"鐵娘子"教你打造磁性好嗓子大綱
Last we heard from media and presentation coach Mary Civiello, she weighed in on lessons from the Oscar-winning The King's Speech. She's back in the movie theater studying another icon of British history: Margaret Thatcher, portrayed by Meryl Streep in Iron Lady. Civiello knows of what she speaks: She works with executives at such companies as Morgan Stanley (MS), American Express (AXP), DreamWorks Animation (DWA), Merck (MRK) and Fortune's parent, Time Inc. (TWX)—and in fact, worked with my colleagues and me to help us win the crowd at the 2011 Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. Here's Civiello's latest dispatch from the cinema:
媒體演講教練瑪麗•西維爾羅在上一篇文章中探討了我們能從奧斯卡獲獎影片《國王的演講》（The King's Speech）中獲得的啓示。現在她再次回到電影院，開始研究英國曆史上的另一位標誌性的人物：撒切爾夫人，梅麗爾•斯特里普在最近上映的電影《鐵娘子》（Iron Lady）中飾了這個角色。西維爾羅對自己所談論的話題有着深刻的瞭解。她的合作對象包括了各大公司的高管，比如摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）、美國運通（American Express）、夢工廠（DreamWorks Animation）、默克（Merck）和《財富》（Fortune）雜誌的母公司時代公司（Time Inc）。實際上，她還與我和我的同事合作過，幫助我們在2011年財富雜誌最具影響力女性峯會（Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit）期間如何贏得聽衆。以下是西維爾羅從電影院發回的最新文章：
In Iron Lady, Meryl Streep shows us how hard Margaret Thatcher worked to become Prime Minister of England. That hard work included lowering her voice tone.
梅麗爾•斯特里普在《鐵娘子》中向我們展示了撒切爾夫人努力工作，最終成爲英國首相的歷程。這些艱辛的工作甚至包括降低聲調。
Her handlers told her that no one wanted to listen to—let alone be led by—a "screeching woman." They also told her to ditch her pearls. And while Thatcher kept the jewelry, she did work with a voice coach to lower her tone.
她的助手告訴她，沒人願意聽“聲音尖利的女人”說話，更別提接受她的領導了。他們還告訴她放棄珍珠項鍊。雖然撒切爾保留了珠寶，但她確實找了個發聲教練，幫助自己降低聲調。
In fact, two recent studies focus on the value of lower-pitched voices. One study found that voters rated lower-pitched speakers higher for leadership potential, honesty, intelligence and dominance. The other study suggested that people—both men and women—with lower voices do better at attracting the opposite sex.
實際上，最近有兩項研究都是針對降低聲調的好處。其中一項研究發現，選民認爲聲調較低的發言人更具有領導的潛力和控制力，而且爲人更誠實，也更有智慧。另一項研究顯示，聲調較低的人——無論男女——更能吸引異性。
So, lowering your voice tone can mean reaching the corner office and finding someone interesting to dine with! I often work with women executives to use the lower range of what's natural for them. Here are my top three tips:
因此，降低聲調不僅有助於在職場上獲得晉升，還能吸引到更有意思的人共進晚餐！我在與女性高管合作的時候，常常建議她們使用比天生更低的聲調。以下是我的三個最佳建議：
1) Recognize your range. Women have a greater pitch range than men, which means they are less likely to be monotone but more likely to hit squeakier octaves. I will tape clients when they don't realize it to illustrate their range. Clients also see that a higher pitch is often connected to nerves. When they're in the spotlight, everything, including vocal chords, constricts.
1. 認識自己的音域。女性的音域比男性更寬廣，這意味着她們說話聲音一般不會單調沉悶，但也更有可能會發出刺耳的高音。如果客戶不能意識到這一點，“盡情”展現自己的音域時，我就會把她們的聲音錄下來。客戶還發現，提高聲調常常與緊張有關。他們身處聚光燈下的時候，包括聲帶在內的所有部位都會收緊。
2) Relax. Breathe deeply, lower your shoulders, and loosen up before you start to speak. A Columbia University study suggests that tight body language before your perform leads to a less confident performance.
2. 放鬆身體。深呼吸，肩膀下沉，說話之前先放鬆身體。哥倫比亞大學（Columbia University）的一項研究顯示，演講前緊張的肢體語言會導致信心下降。
3) Rehearse right. As you practice your presentation out loud, place your fingers lightly against your throat. You'll feel your vocal chords rise and fall with your pitch and you'll be able to monitor your own progress.
3. 正確練習。大聲練習演講時，輕輕將手指放在喉嚨處。你會感覺到聲帶隨着音調的變化而上下起伏，這樣就可以自我監督，慢慢提高。
If you want to lower your voice tone, know that it requires work over time. But for those who have the Iron Lady's will, it can pay off.
要知道，降低聲調需要假以時日，不能急於求成，但擁有鐵娘子般意志的人必將獲得回報。
