The voice you hear when you speak is not the one your team hears.
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David Pope is an executive voice coach who has been based in Hong Kong for 32 years. He began in 1980s London at a Soho production company making music videos for Wham!, Dire Straits and A-ha, then joined the BBC as an assistant film editor. In 2010 he founded All Voice Talent, where he is Managing Director. He has spent more than 30,000 hours in recording studios as a producer and director, produced the English-language teen radio drama Songbirds for RTHK and now coaches leaders from law firms, financial institutions, hotels and fashion brands in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Australia, the Middle East and London.
About 20 years ago he was told that growing his business meant leaving the quiet of the studio for stages, workshops and online video. He faced that fear, made mistakes in public and built the self-belief he now teaches.
In this episode:
- The three communication mistakes that weaken executive presence: speaking too fast, a monotone delivery and filler words
- A slightly slower pace reads as authority; rapid delivery reads as nerves
- The emphasis pause before a key figure and the rhetorical question pause before the answer
- Chunking: mark a script with slash marks and stress one word per chunk, what Pope calls "audio punctuation"
- Speakers who think they paused for five seconds usually paused for half a second
- Gravitas is a balance of authority, energy and warmth, not a booming voice
- In 2012 Center for Talent Innovation research, 5 per cent of senior executives named appearance and 28 per cent communication as core to executive presence; 67 per cent named gravitas
- Pope's Voice Influence Framework: voice, presence and messaging
- Why communication becomes more valuable as AI spreads: voiceover artists are already losing work to AI, but live, bespoke human feedback cannot be replaced
- Pope says charisma can be developed; Ademola argues it is largely natural
David Pope, founder of All Voice Talent, on executive presence, gravitas, communication in the AI era and his Voice Influence Framework, on The King Dems Podcast with Ademola Odewade.
How can I sound more confident in meetings?
Slow down slightly, vary your intonation and drop filler words. Record yourself first to find out which one you need to fix.
What is gravitas in executive presence?
A voice that balances authority with energy and warmth. It is not a low, booming voice.
More from David Pope:
https://www.allvoicetalent.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/popedavid
Hosted by Ademola Odewade: chartered accountant, author of Human-Led, AI-Powered Finance (foreword by Professor Dave Ulrich) and Founder of K-DEMS Consulting.
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