The Ultimate Body Language Book

Chapter 8 – Dominant and Submissive Gestures
Speed Of Speech
If you have ever critically examined a politician speak you have noticed how slowly and deliberately
they work. In his bid for candidacy in 2008, Barack Obama used some of the most eloquent speech
patterns of anyone in recent times. He spoke very slowly and used pauses often to show his dominance.
He wasn’t afraid to pause and leave his audience wanting which made his presence much more
powerful and placed much more emphasis on the fewer words he used. People that are awkward will
speak much more quickly and rush their thoughts. Very few speakers can think as fast as their mouth
can run. Inevitably speed talkers end up chucking a foot in their mouth on their way to the finish line.
Use words more sparingly and choose your words more carefully. When listening, note the speed with
which people speak to effectively measure their perceived or real level of dominance.
Chapter 8 – Dominant and Submissive Gestures
Tonality And Voice Depth
The differences between the sexes is huge when it comes to our voices. Women’s voices are nearly
twice as high pitched as men’s so with only rare exceptions, we all know which sex is speaking even
without seeing them. The term “pitch” is defined as the voices “highness” or “lowness” of the voice
which is affected by the natural body chemical androgen. Androgen is the male sex hormone which is
also tied to physical prowess and aggressiveness and also loosely tied to a competitor’s health and
vigor.
In 2005 Anthropologist David Puts used voice recordings of men to study the relationship between the
tone of the voice and men’s attractiveness. He was able to increase and decrease the pitch of the voices
using computer software to make the recording more or less dominant. Puts found that low-pitched
masculine voices increased ratings of men’s physical and social dominance. He also found that men
who felt they were more dominant than their competitors tended to lower their voices when speaking
with them. Additionally, men who had deeper voices also reported having had more sexual partners
over the year previous to the study. Naturally, women have also been shown to prefer men with lower
pitched voices for short-term sexual relationships. Voice pitch can also help men rise in social
dominance. For men, this means plenty. It means that lowering the voice can lead to a better
attractiveness rating in the eye of women and can also be used as a tool to build dominance and
leadership.
The pitch of the human voice also varies with emotional state. Even actors are able to portray different
feelings based on their voice. You can imagine a father with his baby where he draws out his voice and
makes it more like mom so he can grab his infants attention. Women can also lower their voices to be
more like dad to scorn their children or conversely screech at them when they are really upset. The
tendency to raise the pitch of the voice at the end of each sentence to make all statements seem like
questions, is a bad habit adopted frequently by young women. If carried into adulthood, it can be
disastrous in a business context. People read this inflection as a signal of insecurity and believe that you
are unsure about what you are saying. In a business context, it is always best to be direct and act with
conviction.