The Power of Yelling Every Now and Then
There are certain behaviors that don’t work in social skills but work beautifully with content creation.
One example is rambling.
With social skills, rambling is a no-no.
It bores the recipient and makes the speaker come off as arrogant.
But with content creation, being able to ramble is high ROI.
When a creator can ramble on a topic, that means they know a lot about it.
They should create content on this topic and edit out the extras.
Like rambling, yelling also has a polarizing effect.
With social skills, yelling is not smart.
It will leave the recipient jarred.
But with content creation and public speaking, a strategic yell works wonders.
It turns a stiff rubber band into a loose one.
When I Learned About Strategic Yelling
A few years ago, I was getting trained by a public speaking coach in Largo.
One evening, we were wrapping up our session.
As we were about to conclude, my coach said:
‘Armani, I want you to yell at this imaginary audience. Be pissed!!!’
I was startled.
‘Huh?? Why?’
He told me to do it, otherwise, our session couldn’t end.
I hesitated.
The first few times, I yelled like a wimp.
He showed me how he wanted it done.
When he yelled, he did it with ferocity.
He told me to try again.
After many tries, I finally did it.
I yelled at this imaginary audience!
I got carried away and yelled at my public speaking coach.
He gave me a disapproving look when I yelled at him.
So, I went back to yelling at this imaginary audience!!
It got so loud that people from different rooms entered our room and asked if everything was okay.
‘Yes, everything is okay,’ I said.
‘Everything is amazing.’
The Power of Yelling
Since that day, I tried out the yelling exercise on a lot of my clients.
When they are feeling too stiff or fearful, I tell them to yell.
Like clockwork, they are doubtful.
‘Why would I want to do that?’
Then they are hesitant.
They try to yell but do it like a wuss.
Then after many fails, they unleash the roar of a lion.
They yell and do so for some time.
After their yell, there is silence.
I ask:
‘Well, how did it feel?’
They respond:
‘Amazing.’
Now they are more confident for the rest of the session.
Yelling flames through limiting beliefs.
When we get on the public speaking stage, we are taking ALL of ourselves on that stage.
Our past, present, and potential.
The sad truth is that a lot of our past and present are clouded with jaded memories.
Remember that one memory of Ms. Shepherd yelling at you for being too soft-spoken?
The rest of the class laughed when she made that comment.
That memory causes you to say your words with doubt.
Despite being 25 years removed from that moment, that memory still has power.
It makes the speaker stiff on stage.
When we yell with full force, it burns Ms. Shepherd’s memory into ashes.
Once that memory fades, we feel free to be who we are.
How to Yell
The most important thing to do is to assign yourself a time to yell.
In my situation, my time to yell was determined by my public speaking coach.
He wouldn’t let me leave until I yelled.
Having an ultimatum increases the likelihood of following through with this exercise.
- ‘Yell at X time for Y duration, otherwise, you can’t do Z.’
For shy folks and introverts, this exercise is tough.
Yelling feels like something wrong.
It feels like stranger danger.
As a kid, talking to strangers is not smart.
But as an adult, talking to strangers can lead to opportunities.
We need to unlearn certain concepts.
Yelling in the right context is high ROI.
‘Where should I yell?’
I recommend doing it in private.
With the private route, you can do it in the car or a field in the middle of nowhere.
After identifying a time on when to yell, and identifying where you are going to do it, YELL!!
Yell as loud as you can.
It can be an ambiguous yell.
Or the yell can be loud words.
I did the loud words strategy because my public speaking coach wanted me to reprimand the imaginary audience for something.
Often, you’ll be shocked by how you sound when you yell.
It’s a voice that you don’t even recognize.
How Do You Feel After?
I was grateful that my public speaking coach asked me how I felt after I yelled like that.
It gave me a moment to bring the practical utility of this exercise to the forefront of my mind.
I felt like I tapped into different brain waves.
Untapped brain waves that I never knew existed.
It also felt like my internal world did a stretch.
I felt loose.
After the exercise, it felt like the words were effortlessly coming out of my mouth rather than me forcing the words out.
Acknowledge how you feel after the yell.
If it’s not good, then that’s fine.
Ditch the exercise.
If you do feel good, bravo.
You’ve added a new exercise into your speaking arsenal that you can unleash whenever you’re feeling:
- Stiff
- Nervous
- Uninspired
Loud in the Dark, Bold in the Light
Yelling is a powerful way to flame the limiting beliefs into ashes.
What it takes affirmations months to do, a strategic yell can do in a matter of seconds.
Avoid raising your voice to others in social interactions.
Yelling is best done in private.
When it’s done in private, you’ll discover new elements of your voice that you never knew existed.
The voice soon becomes an instrument, not an amorphous blob.
Be loud behind the scenes, so you have the confidence to be expressive in front of the scene.
