AND she doesn’t let it bother her. I was watching her show yesterday and I closed my eyes and just listened to her voice. It is scratchy, grating, and unpleasant to my ear. But so what? Rachel Ray makes tens of millions of dollars a year talking, i.e., using her voice, because she says stuff that is interesting to people. As a presentation coach I find that many people are insecure about their voices and waste time worrying about artificially lowering their voices and seeking out voice training. With all due respect to the many fine voice coaches in the world, I think this is a waste of time. If you have interesting things to say and you say it with passion, you too could be the next Rachel Ray, or, speaking of awful voices, Barbara Walters.
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I caught Brian Williams on the new late Show being interviewed by Jimmy Fallon. Williams must have used 100 “uh’s” and “um’s” in a 5-minute interview. And Williams is the number one ranked network news anchor in America! Williams still came across with charm, humor and a pleasing personality during the interview—and he came across as human and flawed. I don’t recommend putting in uhs and ums, but if you have them, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can’t be a wildly successful communicator—you still can.
#1 by Lisa Braithwaite on March 23, 2009 - 5:55 pm
Great post, TJ! I’m constantly reminding my clients and audiences that speaking with passion and enthusiasm about your topic is worth more than a thousand techniques and rules.
Sure, some people have grating voices, and it’s always a good idea to be aware of how you come across to your audience. But most important is making a connection and building a relationship, and a few “ums” are not going to interfere with that.
#2 by How to Get Six Pack Fast on April 15, 2009 - 10:12 am
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#3 by Bernard on May 27, 2009 - 6:29 am
I realize this post reflects a neo-Romantic obsession with Algerian success.
However, as a speech therapist, being “okay” with that voice, is absolutely dangerous. She needs to have her vocal cords subjected to videostroboscopy. While one can’t diagnosis potential nodes or damage by sound alone, I would be terrified at what we are likely to see her cords look like.
If you are a presentation coach, shame on you. She could permanently destroy or lose her voice.
Grow up.
#4 by TJ Walker on May 27, 2009 - 8:09 am
Bernard, as you correctly point out, I am the presentation coach and you are the speech therapist. If you can make a medical diagnosis of a patient by listening to her voice, then good for you–and you may be right. I am an expert on making a diagnosis of what has an impact on an audience. And I can tell you Ray’s voice is obviously not having a negative impact on her audience.
FYI, can’t we each have differing areas of expertise without lowering ourselves to childish taunts i.e. “grow up?”
#5 by Carl on August 18, 2009 - 2:46 pm
Rachel Ray is hot and I personally find her voice sexy as hell. I love the singer Kim Karnes and her voice is a lot raspier than Rachel’s. I know many men with good physical voices but their presentation sucks when you hear them speak. Nothing is worse than hearing a male with a deep low voice talk in monotone. These ppl have the worse voices of all IMHO! I hate listening to ppl like this talk.
Carl