274. Teach people how to listen to you
Welcome back to That Voiceprint Podcast — and to Season 14.
In this episode, I’m talking about something I see all the time in brilliant professionals and leaders:
we’re trying to read the room… and in the process, we’re teaching people not to listen to us.
I share three simple, powerful techniques to help you hold attention and influence with your voice:
how to signal your message so people lean in
how to use intonation to conduct the listener
why saying less actually makes people listen more
This episode is about learning how to teach people how to listen to you — in meetings, conversations, and on stage.
Welcome back to That Voiceprint Podcast.
I’ve missed you!
And those four weeks went pretty quickly.
I went to beautiful Samoa in the Pacific Islands with my mum for Christmas, then spent New Year’s with my sister up at Tannum Sands, which is near Gladstone in Central Queensland. She lives across the road from the beach.
Then it was back into it.
My website and email crashed for a couple of days — oh my gosh. If you have a .au address, honestly jump in and make sure all your details are up to date and good to go. They had some weird ABN on file that I hadn’t used since well before I started this business. Anyway, we worked it out and I’m back online.
You may have seen I did a trilogy of videos — the distress of what happened, the optimism of it being solved, and the celebration of being back online. And as I’m always advocating for — sharing your voice, telling your story — this is what creates connection. So many people messaged me about similar horror stories, offered assistance, or just support.
People don’t want flawless.
They want realness.
And dropping the blocks and sharing your voice will change your life.
I’m so glad this message is resonating, which was shown by my Soul Speakers Advanced program filling in the first week of January.
If you’re interested, get in touch because it’s a rolling program and spots will be coming up. It’s a 12-month program with unlimited sessions. I help design your audibility strategy, write your content, and release fears and mindset blocks.
The group right now is perfectly suited to women in business who already have speaking-related tasks in their calendar and want to amplify even more. That could be preparing a speech for stage, social media videos, podcasting, media interviews, lobbying — anywhere you’re using your voice.
The group is limited to 10. Get in touch.
It also includes a free spot at my Speak Up for Your Business workshops, which are back for 2026. This is my only in-person group offering, and you will walk out transformed. You’ll be clear on what to say, how to say it, and you’ll meet your authentic soul voice.
I’m in Sydney March 19, Melbourne April 17, and Brisbane May 22.
Come along.
If you’re a Soul Speaker, there’s a 50% off sweetener. Soul Speakers is my online group program and it’s the best place to start. We focus on creating a confident voice, you’ll learn the craft of speaking, and you’ll connect with an amazing group of people.
On our first call — meeting.
For the first episode of this season — and we are up to Season 14, can you believe it — I’m still doing a Voiceprint takeover.
Because maths might not be my forte, but I know there are more people listening to this than books sold — so please go and grab a copy of Voiceprint.
And if you have, please leave me a review on Amazon if you bought it there, or on Goodreads. Every little bit helps get the Voiceprint message out there.
For this first episode of the season, I was inspired by a recent one-on-one with a client — a professional, a leader, who is really receptive to feedback and wanted to learn how she could better influence in meetings.
She said she found herself sounding a bit hesitant in an attempt to read the room.
And yes — as communicators, we need to be receptive to the feedback our listener is giving us.
But the feedback our listener gives us is often controlled by the way we’re speaking to them.
We teach people how to listen to us.
You might have heard the phrase we teach people how to treat us. Oh — that was a tough pill to swallow. It really takes you out of victim mode. It’s not their fault your boundaries were breached.
We are the custodians of our boundaries — of what we will and won’t accept.
And we are the masters of our voice, and we teach people how to listen.
Whoa.
This is why voice coaching is so bloody helpful — because you learn how to be this teacher.
And look, I can’t dickhead-proof the world. There are factors at play that mean no matter what you do, you’ll be ignored.
I was mid-flow at a workshop, telling a gripping story about how I almost got bitten by a piranha in the Amazon River — true story — and most of the room was on the edge of their seats, mouths open like the piranha I was describing.
And one guy just kind of snorted, got up, and went to get a cup of tea.
And I was like… geez. Okay.
So we can’t catch ’em all.
But there is so much we can do.
And I’m going to share with you three things you can do to teach people how to listen to you.
Number one: signal your message before you share your message.
If you dive straight into sharing — and I’m going to use a very mundane example here, because I don’t want you to think your content is too dry or drab for this — it works with anything. In fact, it works better with bland content, because these sentences hype up what we’re about to say.
So instead of diving into:
“Our team is up to stage three of the project, and that’s what we’ll be working on this week.”
We need to give the red carpet to this sentence.
We need to teach people to lean in and listen, because something’s coming.
It’s like the trailer before the movie.
That signal sentence could be something like:
“Really great news to report this week…”
“You might be surprised to hear…”
Or, “I’ve been waiting to share this…”
See how in all cases it’s a question begging for an answer?
What’s the great news?
What might I be surprised to hear?
Why have you been waiting to share?
This has gotta be good.
And then you deliver:
“Our team is up to stage three of the project.”
If you want help crafting signal statements for your own content, book in for some 1:1s and we’ll nut it out.
It’s like the metaphorical glass tap before a wedding speech.
It’s like saying, “Class, listen up.”
Which leads us to number two: become the master of intonation.
In Voiceprint, this is Chapter 10. If you don’t have Voiceprint, get it and read Chapter 10.
Intonation allows you to conduct the listener. It’s the rise and fall of your voice.
We rise when we’re not finished — like those signal statements.
And when we are finished, we land it like we’re throwing a dart into a dartboard.
“You might be surprised to hear…” (up)
“Our team is up to stage three of the project…” (still up — we’re not finished)
“…and that’s what we’ll be working on this week.” (boom — landed)
If we did the opposite intonation… well, you can hear how that would fall flat.
Intonation is technical, but those who master it own the room.
And it’s a key tool in teaching people how to listen to you.
The tease and land is a must-know for everyone.
Get the book.
Join Soul Speakers.
Number three: we teach people how to listen to us by not rambling on.
It’s almost easier to tune out a rambling voice than it is to tune out silence.
I’m an auditory person, and sometimes the drone of someone going on and on and on becomes white noise — and I can drift off to my happy place, miles away from what they’re actually saying.
The most precious thing we have isn’t time — it’s attention.
If we teach people that we’re ramblers, they expect it before we begin.
If we teach people that we respect the economy of words — and understand that a pause is worth a thousand words — the listener knows they need to pay attention.
Because you’re only going to say it once.
You’re not going to go on and on.
You’re going to land your point — and leave them wanting more.
So:
Use signal statements.
Master your intonation.
And say less.
That’s three simple techniques to teach people how to listen to you.
To really integrate this and transform the way you speak, you need to learn — and experience — before becoming the teacher.
This podcast is a great start.
Voiceprint is a great resource.
And Soul Speakers is a powerful decision if you want to truly become someone people listen to.