Harnessing the Power of Your Voice: A Conversation with John Henny
As a host, one of my most exciting responsibilities is bringing in guests who have the power to impact, educate, and inspire. In our latest podcast episode, I had the incredible opportunity to speak with John Henny, a renowned voice coach. His insights into vocal techniques, storytelling, and communication were enlightening. Here are some key takeaways:
A Meandering Journey to Voice Coaching: John’s pathway to voice coaching wasn't linear. He started as an aspiring singer, transitioned to a drummer, and then found his way back to the world of voice after training with Stevie Wonder's voice teacher. The knowledge he gained transformed his voice, leading him to transition from drums to lead vocals, and ultimately, coaching others. John’s extensive knowledge covers voice science, acoustics, and the nuances of the vocal instrument, making him an authority in his field.
The Magic of Vocal Techniques: Taking cues from world-class singers, John emphasizes that the strategies they employ to hold a listener’s interest are equally vital for speakers. Factors like range, melody, tone, tempo, and emotional intentions in your voice can connect deeply with listeners. As John says, “make your voice more interesting to listen to and then connect it with honest emotion and intent.”
Storytelling’s Impact: Storytelling, when used judiciously, has immense power. But it's crucial to couple it with how you use your voice. The goal should be clear, be it to inform, inspire, or engage, and this goal should drive the emotion in your voice.
Non-verbal Communication: Though the voice is pivotal in communication, non-verbal cues like body language and facial expressions play an integral role too. However, John suggests that the voice is the primary communicator of emotion, and decisions, most often, are based on emotions.
Tailoring the Coaching Approach: John's coaching methods are as diverse as his clientele. The needs of an actor differ from those of a leader or sportscaster, but the foundational techniques remain consistent.
Combatting Voice Fatigue: John shared a fascinating technique involving vocalizing through a straw, which can alleviate voice fatigue and recalibrate your voice.
Addressing Stage Fright: Everyone faces anxiety before speaking or performing. John's advice? Shift your focus from yourself to your audience. Understand that not everyone has to like you, but focus on those you can positively impact.
Unleashing the Power of Your Voice: Many believe they're stuck with the voice they have, but John firmly refutes this. Through targeted exercises, understanding the mechanics of voice, and embracing the musicality within, significant improvements can be made.
Whether you’re a seasoned speaker, an aspiring singer, or someone looking to make a mark in their professional journey, understanding and harnessing the power of your voice is vital.
Clinton Henry: So, John, I'm so excited to have you here. Can you share your journey and experience that led you to becoming a voice coach?
John Henny: Yeah, my journey was certainly not a straightforward one. when I was a child, I would try and sing and my attempts were not very good. And I figured, you know what, maybe I'll try something else and I became a drummer. And then in my early 20s, a friend of mine started studying with Stevie Wonder's voice teacher, and I thought, well, I'll give that a try. And I learned how the voice works and the mechanics and I saw it work in my voice. I moved from the drums to being a lead vocalist. And then I started working with other vocalists. I also started training other voice teachers as I became somewhat obsessed with voice science and acoustics and how the instrument works. And then I also started working with professional voice users, sportscasters, well known magicians, voice over artists, executives. And here I am today. I just love connecting people with this vital instrument that may go neglected and they may not be aware of, but is actually one of the most important assets that they have.
Clinton Henry: That's wonderful. Thank you. So what are some key vocal techniques and strategies that can help speakers and leaders to better engage with their listeners?
John Henny: So I really looked at great singers because I've worked with some world class singers, some well known singers. But primarily even studio singers, session singers who are just fantastic, you've heard them but you haven't heard of them. And the devices that great singers use to hold a listener's interest work for speakers. And these are things. There are musical devices such as having more range or melody in your voice, the tone of your voice, the tempo but also the way that singers use emotional intentions to connect emotionally with the listener is incredibly vital. And when you use that in your voice, when you make your voice more interesting to listen to and then you connect it with honest emotion and intent, you can connect very deeply with the listener.
Clinton Henry: So you talk about how you can connect emotionally with the audience. What role does storytelling play in creating that strong connection between a speaker and their listeners?
John Henny: Storytelling is obviously important and it's been getting a lot of attention as of late. Obviously it needs to be used judiciously. I remember one time being at a two day conference and at the end of it I realized that the speaker who was the sole person both days, if he had cut his stories in half, we could have done everything in a day. So it can't get out of control. But the story obviously needs to make a point of what you're trying to communicate. And when you do that, it's obviously very effective. But it's really how you use your voice to tell the story. The mistake that people will make is they'll just run through their story or they've got their slides and they just start running through their slides without really stopping and thinking, Why am I saying this? What is my goal? Is my goal to inform? Is my goal to inspire? And when you get these very, very strong goals, that will drive emotion and that emotion is heard in the voice.
There was a fascinating study out of Yale where I believe it was over 1700 participants. And they were trying to see how well they could understand what the other person was feeling. And they used different scenarios but it was when they removed the visual element and they could only hear each other that the accuracy went up. The voice communicates emotion. Our very first language, they think, may have been this musical language. It was this singing communication that primarily expressed emotion. So we have developed within our language this response to music and musical cues and emotion and music is in the spoken word. They develop together. And I'm really into helping people discover the music in their voice, not turn them into singers, but discover the music and then use that to tell a story, sell something, to be heard.
Clinton Henry: So you talked about the importance, obviously, of vocal communication. But I think you do focus a decent amount of time on nonverbal communication, such as body language and facial expressions. Can you talk about the importance of those in creating connection with the audience?
John Henny: Those are important and those will communicate certain things, a shrug or if you say something and lift an eyebrow, etcetera. But again, going back to that Yale study, when they removed the visual elements, there was no body language. That's when empathy went up. So body language communicates a lot but the voice really communicates emotion. And most decisions are emotion based, even if we go back and try and rationalize it afterwards. So if you can connect with people emotionally, you can have a profound effect. So when you're utilizing everything together, when you're on stage, when you're telling stories, when you're commanding the room with your energy and then your voice is working really well, it's quite powerful.
Clinton Henry: So just as many of our listeners tailor their leadership style based on the individuals [] that are leading. How do you tailor your coaching approach to the needs of different individuals with very different communication styles or needs?
John Henny: Really comes down to what they need to use their voice for. So if someone is a sportscaster or an actor, it's somewhat different than someone who's in leadership. But there are basic fundamentals that everybody is going to want to know. You're going to want to be able to use your voice in a healthy manner. You want to be able to use the resonance of your voice so that it carries through a room so that you're not trying to get all the energy from the vocal cords but rather from the resonance of the the vocal tract. Your optimal speaking pitch is so important. A lot of times people will associate authority with a deeper voice. But the mistake we make is we think it's a deeper pitch where it's actually more resonance. So if I see on this pitch, if I'm talking on this pitch, and then I make my vocal track very small, my voice sounds higher. And then if I drop my vocal track, suddenly it sounds deeper, even though it's the same pitch. So there are similarities and then there are specific needs. I mean, I've had to teach actors how to yell and scream on stage without using their voice, etcetera. I really don't teach that to managers or at least I hope no one would ask me to.
Clinton Henry: At least not nowadays, I hope.
John Henny: Not nowadays. Yeah.
Clinton Henry: So a lot of us that do a lot of speaking either within leadership, you're talking to conference rooms or if you're a professional speaker, obviously we have voice fatigue. What are some things you can do when your voice is tired? And yes, this is a selfish question for me.
John Henny: Yeah. Well, I'll tell you the single best thing that that voice science has found and this is a bit of, it's all the rage as they say with voice teachers and singers, is take a straw and they actually make voice straws specific for this purpose. But you can use a drinking straw. You can use a couple of cocktail straws, coffee straws. And when your voice is tired, if you can just step away for 60 seconds. And what you're going to do is you're going to take this straw and if it's a drinking straw, I tend to put my finger over the tip just so I feel some resistance. So when I when I phone it through it like playing a kazoo, I want to feel a bit of that resistance and just do glide. And then, like a car engine trying to start. An old car and then maybe a bit of a song. And then when you've done that, just say something, say something positive like, yes, that's right and feel where your voice is. And your voice should feel lighter. And where you feel your voice, try and keep your voice there. When the voice fatigues, we end up starting to speak too low. And when we speak at a lower pitch, it has less acoustic energy. So the body will try and compensate by squeezing at the vocal cords, which creates more fatigue. But yeah, the vocalizing through a straw is a great one.
Clinton Henry: I've never seen that. That's so cool. Thank you for that.
John Henny: Yeah, you can look it up on YouTube. You can find different vocal exercises for that.
Clinton Henry: That's great. A lot of times people that are nervous, new to speaking on the stage or in front of large rooms, they deal with nervousness and stage fright. Do you have advice on how to address those sort of challenges?
John Henny: Yeah. I mean, every performer is going to feel a certain level of anxiety. And to a point it's actually helpful, kind of gets you ready to go on stage and get you focused. But at a certain point it becomes unhelpful and at extreme points, that's where you might want to consider seeking help from a professional. But my best advice for those that deal with normal levels of stage fright but that can affect their performance is what I do is I remember that when I feel this, this is the ego, this is the self that wants to protect and it's akin to fight or flight. And many, many years ago, when we traveled in small groups, if you were ostracized or rejected, you would face almost certain peril or doom. Nowadays, of course, in modern society that's not true. But those old fears still remain. So when I feel that, I turn my attention outward. I stop worrying about myself and I say, no, this is not about me being accepted or my sense of self, but it's about the people who've come to hear what I have to say. And then I also give the people that have assembled permission to not like me. And I will say that to myself. You have permission to not like me. It's out of my control, you have that right, but I am here for the person who I can help, who needs to hear what I have to say. And that's the attitude that I walk out with.
Clinton Henry: That's very refreshing. That's very helpful, thank you so much. So what is a typical, let's say I'm somebody who is like, I want to work on my voice. I want to have a more commanding speaking presence. And they come to someone like you. What's that engagement like? Is it ten sessions? Is it something you do for the rest of your life? What's your typical engagement model and what kind of results do you see over time?
John Henny: So the amount of time is nowhere near being a singer because you're working your voice within a much more limited space. But I do work on extending your range, strengthening the voice. When a person first comes to me, I just try and get a sense of where their voice is at, what issues they may have experienced. Do they experience fatigue? Are they constantly clearing their throat? Do they feel like they have the tools to hold people's attention and circumstances where they feel that they don't? And then I will start working some technical exercises, two things to increase their own awareness of their instrument but also to strengthen the instrument and their facility of the instrument. And then we start working on speaking exercises.
One thing I love to do is I will have clients take some slides. They have to lecture on the beginning of a talk and I have them do what I call the world's worst musical. And I do this so they can just have a sense of play with no judgment and have them start singing what it is that they have to talk about. And doing it as silly as they feel they need to so that they're going to get up and they're feeling this singing, right. And it's really ridiculous. But then I have them begin to talk but keep that feeling of singing and allow the music to carry through in the voice and it can actually be transformative. We were all born to sing. A hundred years ago many middle class homes in the US and Europe, their entertainment center was the piano and we all gathered and sang. And then the phonograph and radio came and then that developed the class of, Oh, I can have professional singers on command. Well, I don't sound like them, so I don't sing. And I think that's a shame.
So rediscovering the music in their voice, just giving them tools to be more charismatic if they do, do public speaking. How to project their energy, how to be more charismatic on Zoom meetings, all of those things. And within a few sessions, people can experience some dramatic improvement.
Clinton Henry: Wow, that's very insightful and exciting. I think, for a lot of people who thought, oh, maybe I'm stuck with the voice that I have and to realize that there's a way to actually improve and upskill a very important portion of how we communicate is refreshing to hear. So thank you for that.
John Henny: Yeah. I mean the metaphor with being stuck with the voice you have, we're stuck with the body we have. But it's a very different body if we sit on the couch all day, right, eating junk food or if we are active and exercise and take care of ourselves. Your voice is the same and everyone's voice. If you don't like the sound of your voice, I promise you, you have a wonderful sounding voice and it's uniquely yours. It's your sonic fingerprint and it is your primary emotional connector to other human beings. As social beings, we have very sensitive antenna to the human voice. And when you learn how to command this instrument and connect with people, you can really get your ideas across.
Clinton Henry: Wow. Well, John, thank you so much. That was very enlightening and insightful. I really do appreciate the time. And I hope everybody comes and checks out. And then maybe everybody can have a great voice as you do. So I really do appreciate it. Thank you.
John Henny: Thank you so much.