Triple Take #13: smiling, mindset for presence, and an underestimated tool for calm
- Kaffy Rice-Oxley
- May 18
- 4 min read
Voice Confident's Triple Take - your fortnightly trio of tips!
In this issue - the many benefits of smiling, a self-assessment for your presence mindset and a way to find balance you may not have tried yet!
Voice - smiles all round!
Smiling is great for speaking. When you smile, the shape of your mouth and the position of facial muscles change the resonance of your voice. It typically lifts the soft palate and opens the vocal tract slightly, creating a warmer, brighter, and more engaging tone. This is why we can ‘hear’ a smile down the phone!
But the benefits of smiling go way beyond this…
Smiling is a powerful tool that can significantly improve your mood and reduce stress. When you smile, your brain releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, which help you feel happier and more relaxed. Even when you don’t feel like smiling, a smile can trick your brain into thinking you’re in a better mood. This simple action can also lower your heart rate and blood pressure, helping you manage stress more effectively.
Beyond emotional benefits, smiling strengthens your social connections. It makes you appear more approachable, friendly, and trustworthy, which enhances how others perceive you. A warm smile can create a strong first impression and deepen relationships over time. And because of mirror neurons in the brain, when you smile at someone they feel the benefits too!
So in public speaking, smiling improves your voice tone, increases bonding with your audience, and releases feel-good chemicals to keep you calm. Nothing not to like about smiling!
Presence - speaking for listening
I write a lot about creating and crafting physical presence but here are 8 aspects of mindset for presence that I work through with clients.
Working through these questions and being honest with yourself about the answers should show you that you have a good basis from which to develop your presence, which after all is not performative - presence is about showing up fully engaged in the present moment, in a way that is aligned with your values and purpose.
Why not identify your areas for development and put a plan in place to grow!
P - Purpose. Do I know my why? Do I share it with others?
R - Respect. Do I value my colleagues’ time? Do I invest energy in supporting others?
E - Excellence. Do I take steps to make sure I am really good at what I do? Can I communicate clearly and confidently?
S - Self-awareness. Do I know how I come across in how I speak and behave?
E - Ethics. What are my values? Do I compromise on the things that matter to me?
N - Now. Am I present? Do I learn from the past and plan for the future while giving everything to the current moment?
C - Confidence. Do I know who I am? Am I unshakeably myself, always, consistently, in all situations?
E - Evolution. Do I have a growth mindset? Am I always looking to learn?
Confidence - use your sense of smell
A much underestimated tool for calm and balance is our sense of smell.
Scents can serve as powerful emotional anchors. For public speakers, using a calming scent, like lavender, during regular relaxation or visualisation exercises can build a strong mental association between that smell and a sense of calm. Before a presentation, lightly inhaling the same scent can trigger the nervous system to recall that relaxed state, helping reduce anxiety. Over time, the scent becomes a cue for confidence and control.
This technique is subtle, effective, and easy to integrate into a pre-speech routine for grounding and focus. A small wrapped soap is easy to keep in your bag or in the car for an instant reset.
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Resources include the 'Voice Confident Guide to Interviews', which is full of mindset, voice and presence tips together with a number of answer structures to interview questions, and looks like this:
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Delve into the possibilities of your voice and presence to lead, inspire, nurture and motivate your teams. Learn to harness the beneficial aspects of the stress response and to understand how audiences process what you say, for more effective and impactful public speaking.
"If you would like to be more confident with your presentations and command more attention then this course is for you... it's not just theory, you will learn practical hands-on techniques on the day too" (Rob, delegate)
