Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Unit 6. Voice, anxiety, emotions: some useful tips. In this unit, we will dwell on a very common issue: anxiety and excessive emotion that sometimes gets hold of us when we have to face an interview or a video conference. We will not talk about the pathological disorder known as generalized anxiety, but the common and normal condition of anxiety that everyone feels. Thanks to this unit, you will discover what anxiety is, what makes you drown in anxious states and what are the ways you can face it. Anxiety always also involves the voice, which conveys and communicates our deepest emotional states to our listeners, although in an unintentional way. Thanks to this unit, you will then discover what behaviour and which strategies to adopt in the event this difficulty overwhelms you. Let's get going. The contribution of the word in communication exchanges has often been overrated. It has been estimated that only 30% of communication is constituted by so-called verbal communication. Our speeches are conveyed, for the most part, through the para-verbal and non-verbal communication. First, the voice itself also communicates in a non-verbal manner: this is the case of the strangled voice or the voice drag, which can easily communicate a state of discomfort and anxiety to our listener, without using any words at all. Secondly, the absence of the body due to the impairment of distance between communicators has meant that the voice has become prominent. We think for example of phones, video calls or messaging: voice is in the spotlight. The voice, unlike the body, is not easily maskable: it is easy to talk to communicate our emotional states too, especially if our emotion is an obvious feature. How to manage situations of this kind? Is it possible to manage an emotion? Is it possible to control voice? Yes, and thanks to this course, you will discover how it is possible to manage a deeply-felt emotion, as well as common anxious states. In fact, there are many people complaining about being too emotional, to be afraid of speaking in public and being affected by voice problems (the strangled, shaky voice, up to losing voice altogether!). In reality, the disorder is anxiety. What is anxiety and how is it possible to manage it? The stress or anxiety in our case has nothing to do with the clinical form of anxiety disorder (GAD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder), where it is absolutely necessary to contact a specialist (psychiatrist or psychotherapist). What we commonly call "anxiety" is a normal psychic state that can potentially involve all individuals. Wikipedia defines anxiety as follows: "A complex combination of emotions that include fear, apprehension and concern, and is often accompanied by physical sensations such as palpitations, chest pain and / or short breath, nausea, internal tremor". Anxiety can actually appear accompanied by psychosomatic disorders: redness, poor salivation, tremors, high sweating. And again, headaches, acceleration of heartbeat, until a real confusion, like when we complain about "being mauled down". These psychosomatic manifestations, according to Wikipedia, are due to a hyperactivity of our autonomic nervous system. What does it mean? The autonomous nervous system, or vegetative or visceral nervous system, governs and controls the vegetative functions, or those that are not subject to our voluntary control. In other words, the autonomic nervous system affects the involuntary part of our body. Among the behaviour controlled by the autonomous nervous system, there is the so-called "Fight or Flight" mode, combat or flee. It is an absolutely involuntary reaction that we tend to implement when we are faced with a danger, but even when we believe we are in front of a danger even if they isn’t any! In fact, talk at a video conference, talking on the phone, conducting a job interview are not actual hazards. However our autonomous nervous system can perceive these situations as such, and consequently, panic has the upper hand. We can therefore define anxiety as an energy surge produced by our body to prepare us to face real or imaginary danger, and which causes often debilitating psycho-physical reactions. Let's see what some of the main symptoms of anxiety are. First, those who experience an anxious state tend to experience a fear of losing control, a sense of impotency, irritability, difficulty in concentration, memory problems. It is very common among students, for example, believing they do not remember anything of what they have studied for days and days: actually it's just anxiety! Among the physical symptoms, often very obvious, in addition to redness and tremors, we can experience severe breathing difficulties, sense of fainting and confusion, thoracic pain, dizziness. And again increased sweating, excessive heat or cold, difficulty in swallowing, accelerated heartbeat, tremor, stomach ache and muscle tension. An obvious effect of anxiety specifically concerns the voice. When a person lets himself be taken over by negative emotions, anxiety and stress, it is followed by a strangled feeling or a very low tone of voice. So here are some elementary exercises that will help us govern our anxious states and use our voice to the best of our possibilities. First, practice speaking in public, opposite a mirror or, if you prefer, with help from someone. In front of the mirror or together with a friend, you can rehearse: if for example, you are planning a video conference or a conversation, train and try to talk on the subject by actually imagining to be in front of the public. It is in fact only "breaking the ice": once you get used to overcoming your fears, anxiety can no longer win!