Janet Howd
Janet Howd is a voice coach who works with corporate, academic, legal, theatrical and private clients in the UK, North America, Australia and Europe.
Disaster equals energy plus misinformation
06 Aug 2018
In his seminal book on accidents and disasters, Barry A Turner observed that disasters almost always represent failures of intention and that a simple equation - “disaster equals energy plus misinformation” - can to help guard against catastrophic events.
Passing on the skill of ageing
15 Mar 2018
Western societies need a new attitude towards ageing. Because if we continue to sideline and box-in people after their so-called retirement, the cost of containment will bankrupt us all.
Tapping into the power of oratory
20 Feb 2018
When you're preparing to give a presentation, have you ever stopped to consider that what's going on in the back of your mind is likely to have a big impact on its chance of being a success?
Words of mass disruption
03 Oct 2017
Unless we can start to discern truth from falsehood, the slow but persistent infiltration of spurious news will inevitably lead humanity down the road of serious physical consequences.
Success depends on you
26 Apr 2017
One of the most stressful situations anyone can find themselves in is delivering a presentation. But as with any human endeavour, the key to delivering a successful outcome is simple. Practise.
Meaning what we say?
09 Jan 2017
An unintended consequence of the aftermath of the deregulation of the financial markets in the late 1980s was the deregulation of once-powerful words that has stripped them of much of their impact.
Your voice and your identity
08 Dec 2016
Technology has made it possible to identify anyone by their unique voice pattern within about three seconds. That has some interesting implications - for good and for ill.
You can't take the practice out of presenting
25 Oct 2016
Our fear of giving a presentation often means we perform well below par. But running a marathon scares people too, yet those who try it usually perform well. Why should that be?
Interconnectedness: a blessing or a curse?
12 Aug 2016
For a species that is often belligerent and territorial, it isn't surprising that human beings are finding the sudden interconnectedness brought about by technology sometimes difficult to handle.
Taking the terror out of talking
08 Jul 2016
Apple’s new Breathe app is designed to help reduce stress through deep breathing. But breathing is also critical to taking the terror out of speaking or presenting in public.
Melting pot
03 May 2016
All over the globe, attitudes to human diversity divide societies. Why are so many of us dismissive of anyone who does not carry the same cultural baggage as we do?
By their words you shall know them
22 Feb 2016
'Mis-speaking’ is an impossibility because words that go against the grain of your own beliefs just don't enter your head. Which leads me to think about the meaning behind the words of one Donald Trump.
We need to talk!
13 Jan 2016
Our growing addiction to smartphones, digital symbols and text-speech is marginalizing spoken language and risks turning mankind into a race of sedentary, picture-watching zombies.
Will too much communication kill communication?
15 Dec 2015
We are the first generation in history to have all humanity’s accumulated knowledge, quite literally, at our fingertips. But far from empowering us, that deluge of information is in danger of doing us more harm than good.
Extending your vocal range
17 Sep 2015
If you want to be heard at a distance, there’s never any need to shout. As every actor knows, projecting your voice is a question of technique and practice.
Only an emigrant?
04 Aug 2015
All humanity migrated from somewhere at some time. But as the popular songs of the 19th Century remind us, the suspicious attitudes of those already settled has always been a problem for would-be newcomers.
The best way to vent your feelings
24 Jun 2015
Just like our fingerprints, each of us also has a distinctive voice print. So let’s take a look at the human voice, how we use it and how we can best access the range of skills it places at our disposal.
How to handle a Q&A session
03 Jun 2015
It isn't just your presentation skills that can be practised and improved. How you handle the Q&As afterwards can also be planned for and anticipated so that the risk of getting blind-sided by an awkward question is reduced.
The benefit of seams
04 May 2015
What do we have against seams? Many organisations like to boast that their organisational tapestries are ‘seamless’, as if this is something that bolsters their resilience and profitability. But without seams, it is heard to adopt, adapt and improve.
Give yourself some air
24 Mar 2015
Many people get so nervous and uptight when they have to present or speak in public that they feel as if they are going to pass out. If that’s you, don’t worry. All you need to do is learn to breath.
Let me spell this out for you
09 Feb 2015
In a world of instant access to ideas and information, isn’t it time that we acknowledged that English spelling - the code we use to write down our thoughts - is well past its sell by date?
Your thoughts can catch you out
18 Dec 2014
When speaking to an audience, a little empathetic laughter can be a dangerous thing, causing even the most polished presenter to drop a verbal gaff that completely destroys the message they were hoping to get across.
More from Janet
The act of presentation
25 Nov 2014
Managers who are expected to give presentations can learn an enormous amount from the techniques of acting. So forget the Powerpoint slides for a moment and take some lessons from the stage...
Voicing thoughts
23 Oct 2014
Every emotion, every word and every sound you utter, from birth till death, expresses what you are, what you feel, what you think and what you do. So voicing your thoughts out loud can be a powerful and cathartic psychological tool.
Words are all in the mind
04 Aug 2014
Only words related to consciously-held ideas can pop out of a human mouth without forethought. So don’t allow sloppy thinking to distort your language and undermine the crux of your argument.
World-wide word power
09 Jun 2014
They may be separated by more than 400 years, but Shakespeare and the European Court of Justice both remind us of the enormous power of the written word holds over information and our perception of history.
Standing up on the job
19 May 2014
Human beings are designed to stand on their two legs. So standing up and moving around during our working day makes a job more interesting as well as being better for our physical and mental health.
Clear and present danger
07 Apr 2014
Human beings are social animals. They need real, physical contact with others, not just the often-spurious connections made online. So neglecting real connections means neglecting who we really are.
Attention is the key to the memory
07 Mar 2014
To present effectively, you need information at your fingertips. And if you want your memory to work effectively, your mind must, at some time, have paid full attention to the subject it is expected to recall later.
Keep on with the tablets!
03 Feb 2014
The iPad is nothing new. After all, writing on tablets is almost as old as the hills – except that today's tablets are altogether more dynamic, possessing the power to bring information to life and electrify learning.
Want to be a better leader? Learn to be poetic
06 Jan 2014
A key component of leadership is the ability to make sure that other people understand what you want from them. The best way to go about that is to use 'the best words in the best order' - which happens to be Samuel Taylor Coleridge's description of poetry.
Google, open minds and extended life
09 Dec 2013
Google's launch of Calico earlier this year to seek new ways to fight the aging process was met with some amusement and much skepticism. But the business plan of this novel venture is by no means novelty-based.
Changing your tone
25 Nov 2013
When you listen to a recording of your own voice, it never sounds like the voice your hear inside your head. But as vocal coach Janet Howd reveals, there are ways to change this.
Learn to be wrong to get to be right
04 Nov 2013
If you really want to improve your voice and presentation skills, learning how it feels to present badly is an essential step on the road to learning how to do it well.