The art of convincing people
Steven Hyde, Co-Founder of Push Group, one of Google’s largest Partner Agencies in Europe, on his experiences with voice and what it really takes to be convincing.
Written By
Steven Hyde
I think the first time I became aware of my voice was at the age of eleven, joining a Secondary Modern Comprehensive School. I’d moved from a junior school in the same town (Epping) and what struck me immediately was that nearly everyone spoke differently. Specifically, they spoke with heavy, although slightly fake, cockney accents despite being in a fairly well-to-do part of Essex.
Was this what happened in all schools I wondered? Was it a preliminary to young boys voices breaking in puberty? In reality what was happening was that kids from outside of Epping were commuting into the school and the melting pot represented more kids from more working-class families than was typical of Epping. So suddenly, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Or like a reasonably well-spoken 11-year-old in a school of some fearsome skinheads and bother boys. I learned to adapt fast and by the time I was 16 I had successfully dropped every ‘h’ in sight. It helped me fit in but it was not my true voice.
Sixth form college saw me in a much more diverse and enriching environment at Loughton college where, for the first time, there were kids in my class from other ethnic backgrounds. There were Asians from East Africa, Afro Caribbeans from East London as well as posh kids from private schools. It was a blast and I felt I could be ‘myself’ without imposing any accent that might be judged.
The next conscious change of my voice was slightly less intentional and more gradual. I moved to Munich and spoke little German at the time. Learning German at night school improved my English dramatically as it forced me to think about structure and grammar. Also, on the occasions I did need to speak to people in English I found myself learning to speak more clearly and using ‘strong verbs’ rather than weaker, more colloquial terms. For example, not saying “What do you reckon on that then” and replacing it with “What do you think about that?”
To this day, as a keen football supporter, it still staggers me how many highly paid, professional journalists interview foreign sports stars without due consideration of the language and tonality they use. They have clearly never lived abroad and learned a foreign language.
The feedback I had was about the structure and content of my presentation but never about the clarity or tonality of my voice.
After a year in Germany I could pass myself off in a bar as a native. I turned out to be pretty good at picking up languages and, in particular, listening to the nuances of dialects and mimicking the locals. To this day, if I strike up a conversation at a poolside in Spain with some Germans from Berlin they will notice my ‘Bavarian’ accent. Living and studying abroad forced me to listen intensely to what was being said and how it was being delivered.
Following a stint in Germany, a three month tour of the USA would prove very revealing. People actually found hearing me speak to be a real novelty and I was regularly asked to repeat words like ‘water’ for their innocent amusement. Once again this reinforced the need to speak with real clarity.
At university, in the North of England, I once again came across a real melting pot of British accents. It was here, in front of 200 people, that I first learned to speak in public. The feedback I had was about the structure and content of my presentation but never about the clarity or tonality of my voice.
Presenting in front of an audience became a habit in my corporate career in spells at PepsiCo, Kraft Foods and Disney. At one stage in my 20’s I was presenting every month in front of over 100 people with real regularity. My job as a General Sales Manager was to direct and motivate a large team. I really enjoyed these occasions and whilst the feedback was nearly always positive and encouraging, my area of improvement was consistent; I had a tendency to be slightly monotone.
Throughout my career I have come to rely on PowerPoint (and now Google Slides) as my aid in presentations. This was true in the corporate world with PepsiCo and others, and also since 2007 when I co-founded Push. I speak regularly at Google’s head offices and, because of the changing nature of their technology, I’m required to adapt my presentation regularly. I enjoy ‘telling stories’ and it is now probably my key role in Push to try and make sense of digital marketing opportunities to CEO’s and CMO’s of fast growing businesses.
A good impression is not necessarily about being well-spoken, it’s about being utterly convincing with your voice.
The problem with slideshows is that whilst they are a great way of getting across information, they are also a way of hiding in clear sight. Sometimes, I go to a presentation where the content is highly relevant but the speaker is simply not making an impression on me. It’s possible to overload the audience with facts and figures without really engaging with them. So there are a number of presenters who need these visual distractions because they aren’t strong enough elsewhere and, in particular, with their voice.
But I’ve noticed that this trend is changing. We see it with Google for example, where their senior executives are encouraged to present in a bolder, fresher style which is less text heavy and uses lots of white space. Try and watch Google CEO Sundar Pichai in action and you will see a very minimal use of information (words and numbers) on slides which forces the attention on him and his message.
I think I’m happy with how I sound but I am always looking to improve. I’ve realised the importance of that from watching and listening to people who I think are great presenters, like Nic Rixon and Darren Shirlaw, who I present alongside at Google (they are the founding partners of Shirlaws). Both have a different pace and style but come across as highly authentic.
This begs the question, what is it that makes them sound so authentic? I’m fairly certain, for them, it is because they are absolutely clear about their intent. They know themselves, know what they are about and why they do what they do with absolute clarity. One can also hear their accents as true and pure to their upbringing. I’m biased here and will freely admit it. I regularly favour the authenticity of a slight regional accent to what I deem as ‘put on’ and who am I to judge?
Sometimes, I think it is harder for someone who is really well-spoken to come across as authentic. I find myself sitting there judging ‘are they as intelligent as they sound?’ or is it just a privileged education? I think a lot of British business people have become more sceptical about taking on people who are well-spoken, more so than they would have been previously. Sometimes they carry a perception of being well-educated but not that bright. So a good impression is not necessarily about being well-spoken (whatever that means), it’s about being utterly convincing with your voice.
My final thoughts on this, from my own personal experience, are that for me to bring out my true voice I need a subject matter that really inspires me. I find it hard to put on an act if I don’t believe what I’m talking about. To this end, as I prepare my presentations, I try now to put in content that fires up the passion in me so that I know it will then find it’s way to what I actually say.