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Your voice: With it you are "in," without it you are "out!" This is kind of a harsh statement, to say the least, but it is the truth.
As auctioneers, we have a tendency to overlook our most valued possession - our voice.
2.
Time is spent making sure all details of the auction are addressed.
But what about our voice? What do you suppose would happen if, when you stepped up to the microphone to begin your sale, your voice didn't respond? 3.
As auctioneers, we need to spend more time thinking about how we use our voices and how we care and maintain them.
When I entered the auction profession years ago, I was amazed at how little, if any, attention was given to the voice mechanism, how it works and its application to the auction chant.
4.
The auction chant is as much an art form as singing.
You should be able to generate as much emotion through your chant as a singer generates through song.
5.
Emotion generates excitement, trust and confidence.
It will ultimately have a direct bearing on the success or failure of your auctions.
6.
So, what about this thing called your voice? It is located in a cartilage cylinder or "larynx" in our trachea (windpipe).
Rather than go into a detailed description with all the medical technology, let's just say the vocal folds, or "cords" as they are called, stretch across the larynx from front to rear.
As we exhale, the vocal cords set the air into vibration, causing sound.
7.
The thing that is important to realize here is that the vocal cords produce only 1/10 of 1 percent of the sound we make! 8.
That means that 99.
9 percent of the sound is made elsewhere in our bodies.
Our rib cage, chest cavity, nasal and sinus passages and the bone structure of our head and neck all contribute to the total sound we call our "voice.
" This is why good posture is very, very important to good vocal production.
9.
The 99.
9 percent sound that is produced in our bodies, not by the vocal cords, are called "partials.
" These partials add color, fullness and depth to the sound.
In a sense, they act as "resonators.
" This is why many times when we have a cold or sinus problem, the sound of our voice changes.
These resonators cannot function as they normally do and thereby alter the sound.
10.
Warm up is also very important for your voice to perform properly while auctioning, just as it is important for a singer to warm up.
Warm up limbers up the vocal cords as well as activates the resonators in your body.
11.
The best time I have found to do this is when I'm in the shower or driving in my car to the sale.
The best method I have found is simply humming.
Start with the lower range of your voice.
Go up three notes and then back down.
Do the same three notes again.
Repeat this for a minute or so.
Next, raise the bottom note to the next note.
Repeat the same process of up three notes and back down.
You can either continue to raise the bottom note one step at a time and repeat this process or hum to a song on the radio.
Just be sure to stay in your lower range for a while and also to use good support.
Good support means to pull inward on your stomach as you exhale, supporting the sound, 12.
Why do we speak or "chant" on the pitch that we do? The human voice is divided into three separate groups or areas.
Generally, the note or "pitch" on which we go from the bottom range into the middle range is the one that we speak on, It is a comfortable pitch and an easy one to convey whatever emotion or feeling we wish to.
From the bottom to the top of our voice range is approximately 3 1/2 octaves of 44 notes.
13.
Never attempt to chant with your legs crossed at the knees.
There are five sets of muscles going from the abdomen to the upper legs.
We need all of them to pull in on our stomachs and force the diaphragmatic muscle inside our abdomen to force the air upward out of our lungs.
14.
Standing with both feet flat on the floor and your weight evenly distributed between them is best.
Your back should be straight and rib cage in its proper place.
To put your rib cage in its proper place, raise your hands above your head, and then lower your arms and not your shoulders.
This will raise your rib cage to its correct position.
15.
Put excitement in your voice, speak clearly and chant in phrases I can guarantee you'll be more successful with your audiences and your auctions.
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