How do you stop up-speak and sound more confident?
When you finish a sentence, drop your tone slightly down on your last word. Think of it as if your voice is walking down stairs of pitches landing on a lower one.
What I say in the video
I was recently working with a client focused on moving up in their career, and they really wanted to be seen as more of a leader. What's one thing we noticed? Their sentences kept drifting up at the end, a pattern called up-speak. It made confident statements sound more like questions. If you're doing this without realizing it, you're not alone.
Here's a quick fix you can practice right away. When you finish a sentence, drop your tone slightly down like you're walking down stairs or putting a period at the end.
And when you're practicing (not in the real meeting), you can even use a small hand gesture lightly pointing downward to anchor the ending. For example:
"Our results have been really strong?"
"Our results have been really strong."
Hear the difference? A small shift in your voice and in your practice can completely change how people perceive your confidence and leadership.
What I didn’t say in the video
In a meeting where you're making a recommendation, up speak can work against you. Your listener hears a question, so they start to wonder if you're sure. The fix doesn't mean sounding cold. A downward ending just tells people you've finished the thought and you stand behind it.Try it today
Record yourself delivering part of your next presentation and listen back. Are you an up-speaker? Walk down stairs with your voice on the 2nd try and behold the difference.Bill Smartt is a New York executive presence and public speaking coach and the founder of Smartt Talk. He works with leaders in financial services, tech, advertising and startups.
