Parenting Pointers: Tone of Voice

Tasia Valenza is an EMMY and Telly-winning voiceover artist, actress, and motivational speaker. Renowned for voicing iconic female characters in video games and animated television shows, such as the seductress Poison Ivy in the Batman: Arkham Series, Venisa Doza in Star Wars Resistance, Shaak Ti in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sniper Wolf in the fan-favorite Metal Gear Solid games; Tasia voices countless commercials, animated series, video games, narrations, promos, and radio imaging. These experiences inspired the creation of #GiveGreatVoice, a platform that encourages confident, considerate verbal communication. Additionally, Valenza has co-created and voiced a free-to-use, science-based affirmation meditation app, Haven, with the hopes of helping people rewire their brains for peace of mind.

I had a chance to interview her about tone of voice and intention.

As a voiceover artist, how do tone and other vocal characteristics become important?As an actress, I can use my body language, as well as my facial expressions and my tone to convey my message. But as a voiceover artist, it has to all be channeled through my voice. You can change the words on the page and change what it means completely by the tone of voice, which then can enhance the message or detract.

Why is our tone of voice important in everyday speech?Just in the same way, tone matters for my professional acting roles, it also matters in my “personal and professional roles.”
I’m a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend. I’m a voiceover artist, CEO of my company, Employer, Speaker.
A perfect example is how my daughter will tell me I’m stressing her out when I asked her if she did her homework, and that is all based on tone vs the words themselves. I feel anxious because it’s getting late, and even though my intention may be to help remind her.. my anxious and slightly edgy tone doesn’t support her actually to want to do it.
And when I’m speaking as a customer to a company service rep, and I’m asking for help with a problem, I know that when I hear in their voice, someone genuinely wanting to help me.
I can hear the warm patient tone and calming sound vs. when I know someone is by the motions and couldn’t care less.
And on the flip side, I notice I get a better more willing response to help me when I approach the customer service reps with a calm and vulnerable or friendly tone of “I need some help” vs., “I’m frustrated with this situation, and it’s your fault since you represent the company that messed up.”
How can people be aware of their tone of voice and modify it if needed?
We can become aware of our tone by asking ourselves these questions.
Who am I in this scene of my life (Mom, customer, wife)?
What do I want? from this scene, I want to support my daughter and not get into a fight.
I want to have this customer representative want to help me.
How does my voice support that intention?
Our tone of voice will follow that intention when we’re more conscious of it ahead of time, take a deep breath and lead with a tone that supports the words we say and doesn’t misrepresent them.
When the tone and words match what our true intentions are, we can create conversations that lead to better outcomes.
And that makes for more success and happiness in our lives and the lives of those we’re interacting with. And that’s a win-win.