Welcome to Vocal Branding Australia and the Vocal Branding Blog, where we speak about all things Voice. Vocal Branding realizes the intrinsic capacity of the human voice to transmit emotion, and its extraordinary potential to create compelling, durable and trusted brand relationships with customers.

View and Listen to Tim’s award-winning presentation on the relationship between the human voice and trust

These Vocal Branding Australia Case Studies demonstrate some of the many applications of our voice and Vocal Branding services.

This article contains links to most of our company features, services and our unique approach to voice. If this is not your first visit to our site, the latest articles are immediately below this introductory welcome message. Alternatively, if you are seeking information on our accessibility services, please visit the Tim Noonan Consulting site.

I’m Vocal Branding Australia’s Managing Director and lead vocal consultant and as I cover in “About Tim”, I literally live and breathe voice. All aspects of voice fascinate me, but my core expertise and study centres around the natural and the contemporary speaking voice. That is the voices each of us use and encounter every day in real everyday spoken communication. Having grown up as a blind person in a sighted world, I’ve had to learn to reliably assess – and interpret – people’s voices as my foundation for ensuring trusted and reliable interactions with others. I sometimes describe this skill as ‘reading’ body language with my ears.

Vocal Branding is the strategic and purposeful use of voice to strengthen and enhance brand experiences, so your products, brands and customer experiences sound as compelling as they look and feel! Modern branding is shifting from Telling to Conversing, and Vocal Branding is an essential element of this accelerating trend.

Our unique approach and suite of premium vocal consulting services is built on over two solid decades of research and experience on numerous voice and vocal branding projects.

This site is a blending of Vocal Branding Australia’s voice consulting website and our voice and branding blog, reflecting the intrinsic conversational character of voice. This conversational platform also feels better suited to introduce and speak about the fresh ideas and unique voice services we are offering – such as voice audits and Vocal Branding research, branding strategy and voice user interface design consulting, through to brand voice casting/matching as well as our proprietary in-studio vocal direction approach.

The site is also home for our specialist spoken-word voice talent agency The Expressive Voice Agency.

You can Also check our audio and voice samples and resources page.

the Vocal Branding blog offers a relaxed space to more expansively explore and talk about the theory and the practice of voice, Vocal Consciousness and Vocal Branding. For example, the challenges addressed and the possibilities which arise through effective uses of voice to strengthen and enhance brands and brand experiences – in short, all the benefits that arise when brand voices are completely and precisely On-Brand. It is also a place where I can share my passion and continually expanding appreciation for the magic and mystery that is the human voice, and I hope, also leave some interesting voice insights with you along the way.

Presentations at conferences and workshops for agencies and organisations are another way I am spreading the word about Vocal Branding and using the voice to increase trust in business. If you are planning a conference, please contact us about including an engaging Voice and Vocal Branding presentation on your program.

Vocal Branding is a major paradigm shift in how voice is viewed and how it is applied in branding and marketing! Because of this, the role of Vocal Branding Australia and this blog is as much to explore, inform and raise awareness around use of brand voice in products and in marketing, as it is to explain and promote our unique vocal consulting services to corporations and agencies.

Please contact us or leave a comment with a question or share your thoughts. In this way we can open up genuine discussions about voice in general, and the emerging field I have coined Vocal Branding.

Vocally yours
Tim Noonan
Director, Vocal Branding Australia
Transforming products, brands and user experiences so they sound as compelling as they look and feel!

We are often asked for examples of how Vocal Branding is enhancing communication between businesses and their customers.

Here are some Vocal Branding case studies and projects we’ve recently been working on here at Vocal Branding Australia:

NSW Department of Health

Vocal Branding Australia worked closely with the Department to develop a Vocal Branding strategy and support the implementation of the harmonisation/integration of a previously regionalised telephone health service throughout the State.

We conducted all the voice-related aspects of the project including:

• In-depth strategic Vocal Branding analysis of the integrated service;
• Creating and refining call-flows and telephone scripts;
• Identifying and sourcing the best Brand Voice to naturally reflect the service values;
• In-studio voice direction;
• Audio editing and post production tasks;
• User experience research involving the development of a usability survey and a more detailed ethnographic study on the prototype service.

Australian Electoral Commission Telephone Voting Standard

Over the last couple of months we have researched and developed an automated Telephone Voting usability Standard to provide a flexible and consistent experience for voting in elections via just the standard telephone.

This Standard is applicable to Federal, State and Local elections, as well as for Industrial elections which are conducted on a fee-for-service basis by the Commission.

This initiative is an international first, and builds on Tim’s previous work developing a Standard for accessible telephone banking services for the Australian Bankers’ Association and his key involvement in the Standards Australia Interactive Voice Response and Speech Recognition Australian Standards.

Vocal Branding Australia is also assisting the Commission in writing and refining call centre scripts associated with phone-based voting support activities.

Leading Property Auctioneering Company

We are working with one of the leading auctioneering companies to develop their corporate Vocal Brand to create greater trust in their services and to positively set them apart from their competition.

We have also been working with this client to develop a company-wide voice care program, to ensure that all staff know how to protect and develop their most vital asset – their voice!

Solotel Hotel Group Staff-Training Video

Earlier this year we partnered with Jason Jelicich from Barmetrix Training to refine the scripts for, and direct staff narration for two in-house staff training videos.

The client determined that they wanted real staff to deliver authentic messages to their new and advancing employees, so we took our mobile recording equipment to the workplace and captured a natural-sounding spoken soundtrack for the project.

Community Service Announcement for Royal Far West Children’s Charity

Late last year Vocal Branding Australia worked with Royal Far West, a NSW-based children’s charity to develop the vocal branding strategy, including voice talent direction for a television commercial to be played as a Customer Service Announcement.

The aim was to produce a contemporary soundtrack with authentic voices and to respectfully convey emotionally rich messages to their potential donors and sponsors.

Vocal Branding Audit of the Leading Telephone Dating Service in Australia

Maxus recently engaged Vocal Branding Australia to undertake a detailed Vocal Branding audit of the leading telephone dating service in Australia.

The audit included a range of distinct elements presented in an interactive workshop for Maxus and the client.

• Competitor analysis;
• Exploration of online trends and how they are increasingly impacting phone-centric services;
• The vocal branding ‘fit’ between the scripts and voices used in service advertising and the ‘voice’ of the phone dating service itself;
• Analysis of callers including their use of the service and their attitudes towards it and to one another.
• Consideration of service features, technological developments and recommendations on future service shaping and expansion.

NSW Electoral Commission

Earlier this year the NSW Premier announced the State’s intention to provide blind and vision impaired voters with an independent and secret vote in the 2011 NSW election. Vocal Branding Australia has been consulting to the NSW Electoral Commission on accessibility and vocal branding issues to make this a reality. Subject to legislation being passed, it is intended to provide an automated telephone-based voting service for blind and low vision voters, as well as an internet-based voting system.

Please contact us to find out how Vocal Branding Australia can strengthen your spoken communications with customers, staff and clients.

One of the most frequent questions I am asked about Vocal Branding is

what kinds of voices and situations is Vocal Branding helpful for?

I have listed some general brand voice categories and examples below, but the truth is that when voice is involved in any of your products, services, brands or customer experiences, Vocal Branding is a powerful and largely un-tapped touch-point of brand communication that strengthens and enhances your brand in the minds and in the hearts of your customers.

Here are a few voice-branding examples to get you thinking about the voices in your own domain which may benefit from some Vocal Branding attention:

Brand Voice and Vocal Branding Applications

Advertisements and Sponsorship

Television, Radio and online;

Script Writing and Voice direction for Telephone Services

IVR, ‘on hold’ messages and call-centre scripts;

Customer Experience

Call centres, face-to-face customer communication, staff training, sales teams;

Games and Animation

Characterisation, computer games, vocal casting and direction in films, cartoons and children’s programming;

Audio Announcements and Safety

Transportation & Location information, Instructions, Alarms, Emergency Messages, Aircraft Safety Announcements, Evacuation Procedures etc;

Talking Devices

In-car devices, GPS navigation, home appliances, PDAs and SmartPhones, ATMs, Voting machines, point-of-sale devices;

Executive

Voice mail messages, live and recorded presentations by high-level corporate representatives;

Videos

Educational and promotional;

Recordings

Audio books, Tutorials, Audio training programs, Corporate podcasts, Meditation programs and Workshops;

Interactive

Computer based training applications, augmented reality and mobile applications and other media applications involving voice.

In short – If it talks, then it is likely to benefit from some Vocal Branding attention!

Contact us to discuss how Vocal Branding Australia can work with you to develop natural, memorable and unique brand voices that really talk to your customers.

Vocally yours
Tim Noonan
Director, Vocal Branding Australia

VocalPoint Research is a division of Vocal Branding Australia.

Our Vocal Branding methodology is deeply grounded in eclectic voice and sonic research, as well as continuous exploration of the always-evolving vocal patterns in current usage.

Vocal Branding (Voice) Audits.

One of our key Vocal Branding services for companies, government departments and small business is conducting a Voice Audit. A voice audit is a bit like mystery shopping, where we investigate and report back on how positively and effectively your service or organisation is presently employing voice across its different communication channels.

Voice audits can include consideration of

• automated telephone services,
• switchboard/reception staff,
• ‘on hold’ messages,
• call centre style and quality standards,
• sales and support staff’s phone manner,
• executive outgoing voicemail messages,
• the vocal style of official and unofficial media spokespeople for your organisation,
• and of course, the use of voice on behalf of your organisation in radio, TV and online advertising.

As an example, Vocal Branding Australia was recently commissioned to do a Vocal Branding audit of Australia’s leading telephone dating service, including short, medium and long-term strategy recommendations, explored through an interactive workshop-style presentation to management.

A Vocal Branding voice audit report gives you three things:

1. It helps you identify any communications areas in your organisation requiring attention;
2. It establishes a baseline reference for the way voice is currently being used in your organisation;
3. It provides you with recommended next steps and a preliminary unified voice strategy for your organisation.

Voice-Related User Experience and Market Research

In addition to voice audits, our VocalPoint Research division contributes to the quality and effectiveness of Voice usage within business in three main ways:

• Monitoring and reviewing the latest voice and sonic research from around the world;
• Partnering with, and providing voice-related input to market research organisations undertaking product development or brand research activities;
• Undertaking targeted vocal research, surveys and usability studies in-house and on behalf of our clients.

In his book “Blink” Malcolm Gladwell cited research demonstrating how tone of voice alone could dramatically increase patient trust and loyalty to doctors. Our unique research-based Vocal Branding methodology can create the same sense of trust for your products, brands and user experiences.

Contact us to find out more about our voice audits and to discuss how VocalPoint Research can add value to your research activities to ensure the strongest possible relationship between your customers and the next generation of your products and services.

At Vocal Branding Australia we fully appreciate the importance of creating highly intuitive, effective and enjoyable user experiences through strategic and creative use of voice and sound.

Our usability and human factors experience includes conceptual design and development of automated telephone services, such as telephone banking, telephone voting, other talking self-service technologies such as talking automatic teller machines, and voice-output voting kiosks for the Australian Electoral Commission. We have also partnered with the University of New south Wales developing voice-based prototypes for eyes-busy navigation and personal information management.

In June and July 2010 Tim Noonan researched and authored an Industry Standard for Telephone Voting for use by Australian electoral Management bodies, such as the Australian Electoral Commission.

This voice usability work goes way beyond voice selection and vocal direction, employing human factors cognitive psychology principles to optimize the ways information is presented by voice, for greatest clarity, efficiency and an optimal user experience.

Writing, reviewing and refining scripts is a particular strength of Vocal Branding Australia, leading to the perfect matching of words with the way they are expressed. We write and revised scripts for IVRs, ‘on hold’ talking information kiosks and for call-centre environments.

Where appropriate, we can also drive or advise on other audio and technical production matters such as effects, EQ, soundscapes and music beds, creating a SonicFeel that naturally complements the VocalFeel we have created with the client. The SonicFeel (sound environment) can often be likened to the ambiance in a restaurant, and the VocalFeel (the vocal style) to the menu of dishes on offer.

Please contact usto discuss how we can work with you to create outstanding auditory and voice-based user experiences for your customers.

There is so much truth and subtle wisdom in this short poem about speaking and our tone of voice, but my initial explorations suggest that the poem’s author is no longer known.

“It’s not so much what you say
As the manner in which you say it;
It’s not so much the language you use
As the tone in which you convey it;

"Come here!" I sharply said,
And the child cowered and wept.
“Come here”, I said – He looked and smiled
And straight to my lap he crept.

Words may be mild and fair
And the tone may pierce like a dart;
Words may be soft as the summer air
But the tone may break my heart;

For words come from the mind
Grow by study and art –
But tone leaps from the inner self
Revealing the state of the heart.

Whether you know it or not,
Whether you mean or care,
Gentleness, kindness, love and hate,
Envy, anger, are there.

Then, would you quarrels avoid
And peace and love rejoice?
Keep anger not only out of your words –
Keep it out of your voice.” - ~Author Unknown

Three related articles on voice and vocal expressiveness:

• What Is Vocal Consciousness?

• Five Desirable Qualities of a Vocally Conscious Voice

• Voice Is All About Relationship

Introduction

This particular post isn’t about voice or Vocal Branding, it is an informational article for people interested in making their WordPress installations more accessible to develop and update, as well as producing a site that is as accessible and intuitive as possible for visitors. By accessible I mean that people with a range of disabilities are able to access it efficiently and easily.

In particular, my baseline for accessibility and ease of access for this article is based on my experiences as a blind WordPress administrator and my use of the screen reader Jaws For Windows, though I expect Window Eyes users will get similar great results with the info.

In addition to listing some very useful and accessible Plugins, I also cover some strategies for entering and editing text for posts and pages.

Ideally, please leave a comment on this post, or contact me with feedback, questions, or if you have found other plugins and strategies for accessible WordPress site management.

Why WordPress?

WordPress is the number 1 blogging platform in the world. That has led to it becoming one of the fastest growing business website platforms.

There are two WordPress configurations available:

1. a blog hosted on the WordPress.org site/service; and

2. hosting the WordPress software on a server, with your domain.

My approach was to have my own WordPress installation on a server, and some of the info in this article definitely will not be applicable for wordpress.org or WordPress multi-user installations.

At the time of writing, prior to the release of WordPress 3.0, there are two distinct and quite different families of WordPress software – single user and multi-user. Prior to WordPress 3.0, the Multi-user option is much more restrictive in terms of the plugins which can be installed.

Its more set-up work and more involved to set up your own WordPress installation, but much more flexible in the long-run, and probably particularly so, for greater control of accessibility for your site.

Initial Site Set-up and Technical Support Approaches

Its quite easy to get started and up-and-running with WordPress; that is one of its greatest features as a Content Management System/blogging platform.

My website and blog is for my Vocal Branding Company, and its important to me that it is always running reliably and doesn’t take too much of my time in admin tasks. For that reason (and because I can’t visually check the look of the site) I have a support contract with a WordPress specialist to do those things that are less efficient for me to do, because of accessibility or efficiency. He also installed and did basic configuration of WordPress for me.

That said, I like to be able to find and configure plugins, manage the layout and features of my sidebar, and generally have hands-on operation of the site. WordPress – while it does have a very busy back end dashboard – is quite accessible for all these tasks using a screen-reader.

Choosing a Theme

After installing WordPress, you need to select a theme. WordPress comes with a couple of pre-installed themes, for which there is ok accessibility. For example, the standard theme in recent WordPress releases has ARIA Landmarks for some site features/regions.

I am using the Thesis theme from DIYthemes, version 1.7 at time of writing. This is a paid theme, and costs about 90 USD.

I chose it because it generates very well structured code, is highly configurable from menus, and requires minimal editing of PHP configuration files.

It makes extensive use of headings to expose structure, and visually is one of the most clean looking and readable themes out there.

It allows many features to be enabled or disabled through menus, such as track backs, archives etc, to produce a very clear uncomplicated site. Less options translates to greater comprehension and understanding for people unfamiliar with blogging.

The result is intuitive structure and navigation, giving an un-busy feel.

Search Engine Optimisation features are in-built to Thesis (note for example on this page that the page title is more search-engine focused, and is different to the official blog post title). Thesis also bgenerates very clean and efficient page code.

There are a couple of other themes that offer some of these benefits and quality, but Thesis is probably in the top three, and is setting a lot of the trends for modern and clean WordPress presentation

Thesis, out of the box, doesn’t have ARIA region support, but this may be quite easy to add using the Thesis Open Hook facility, if desired. I am exploring adding ARIA regions to my site, but the ‘Jump to Sidebar’ link and the heading structure I have adopted largely addresses common navigation needs. A great Blog post by Steve Faulkner Using WAI ARIA Landmark Roles explains the benefits of ARIA landmarks and how to code them.

But whichever theme you select – it must be current and include Widget plugin functionality, or you will need to spend too much time configuring and adjusting PHP and CSS code!

Efficient Writing, Formatting and Updating of Posts

I have found that the visual editor in WordPress causes JAWS to have major focus issues. Therefore you should set the editor to the HTML mode.

In this mode, all the HTML code is exposed and editable.

But it is frustrating, error-prone and very inefficient to have to hand-code all the HTML of every post, in order for it to look great, easily include lots of hyper-links and provide rich navigation etc. Fortunately, there is another (very efficient and accessible) way, its called MarkDown.

MarkDown Extra

Markdown is a convention developed for writing efficient ASCII documents, that translate into fully-fledged HTML.

Markdown Syntax allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format. Based on the original Perl version by John Gruber. Markdown is two things: a plain text markup syntax, and a software tool that converts the plain text markup to HTML for publishing on the web. The Markdown syntax allows you to write text naturally and format it without using HTML tags. More importantly: in Markdown format, your text stays enjoyable to read for a human being, and this is true enough that it makes a Markdown document publishable as-is, as plain text. If you are using text-formatted email, you already know some part of the syntax.

This means you can write your blog article in word or in a text editor, and paste the text directly into the edit box in WordPress, or just edit the post directly in WordPress.

I elected to use the MarkDown Extra plugin instead of the MarkDown plugin because it is an extension of the MarkDown format, with some useful features not available in the standard plugin. Both are by the same author.

Sometimes, MarkDown and WordPress don’t play perfectly together, and you will encounter problems if people use the visual editor to do major changes to your MarkDown posts, but the advantages totally out-weigh the occasional conflicts. contact me if you start using MarkDown and I can talk you through its constraints and suggest some work-arounds I’ve found.

Here is a basic sample of some Markdown text:

###I'm a Level 3 Heading, because I start with 3 number sign symbols

I'm a normal paragraph.

* I'm the first item in a bulleted list

* and I'm the second list item.

I'm normal text again.

1. I am the first in a numbered list;

2. I'm the second item; and

3. I'm the third.

####I'm a level four heading, because I start with four Number Sign symbols 

[this is the text to be displayed for the following hyperlink](http://www.AndTheLinkURL.com)

Content Proofreading and Editing

WordPress is also great because you can enlist editors or administrators who can review and edit your posts. Because my site is commercial, I engage someone to proofread and correct my posts and pages. This person doesn’t need to be highly technical, they only need to be generally familiar with technology and text editing. They do need to be alerted about what not to edit, i.e. links and tampering with the MarkDown formatting.

Because WordPress keeps all previous versions of each post or page, you can easily revert to earlier versions if necessary.

Leaving Notes or Instructions for Editors

Sometimes you want to leave a note for other editors and site administrators to read, but which doesn’t show up for regular visitors to your site. I love this capability.

The instructions on how to do this are here and involve pasting a code snippet into your theme’s functions.php file or equivalent.

My Favourite Accessible Plugins

For each plugin I supply a hyperlink to the Plugin page, a paragraph by the author describing the plugin, and then some comments of my own regarding its use and accessibility.

AStickyPostOrderER

AStickyPostOrderER

AStickyPostOrderER lets you customize the order in which posts are displayed per category, per tag, or over-all, in WordPress 2.3+ blog. Useful when using WordPress as a Content Management System. Now with the ability to override itself.

You will notice when you go to www.vocalbranding.com.au that Welcome to Vocal Branding Australia always appears as the first post. I used this plugin to achieve this result, because the default behaviour on a blog is for the latest post to come first. When I originally set up the site, I wanted to have all the articles turn up in a specific order, to make the flow of reading more intuitive. This plugin allows for any situations of that kind.

Easy Retweet

Easy Retweet

Adds a Retweet button to your WordPress posts.

Here is an example of a retweet link in an article. I also have this link automatically appear at the end of each blog article.

Beyond a doubt, TweetMeme Retweet is the market leader in this category, but it is very verbose with JAWS, due to its use of a separate frame containing the button and the number of times the post has been tweeted. Easy Retweet is concise, supports shortcodes for placing anywhere in a post, and has similar functionality.

Hackadelic SEO Table Of Contents

Hackadelic SEO Table Of Contents

Easy to use, freely positionable, fancy AJAX-style table of contents for WordPress posts and pages.

You may have noticed the “In This Article” list of same-page links at the top of this post. I used this plugin to automatically create this. The plugin isn’t perfect, and you can’t remove the link to the author’s site, but its very effective and saves lots of hand-coding. I think if I include some CSS supplied by the author, that the links will be indented to reflect their heading level, but I haven’t had time to do this. Also, I also don’t know if that indenting would be exposed to a screenreader or not, since it uses CSS padding values for indenting layout.

Note the table of contents doesn’t appear for posts on the front page of the blog, it only shows up on the page for a specific post. You choose which posts you want to have a table of contents by using the toc shortcode.

Markdown Extra

Markdown Extra

allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format. Based on the original Perl version by John Gruber.

I’ve described this in detail in an earlier section. I Love it!

Scribe

Scribe

Quickly and easily check your content against SEO best practices utilizing the Scribe Content Optimizer. You will need a Scribe API Key in order to use the application. If you do not have an API Key, go to http://scribeseo.com. Requires one of the following installed and activated – Thesis, Hybrid, Headway, Genesis, FV All In One SEOor All In One SEO Pack.

I’ve installed this, and it is quite accessible. It is a paid service, and I think the pricing is a little rich, but it really provides great feedback on how to optimise your posts for better Search Engine Optimisation. I still have quite a way to go here with great SEO

When you request an analysis of the page or post, the results appear in a pop-up frame right at the bottom of the page.

Secure and Accessible PHP Contact Form

Secure and Accessible PHP Contact Form

This powerful yet easy-to-install contact form features exceptional accessibility and usability while still providing extensive anti-spam and anti-exploit security features. A marriage of communication and peace-of-mind.

I have installed this, and tested it, but its not active on my site right now. For technical reasons, this plugin can have difficulties sending the form via email, depending on your hosts email rules and configuration. If you have problems with forms being sent, try an email address like Gmail, that is in a different domain to your blog, that way you may sidestep these hosting configuration problems.

Stray Quotes Z

Stray Quotes Z

This is an adjusted version of Stray Random Quotes plugin (v1.9.9) originally written by ico for displaying and rotating quotes and expressions anywhere on your blog.

The Plugin is very flexible, and you can segment your quotes into different categories, and select quotes from one or more categories.

Each quote has a unique ID number, or can be randomly presented.

I use this plugin for a few different things around my site:

1. to randomly present (or to include specific) testimonials on my Vocal Branding Services and my conference speaking;

   “@timnoonan delivering a great chat, lots of laughs and engagement.” - @Eskimo_sparky tweet

2. to randomly present voice-related quotes I have written or collected;

   “I heard my parents' voices against my ear or inside my heart, where you will, but very close. And all the other voices followed the same course. It is comparatively easy to protect ourselves from a face we dislike; sufficient to keep it at a distance, to leave it in the world outside. But only try the same thing with voices, you will never manage it!” - And There Was Light: Autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran, Blind Hero of the French Resistance

3. to randomly insert vocal branding or company messages in posts.

   “@timnoonan Really liked your Interviewee tips, extremely timely for me- I shall be singing a merry song on the way to my interview today.. ;-)” - @acatinatree tweet

If you are using WordPress 2.9.1 or higher, you will likely need this Z version, because the official version doesn’t handle ‘ characters ‘correctly in WordPress 2.9.1 or 2.9.2.

Tweet

Tweet

Automatically links Twitter.com @usernames and #hashtags in WordPress blog posts.

So, if you want to follow me on twitter, my personal twittername is @TimNoonan and I didn’t need to type in the www.twitter.com/ for it to appear as a link.

Twitter Tools

Twitter Tools

A complete integration between your WordPress blog and Twitter. Bring your tweets into your blog and pass your blog posts to Twitter. Show your tweets in your sidebar, and post tweets from your WordPress admin.

You can see this in action in my site sidebar where my last 8 or so voice-oriented tweets appear. And as the site administrator, I can tweet directly from the sidebar.

WordPress Database Backup

WordPress Database Backup

On-demand backup of your WordPress database, sent to you by email.

This isn’t accessibility-related, but its very good sense to get a daily or weekly backup of your WordPress databases sent to you via email, in case something unfortunate happens.

WP-Polls

WP-Polls

Adds an AJAX poll system to your WordPress blog. You can easily include a poll into your WordPress’s blog post/page. WP-Polls is extremely customizable via templates and css styles and there are tons of options for you to choose to ensure that WP-Polls runs the way you wanted. It now supports multiple selection of answers.

It apparently looks good, seems very accessible with current JAWS, and if you want to survey users about topics, this is a great tool. It doesn’t allow full surveys that include text answers, its just multiple choice style. But, you can set a poll up allowing more than one answer to be ticked by the user for the poll. Once the user has voted, they see the current voting results.

Here is a simple poll about this blog post. You are able to tick one or two of the four choices given. Give it a try.

There are lots of other plugins on this author’s site, which I haven’t tried.

WPaudio

WPaudio

Play mp3s and podcasts in your posts by converting links and tags into a simple, customizable audio player.

I’ve left the best for last – well the plugins are actually listed in the order they present in my WordPress dashboard, but WPAudio is the plugin I am most pleased to have found.

There are several awful and painfully inaccessible flash-centric audio player plugins for WordPress, but this one is just fantastic! It took me hours and hours to test and try those, till I finally found this one.

The audio is accessed by clicking on a normal link, and when you click it, the audio starts playing. if you press enter again, it stops playing and is paused.

When you click the link it also brings up an additional link to download the MP3 file as well or instead. This means iPhone users and people using devices like mobile phones can still download and hear your audio. Downloading can be disabled if desired.

As an example, Here is an audio interview with me and Robin Dickinson @Robin_Dickinson about the human voice.

Hear or Download this conversation with me about the voice

Do You Have Any Accessibility Tips or Useful Plugins to Add?

If you have experiences, suggestions or other themes or plugins to recommend, please leave a comment below this post.

You can also contact me with questions.

Go to Tim Noonan’s accessibility consulting website

Happy WordPress Blogging

Tim Noonan

@TimNoonan on Twitter

I’ve prepared these notes as supporting material for my recorded presentation at the APG “Battle of Big Thinking” event held on 17 March 2010.

Quote from presentation: “When you look at something, you are looking at reflections from the surface; but when you hear something, then what you are doing is hearing things from the inside.”

I was delighted and quite excited to have been voted as the 2010 Australian Big Thinker in the Story Telling category by 54 % of SMS votes by the audience of approximately 200 folks at the APG’s “Battle of Big Thinking” event. Thank you.

Post Script Intro

This blog article was set to auto-publish at the end of my live presentation. I am progressively updating some of the content to bring the original post more in line with the core ideas that arrived when I actually delivered the talk, and to expand on some questions people asked me afterwards.

I thought the event was a pretty cool blend of seriousness, fun and energy all-round, and Genevieve Murphy and the rest of the organisers were awesomely supportive and helpful!

Original Introduction

This is not a transcript of the talk, largely it is particulars of citations I may make, and some expansions of ideas I won’t have time to flesh out in the 15 minute timeframe.

Its more than likely that a good number of these references won’t even be covered in the presentation, but they are covered in my full-length conference keynote presentation on the Influential Power of the Human Voice and its Relationship to Trust.

From the Event Program

Category: Story Telling

Duration: 15 Minutes

Title: Voices, Relationships, Trust and Time Travel

In this intimate-style presentation, Tim Noonan considers the paradoxical interplay between

• Truth and Tale;
• Proof and Possibility;
• Thought and Feeling;
• Speech and Listening;
• Trust and Healing.

1. What fresh ideas, solutions and opportunities might present themselves to us if we experienced life through a clearer sonic lens?

2. Might more of our relationships and communities blossom and flourish if we were more attentive and mindful about how we use our voices in business and in everyday life?

3. And … what’s time travel got to do with it?

The extraordinary relationship between Voice and Trust is at the heart of Vocal Branding

The relationship between the human voice and trust is central to Vocal Branding and to this talk. There are three excellent contemporary books examining trust from a variety of interesting perspectives, and I strongly recommend each.

My work on and around voice and trust is best appreciated and understood in the broader context of trust covered in the first two of these texts – dealing with how to develop trust online and how to become a trusted advisor in broader business contexts, respectively. There is an obvious cross-over between tone of voice and “The Language of Trust” book.

1. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust By Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.

2. The Trusted Advisor By David H. Maister, Charles H. Green and Robert M. Galford.

3. The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics by Michael Maslansky, Scott West, Gary DeMoss and David Saylor

In my talk I argued that it is by restoring greater honour to our often overlooked sense of hearing, and through re-establishing a harmonious balance between the twin communications senses of Seeing and Hearing, that we are in a position to understand the world (people, things and situations) both from the perspective of its surfaces (through seeing) and its interiors (through listening).

“We have forgotten how to listen. Through the practice of deep listening, you will encounter your voice as your very self, with an acceptance and compassion that inspires a deeply felt process of self-enquiry.” - Chloe Goodchild

Many earlier cultures recognised that there is an inextricable association between the human voice and trust that is revealed through exercising our largely un-remembered skills of insightful “heart-felt” listening.

Our health, trust and our integrity is understood by others to be greater when our voice reflects healthy states of balance, for example:

• Balance between our thoughts and our feelings (head and heart)

• Balance between our inner world and our interpretation of our outer world experience;

• Balance between our Past and our Future (are we mostly in the present, the ‘Now’?

Resources, Sources and References

If you need more information to find or track down any of these resources please contact me and I’ll do my best to help.

While In The Womb

“"Primordial Sounds" awaken our Organic/Biological Intelligence. Our first sensory experience in life as a fetus in the womb is of sound and vibration.

• We float in body temperature amniotic fluid - weight-less.


• We have fluid in our nose and mouth, which eliminates the senses of smell and taste.


• We have our eyes closed and are in the dark - no sense of sight.


• We have fluid in our ears pressed right up against the eardrum - but sound travels through water fives times more effectively than through air, therefore our sense of hearing is actually amplified.

The symphony of sound patterns we experience at this time will be deeply embedded in our subconscious mind for the rest of our lives - the sound of water swishing, arterial pulse sounds and voices. These are our first experiences of "Primordial Sounds."” - Dr. Jeffrey D. Thompson, D.C., B.F.A. -- Center for Neuroacoustic Research

The Heart Sound and the inspiration for the opening of my presentation (sound of the mothers bloodflow, from within the womb)

Layne Redmond, Heart Chakra Meditations. From Sounds True

Research on onset of hearing by babies before birth

Baby in the Womb, What Do You Hear?

Sequence of Development of the Senses and “deliberate foetal acoustic stimulation”

What’s It Like in the Womb?

Infancy

“If you ask me what I came into this world to do, I will tell you that I came to live out loud.” - Emil Zola

Babies learn Vocal language such as the vocal melody inflection patterns of their mother’s mother-tongue in the womb

Research of Cry Melody of French and German new-borns 3-5 days after birth

More mothers carry their baby with head resting on their left arm – freeing baby’s left ear (feeding right brain) for greater vocal/emotional interpretation of the mother’s voice

Noted by Anne Karpf, author of “The Human Voice: How This Extraordinary Instrument Reveals Essential Clues About Who We Are”

“After birth babies smile when they hear their mother's voice (but not when they see her face).” - Anne Karpf

“There's an emotional aspect to babytalk. One feature of it that especially enthrals babies is the amount of emotion it expresses. Compared with speech addressed to other adults, where politeness and restraint are usually de rigueur, babytalk is a much better guide to the feelings of the speaker.” - Anne Karpf

Human brain becomes tuned to voices and emotional tone of voice during infancy

“New research finds that the brains of infants as young as 7 months old demonstrate a sensitivity to the human voice and to emotions communicated through tone of voice, that is remarkably similar to what is observed in the brains of adults....7-month-olds but not 4-month-olds showed adult-like increased responses in the temporal cortex in response to the human voice when compared to nonvocal sounds, suggesting that voice sensitivity emerges between 4 and 7 months of age...[the researchers also observed that] activity in infants' voice-sensitive brain regions is modulated by emotional prosody. Prosody, essentially the "music" of speech, can reflect the feelings of the speaker, thereby helping to convey the context of language. In humans, sensitivity to emotional prosody is crucial for social communication. The researchers observed that a voice-sensitive region in the right temporal cortex showed increased activity when 7-month-old infants listened to words spoken with emotional (angry or happy) prosody. Such a modulation of brain activity by emotional signals is thought to be a fundamental brain mechanism to prioritize the processing of significant stimuli in the environment.” - From a study, published by Cell Press in the March 25 issue of the journal Neuron, http://www.physorg.com/news188653242.html

Later On

Example of personal, authentic and emotionally-rich story-telling through song

“My Mother Had a Brother” from George Michael’s magnificent album “Patience” (regrettably and hastily abridged by me, for this event, by necessity of 15 minutes maximum presentation duration)

I would urge anyone who doesn’t already own this song or album to purchase it as an extraordinary demonstration of the capacity of the human voice to express and transmit emotion.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel!” - Maya Angelou

And while your virtual wallet is out, please also consider making a donation to the Inspire Foundation who are working to prevent youth suicide, are the beneficiaries of the Battle of Big Thinking proceeds, and all the more so poignant considering the unplanned synchronicity to the central lyrics of “My Mother Had a Brother”

In the past (400 years ago) we were taught how to ‘know’ a person’s character and integrity through the quality of their sound

The Alchemy of Voice: Transform and Enrich Your Life Using the Power of Your Voice By Stewart Pearce

“Our Biography becomes our Biology”

Caroline Myss, Energy Anatomy (Sounds True)

The Power of Blessing others with a smile, a kind word and the warmth of your voice

Invisible Acts of Power by Caroline Myss

Voices and Brands: Past Present Future

Past

jingles, over annunciated speech

Present day

better audio production, audio compression, silence and breaths minimised, hip voices, prominant music. More Mood-based than true emotionally-alive voice. Still strong echos of old DJ voice-over tone

The future

more subtle aesthetics in vocal, natural open expression, evocative questions

greater linguistic equality and decline of superior speaking style.

warmth

breathing and pauses

voice in foreground not so deeply submerged in background music bed

evocative word choice, in place of power words.

realisation of the human voice’s innate capacity (rightly guided) to express and transmit authentic emotion to the listener.

Vocal Branding is about moving from indiscriminate pushing messages and ideas out, to engaging and conversing. In essence its about having an authentic conversation with our customers, clients and buyers. Modern voice approaches such as those described above offer promise and potential, and respectfully invite people into true connection and conversation with the brand and its community members.

When a baby is born, we know it is alive because it uses its voice to announce its arrival to the world. So, it isn’t much of a stretch to consider that the way to bring a brand to life, is to give it a clearer more declaratory voice.

Each time we speak, we are metaphorically giving birth to idea and to possibility, crystalising our intention into a more tangible form.

Don Campbell – Monastery

In his brilliant Sounds True audio work ‘Healing Yourself With Your Own Voice’, Don Campbell relates this story of Dr. Alfred Tomatis’s work at a Benadictine Monastery in Southern France in the late 60′s.

I also relate this story in brief in my voice-oriented CoffeeCast Conversations Podcast #10. A more detailed description of these events is also recorded in Don Campbell’s  book ‘Music, Physician for Times to Come’.

Don Campbell has defined toning as “the elongation of a sound using the breath and voice no matter the quality or pitch of the sound.”

Jacques Lusseyran – And There Was Light

The following is loosely based on text from the Introduction from “And There Was Light: Autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran …” translated from the French by Elizabeth R. Cameron

Surely there have been few lives in our century as extraordinary, as truly notable, as that of Jacques Lusseyran, yet his name is hardly a household word. Born in Paris in 1924, he was fifteen at the time of the German occupation, and at sixteen he had formed and was heading an underground resistance movement called Les Volontaires de la Libert`e [The Volunteers of Liberty], which from a beginning with fifty-two boys, all under twenty-one years old, within a year had grown to six hundred.

And it was Jacques, and Jacques alone, whom the Volunteers’ Central Committee insisted be in charge of the delicate and dangerous job of recruiting. He had “the sense of human beings,” he could “hear more acutely and pay better attention.” He “saw” men through the tones of their voices, and every person who wished to join the Volunteers was sent to him to either accept or refuse.

“Every week I gave an account of my decisions before the Central Committee. So-and-so was admitted unconditionally. He joined the group from the College of Law, on an equal footing with the others. So-and-so was admitted “on probation.” He would be under surveillance for the time being.”

But there was one man he admitted to the movement of whom he was not absolutely sure, and it was he who later betrayed them.

As you may have guessed, Jacques Lusseyran was a blind man, and from his alternative perspective on the world – from the vantage point of hearing, rather than seeing – he deeply understood that one of the surest ways to get the true measure of a man’s character is through his voice. For the human Voice is a reporter of who we are, it literally emerges from within us, resonating with not only our words and thoughts, but also our inner-most feelings and deepest of intentions.

Hear or Download what Jacques said about the voices he heard

“The human voice forces its way into us. It is really inside ourselves that we hear it. To hear it properly we must allow it to vibrate in our heads and our chests, in our throats as if, for the moment, it really belonged to us. That is surely the reason why voices never deceive us.” - And There Was Light: Autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran, Blind Hero of the French Resistance

“The voice emerges literally from the body as a representation of our inner world. It carries our experience from the past, our hopes and fears for the future, and the emotional resonance of the moment. If it carries none of these, it must be a masked voice, and having muted the voice, anyone listening knows intuitively we are not all there.” - David Whyte, The Heart Aroused

In the summer of 1943, Lusseyran was arrested by the Gestapo, and his almost two-year imprisonment began. When the United States Third Army arrived in April 1945, he was one of thirty survivors of the shipment of two thousand men who had been sent to Buchenwald at the same time. Stunned by their deliverance, they could not at first even rejoice in their freedom. Philippe, the only other man among the group’s leaders to survive the war, was there to meet Lusseyran and the two other living members of the DF, as they had called themselves. Their newspaper, they found, had become France Soir, the most important daily in Paris.

Preferences for Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic Learning Styles

Day-by-day our world is becoming ever more over-flowing with visual information and images. And yet, research quite clearly demonstrates that between a third or perhaps over 40 percent of us have a learning preference of listening over seeing, as our most effective means of taking in, and processing information.

The following notes are taken from Learning Style Awareness A Basis For Developing Teaching and Learning Strategies

This research is intended to provide an overview of learning style theories and show how being aware of learning styles can benefit both teachers and students. Although a variety of learning styles currently appear in the literature, a case study involving students at the University of Louisiana indicated a prevalence of auditory learners. Despite this finding, educators must be prepared to accommodate all learning styles, even those being used by a minority of students.

According to Keefe (1991), learning is a change in learner behavior resulting from what has been experienced. Experiencing pain after touching a hot stove, for example, teaches us to be more careful in the future. Our behavior thus modified, we are said to have “learned.” Learning is more than just the sum of our life experiences, however. There are certain principles hidden deep within our minds that control the way we learn in unique ways.

Whether we wish to acknowledge them consciously, these governing principles establish our style of learning and define us as individuals. For educators, it is important to note that learning styles can be determined through direct student observation. What we discover is that learning styles function as teaching blueprints in some respects. They indicate a student’s preferred method of learning and guide the development of instructional strategies that incorporate the appropriate content and context.

Our research focused on only three specific learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.

Of the 177 students taking the test, 111 were business majors, and 66 were not. Ninety-one were female, and 86 were male. There were 62 freshmen, 54 sophomores, 33 juniors, and 28 seniors.

The research showed that approximately:

• 42% were auditory learners,
• 25% visual,
• 13% kinesthetic,
• 10% visual/auditory,
• 5% kinesthetic/auditory,
• 3% visual/kinesthetic, and
• 3% visual/kinesthetic/auditory.

Data show that some students scored equally in more than one style (i.e., visual/auditory, visual/kinesthetic/auditory).

An alternative perspective based on different research on likely learning style percentages, by Smith (REPORTED IN TRUNER,T & FROST, T. 2005, 146)percentages by people who have auditory visual and kinaesthetic learning styles?

“on average studies have shown roughly 29% have a visual preference, 34% auditory and 37 kinaesthetic”

SMITH (IN TRUNER,T & FROST, T. 2005, 146)

Tim Noonan was voted as the 2010 Australian Big Thinker in the Story Telling category in the APG’s & Communication Council’s Inaugural ‘Battle of Big Thinking’ event in Sydney. View and hear Tim’s presentation

“Amazing talk from voice expert Tim Noonan, audience visibly moved!” - Tweet by Abigail Thomas, ABC Innovation

“What this guy doesn't know about the voice and its expression isn't worth knowing.” - Jason J Tweet

“Tim Noonan is a fantastic performer and can read people’s voices as a way of knowing more about them (vocal, instead of body language)” - Lauren Brown Blog

“Tim, I have to tell you, I am in awe of your Sydney speech. It was a magnificent effort. I think you struck an ideal balance between sunlight and substance. Now working on the audio/video files, and you really are a fab speaker. I hope we can do a lot more together in future.” - Jed White (PubCamp Event organizer/sponsor.)

“Tim's got such great ideas and experience and a cheeky sense of humour that is highly contagious. He's the complete package!” - Robin Dickinson

“I had heard in advance (from Interesting South) that you had some compelling things to say, and you certainly delivered on the night. It was pitched at exactly the right level for the audience – challenging them and making them think, but without spoon-feeding them on how to do it.” - Sean Adams: APG Chairman Advertising Federation of Australia

“Make sure you see anything from @TimNoonan - he is a dead set legend” - Katie Chatfield @katiechatfield

“Vocal Branding is an exceptionally useful tool if you want your voice to be recognised and respected in the workplace. Tim taught us that we have the ability to establish a personal vocal brand, which elegantly expresses who we are and what we are about, and gave us some useful tips on how to achieve this. To demonstrate his theory he did some voice readings on Naked staff members that he had never met before. All they had to do was introduce themselves, and then Tim worked his magic by revealing his analysis of their personality. We were all entertained and enthralled with how accurate his description was. Tim's talk inspired our staff to think about communications from a fresh perspective. We would highly recommend Tim to any organisation with an interest in expanding and strengthening the ways they communicate with their staff, clients or customers.” - Ilana Cooper, Insights & Brand Strategy Graduate, Naked Communications

“There's only one word to describe Tim's voice ... DELICIOUS” - Catherine White

“Tim Noonan was possibly the most charming presenter last night. He has an obsession with people's voices… Not so much the words, as the texture of the voice and what this can tell you about the speaker…. Do we care how we sound?” - Matt Moore

“@TimNoonan I really enjoyed your sessions at Pubcamp - very interesting and engaging delivery - thanks!” - @eskimo_sparky tweet

“Tim Noonan. Funniest speaker and cleverest by far.” - @- thatjonesboy Tweet

“Tim recently spoke about Vocal Branding and the power of the human voice at the Experiential Marketing Summit which I convened in Sydney. Tim’s session was the last of a packed day, however he was able to keep the audience laughing, involved and fully engaged throughout his content-rich presentation which was fresh, provocative and thought-provoking. The feedback received was fantastic! I would be very happy to recommend Tim to other conference organisers as a dynamic and professional presenter who has great stage presence and a fascinating story to share.” - Mark Harvey, Managing Director, Wakamo Business Media

“Great presentation at the APG event. Very thought provoking.” - Carl Moggridge, Digital Strategy Director at Olgivy

“Tim noonan (Australia) is my new hero!” - @gawd0r Tweet

Tim Noonan is a member of the National Speakers Association of Australia.

The blog post The Emotional Impact of Colour has an interesting coverage of the importance of colour choice for brands and products.

Once again, though I was reminded how visually-dominant the marketing and branding world so often is, for I hardly ever encounter articles on the importance of the right voice in marketing, business communication and branding.

“We have come to the conclusion that the mind works by ear, not by eye.” - Jack Trout, author of Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Following is a nominally modified version of the comment I added to the ‘importance of colour post’.

I found this article very interesting, as I am a blind person, and consult to the marketing and branding industry.

What really amazes me, though, is just how little is researched, written or said about the capacity of the human voice (rightly directed) to transmit emotion, reinforce brand values and personality, connect with and evoke vivid emotional responses in customers and potential buyers.

Which is why I founded Vocal Branding Australia – to bring my extensive voice experience and philosophy to the marketplace, so that brands and customer communications are more authentic, pleasant and respectful.

Colour may well make up 60 percent of buying impact from packaging or signage alone, but I doubt it is anything like that when the vocal dimension is brought into play.

Over the radio, telephone or podcasts, we assess the sincerity and attitude of the speaker 84 percent from the tone of voice and all the nuances of How the words are expressed. The words only make up 16 percent of this assessment of attitude, sincerity etc. Face-to-face the tone of voice makes up 38 percent of how we perceive the attitude of the speaker., with visuals, bodylanguage and eye contact making up 55 percent.

The human voice is the most influential sound on our planet, however in most cases we fail to give it anything near the level of attention it deserves, resulting in weakening or even damaging our overall brand messages.

Shape, Colour, words and music are all important, but the human voice has the untapped capacity to create a personal connection, and is able to open up an authentic conversations with clients, customers and buyers.