125related in an earlier chapter, my voice used to be no
better than a feeble monotone. That is, until I got moti-
vated to change it. There were two instances that in-
spired my system for developing my voice. The first was
a magazine interview I read many years ago about the
actor Richard Burton (who had perhaps the most mes-
merizing speaking voice of all time—listen to the Broad-
way recording of “Camelot” and hear him as King Arthur
speak and “sing” his songs.) In the interview, Burton
said that his voice was how he made his living, so he
made certain that each morning while showering he
sang a number of songs to keep his vocal cords strong
and supple. Later, on a television talk show, actor Tony
Randall told the host how he developed his trademark
sing-song acting voice: “I took up opera,” he said. “I found
that singing opera did more for my stage voice than any-
thing else I ever tried.”
Those two interviews have stayed in my mind ever
since, and I always carry a number of tapes and CDs in
my car to sing along with. I crank them up good and
loud (this is best done while driving alone) and sing at
the top of my lungs. I make certain that I do this every
day, even when I don’t feel like singing. In the words of
William James, there’s another benefit: “We don’t sing
because we’re happy, we’re happy because we sing.”
Prior to a major public speech, I’ll often get to my
location more than an hour ahead of time and then just
drive around the neighborhood singing like a madman.
(Sometimes I worry that my host client might drive by
and spot me in my car singing along with Elvis and look-
ing dangerously psychotic. But the benefits are worth
that risk.) I find that when I drive and sing like that my
breathing is better, my timing is better, and when I
speak, my voice effortlessly fills the hall.
Keep changing your voice