In short: A smiling voice sounds warmer, and listeners can hear the difference even when they cannot see your face. Warm up first, then find the smile before you speak, not a fixed grin. Keep the warmth through the opening and the close, and let the content set the tone in the middle. Record a short piece and listen back with your eyes closed to check it.
A smiling voice sounds warmer because the smile changes the shape of your mouth, and that changes the sound. You can find it on purpose, and it is worth doing before any recording.
What a smiling voice is
Alastair Greener teaches the smiling voice as part of his voice work in Present Yourself. It is not a fixed grin and it is not a higher pitch. It is a relaxed warmth that comes through the words. The listener cannot see you, so the warmth has to be in the voice.
Alastair's teaching also points to mirroring: people tend to reflect the mood a speaker gives them. A warm voice invites a warmer response, which is one reason it is worth finding.
Five steps to find it
- Warm up first. Do a short warm-up of tongue twisters and gentle jaw and lip stretches. A ten-minute voice and body warm-up gives a routine you can follow.
- Find the smile before you speak. Think of something that makes you smile, hold the feeling for a moment, then speak the first line while keeping it.
- Keep the warmth at the edges. Openings and closings are where warmth does the most work. Start warm and end warm.
- Let the content set the tone in the middle. A serious point needs a serious tone. Smile where the content allows it.
- Record and listen back with your eyes closed. Ask whether it sounds like someone you would want to listen to for five minutes.
A worked example
Take a line for a welcome video: "Thanks for joining us. Today I want to show you three things your team can do this week."
Read it flat first. It sounds like a notice pinned to a board. Then read it with the smile found before the first word. The same words now sound like someone talking to the person in front of them. Practise the line three times: once with a fixed grin, once with a neutral face, and once with a relaxed smile. Keep the version that sounds most like you.
Common mistakes
- A fixed grin. It sounds forced, and listeners notice.
- Smiling through difficult news. The voice and the content must match.
- Warming up the face and not the voice, or the other way round.
- Smiling only when you remember to. Find the warmth before you start, not halfway through.
- Judging the first take. Record two or three takes before you decide.
Pace and pauses change how warm a voice sounds too. Pace: why you are still too fast and the power of the pause cover the two most common causes of a voice that sounds rushed. To practise your delivery on camera, see what happens in a media training day.
Related guides
- Pace: why you are still too fast when you speak
- The power of the pause in speaking and presenting
- Vocal variety: the rollercoaster
- Projecting 10% more without shouting
- Cutting fillers: um, ah, like
- All guides and tools
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
What is a smiling voice?
A smiling voice is the warmth that comes through when a speaker smiles while talking. A smile changes the shape of the mouth, which changes the sound. It is a relaxed warmth, not a forced grin or a higher pitch.
How do you sound friendlier on a recording?
Warm up your voice and face, find a genuine smile before the first line, and keep that warmth through the opening and close. Record a short piece and listen back to check it sounds like you talking to one person.
Can you smile while reading a script?
Yes, but read it aloud first so the words feel like yours. A script that sounds read aloud is harder to smile through, so mark the lines you want to say warmly and practise those.
granary.digital · 01243 884993 · studio@granary.digital · The Old Grainstore, Adsdean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 9DN · Prices exclude VAT unless marked inc VAT