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Sunday Chicago Tribune
'How to be Heard - Speak up, Brother'
If you long for that deep, authoritative voice that proclaims your masculinity and alpha-male status, there is hope. So says Helen Cutting, a Chicago voice and speech coach and consultant who helps people remedy their vocal flaws, helping them speak in a powerful, persuasive, resonant voice. After all, voice training isn't just for singers.
"Most of my clients are men........ I help them enunciate, to overcome nervousness and self-consciousness when speaking. Very important also is learning to relax when speaking. Only by relaxing can you access your energy and your full body voice."
"Breath control is the foundation of effective speaking...... but voices can't change overnight. It's a gradual process."
Tim Weselak, 28, a chiropractor, is a former client of Cuttings. "She showed me how to lower my voice in range, how to breathe from the diaphragm, when to take pauses and how to place my tongue for better enunciation," he said. "My voice is stronger now. I need that to talk with my patients and to lecture........"
Chicago Lawyer Magazine
'Training the voice'
Other lawyers opt for a more intensive approach. Helen Cutting is a British trained thespian and former voice-over actor who now works as a personal voice coach. "People call me for a reason. They're self-conscious about the way their voice sounds.. Not everyone can have a big, booming voice, but we can work to access the full hidden potential of their voice, strengthen its tone and quality"
"My clients are overwhelmingly men" she says. "I get CEOs, investment bankers, big firm partners. They tend to be perfectionists and they want a voice of authority........... I customize a different program for each person.... and we find a speaking style that's right for that person. It's especially important for my lawyer clients. An attorney can be brilliant at what he does, but that can all be wasted if he goes before a jury with a whiny, nasally voice."
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