Two wonderful films, both about human communication, are nominated for this year’s Oscar awards! “Social Network” won the Golden Globe Award and “The King’s Speech” won the Screen Actors Guild award. Which will win the coveted Oscar? As a professional speech coach I vote for “The King’s Speech” and here’s why.
Today’s highly technological world is smaller and therefore more complicated. In my opinion, “spoken and voiced” human communication is even more important than ever before. In a nano second messages can be emailed, tweeted, and texted. We all have many, many friends (acquaintances) on Facebook and Linkedin, most of which we have never met and will never know. The connection is an informational “Social Network” which gives an individual the power to send their thoughts and ideas in real time to a large number of people. And that in itself is a good thing. However, his/her thoughts are written and not spoken. There is a huge difference between the written voice and the spoken voice. Without your spoken voice giving meaning to your written words, you leave the interpretation of your message solely up to the listener.
On the other hand in “The King’s Speech” it is emphasized that one voice, that of King George VI, was responsible for unifying a nation as it declared war on Germany. The King’s voice would speak for all the soldiers, women and children who were going to be faced with enormous challenges and his voice needed to give them the confidence and courage to do so. The people needed to hear his sound, and in that sound, his resolve, his conviction, his power and most of all his belief that despite the sacrifices that were coming, England would be the victor.
It was the sound of his voice supporting his thoughts that motivated and inspired the people of England and it continued to do so throughout WWII. What makes the movie so riveting is that he was becoming King just as WWII was declared. He had expected his brother to be the King however, his brother abdicated the throne. George had stammered badly since childhood and now radio and moving pictures demanded that the King speak to the nation. King George had been working with a gifted speech therapist that not only had the speech tools to correct his speech but also the interpersonal skills to give the King the confidence and power to express himself. The turning point in the movie came when the future King of England, yelled, ““I have a Voice”.
That statement, “I have a Voice” is a lesson for all of us who may tend to depend on the “social network”. You could be giving away your power by depending on the networks for your main source of communication. Human communication is more than the transfer of information. The human voice and the spoken word are what give you the power to persuade, to motivate, and to lead.
Are you ready to discover how you can improve your speaking voice by signing up for your 20-minute free voice analysis, http://www.voicepowerstudios.com/analysis.html or call 1-877-783-2455.
