The Pin Drop Principle: Captivate, Influence, and Communicate Better Using the Time-Tested Methods of Professional Performers

Chapter 6

Say It Like You Mean It

Using Your Voice to Influence

There is no index of character so sure as the voice.

—Benjamin Disraeli

 

The great firebrand Christopher Hitchens described the human voice as a “resonant vibration that can stir memory, produce music, evoke love, bring tears, move crowds to pity and mobs to passion.” Hitchens, an intellectual and lifelong provocateur, understood the power of the vocal instrument; he used it as a weapon when he clashed with opponents in fiery political debates. When Hitchens was a small child, his mother impressed upon him that the only truly unforgivable sin was being boring. Love him or hate him, Hitchens never committed that sin. He always spoke his mind and never backed down from a fight.