How Standing Up When You Record Your Voice Improves Your Presence

While it may seem inconsequential, standing up when you record your voice can actually improve its quality, sound, mood, and more importantly, its presence. 

However, standard workstations still compel people to sit all day long. This can ultimately lead to increased stress, lower energy levels, and poor performance—feelings that you actually convey when you speak.

And no matter how much you try to control it, your mood—particularly your stress and energy levels—remains apparent in your voice.  Ultimately, you can come across as cold or indifferent, and perhaps even incompetent or untrustworthy.

Simply put, the first step in improving your personal presence without visual cues and with only your voice is to focus on improving your mood. Fortunately for us, standing up when you record your voice can have a significant impact on how you come across.

According to a 2011 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who used sit to stand desks in the study reported better mood and lower levels of stress compared to those individuals who used standard seated workstations.

However, to reap the full list of benefits of standing up... you must practice proper posture. I promise you that this will have a drastic impact on your mood and ultimately the quality of your voice and its presence.  

What's the Proper Way to Record Your Voice?

• Hold the top of your head toward the ceiling, with your chin tucked
• Keep your shoulder blades back and relaxed.
• Tuck your stomach in.  (Do not tilt your hips forward or backward.)
• Make sure your knees are straight, and the arches of your feet on the ground.

Aside from reduced levels of stress and anxiety, correct posture will also help you convey power and feelings of dominance/security, all of which will improve your vocal presence.

Another bonus you get from standing up, particularly when you practice good posture, is that it allows more oxygen to flow through your lungs, improving the overall quality of your voice.

And here’s one final tip: you want to have your hands free so you can make hand gestures; although listeners will not see these visual cues, hand gestures can help you more accurately and powerfully convey the “mood” of your message.