Technique: Strong Voice

Strong Voice: Some teachers have it. They enter a room and are instantly in
command. Students who, moments before, seemed beyond the appeal of reason
suddenly take their seats to await instructions. Its hard to say exactly what it is
and why some teachers have it. Much of it is surely intangible and non-
transferable; a manifestation of the unique power of individuals and their ability to
earn respect and credibility, to build relationships, to exude confidence and poise.
But even if I cant tell you exactly how to bottle it, I can describe five concrete
things that it teachers consistently use to signal their authority. These are five
eminently do-able techniques. Anyone can use them, even the seemingly
meekest and mildest of novices. Using them will put you in a position to establish
control, command and the benign authority that makes the use of excessive
consequences unnecessary. Mastering these skills may not make you the it
teacher, but having a Strong Voice will surely get you a lot closer.

Generally Strong Voice teachers follow five principles in their interactions with
studentsor at least in the interactions where they are trying to establish control:
Economy of Language, Do Not Talk Over, Do Not Engage, Square Up/Stand Still and
Quiet Power. They also have a default register (a tone and demeanor they employ in
their interactions) that maximizes the power of these five principles. More on
register later.

Economy of Language: Fewer words are stronger than more. Demonstrating

economy of language shows that you are prepared, that you know your
purpose in speaking. Being chatty or verbose signals nervousness, indecision,
and flippancy. It suggests that your words can be ignored. When you need
your directions followed, use the words that best focus students on what is
most important and no more. Dont dilute urgent issues with things that can
wait. Rather than asking students to identify the top priority of the five points
you made in your directions to them, make just one point. Then you can be
sure your students will hear it. Avoid initiating distractions. Avoid excess
words. When you need to be all business, be clear and crisp and then stop
talking.

Do Not Talk Over: If what youre saying is truly worth attention, then
every student has the right and the responsibility to hear it. And if what
youre saying is not that important, well, maybe you shouldnt be saying it, at
least to the whole class. When you need them to be, your words must be far
and away the most important in the room, so make a habit of showing that
they matter. Wait until there is no other talking, rustling, etc. before
beginning. By ensuring that your voice never competes for attention you will
demonstrate to students that their decision to listen isnt situational (i.e. you
do it if it seems like maybe it really matters this time).

Moreover, controlling who has the floor is the mark of your authority and a
necessity to your teaching. If you repeat 10 instructions per day at half a

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 minute per instruction you will waste two full days of school per child over the
course of the year. You cannot afford to talk over students.

In some cases you may need to start in order to stop, that is, start a sentence
and break it off to show that you will not go on until you have full attention.
Champion teachers use this ideathe self-interrupt--to make the fact that
they are stopping obvious while avoiding the ironic necessity of talking over
students to tell students you wont talk over them. Typically a teacher might
plan to address his class with some direction like this: Sixth grade I need
your binders out so you can write down the homework correctly. However, if
students were in attentive or if there was noise or talking persisting after his
first word or two, he would cut off his own sentence, ideally at the most
noticeable place and remain silent for a few seconds before starting again:
Sixth grade I need your If the low level muttering and distractions did not
entirely disappear he might initiate another self-interrupt, this time with a bit
less of the direction given: Sixth grade I During these interruptions he
might stand stock-still to demonstrate that nothing could continue until
attentiveness was restored.

Do Not Engage: Once you have set the topic of conversation, avoid engaging
in other topics until you have satisfactorily resolved the topic you initiated.
This is especially important when the topic is behavioral follow-through. But
what does that look like and why is it important?

Of all the situations in which a student is likely to try to change topics, the
moment in which you ask him or her to take accountability for his or her
actions is among the most likely. Commonly a student will reply with an
excuse or a distraction. Suppose, for example, that you say to David, who is
pushing Margarets chair with his foot, Please take your foot off of Margarets
chair. David might reply, But shes pushing me! or But she keeps on
moving into my space! Many teachers might struggle in such a situation by
engaging the distraction David has proposed- what Margaret was allegedly
doing. Saying, Margaret, were you doing that? or even, Im not really
concerned with what Margaret was doing is a way of responding to Davids
choice of topic, not making him engage yours. A better response would be to
say, David, I asked you to take your foot off of Margarets chair, or even,
Right now I need you to follow my direction and take your foot off of
Margarets chair. These responses are better because they make explicit
reference to the fact that you initiated a topic of conversation and expect it to
be addressed and because it doesnt require you to announce that you dont
care what Margaret did, which isnt exactly the message you want to convey.

Another possible reply from David in the above situation might be, But I
wasnt doing anything! Again, the best strategy is not to engage his topic.
After all you wouldnt have corrected him if youd had a question in your mind

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 about whether Davids foot was where it should be 1. The best reply is, I
asked you to take your foot off Margarets chair. Once youve done that you
dont need to say anything more.

Its worth noting that a better original direction to David would have been to
tell him where to put his foot rather than where not to put it. After all theres
no guarantee that the next place he finds for it will be much better. Or that
he wont move it back. So an ideal original command might be something
like, David please put your feet under your desk and face me. This
command also puts you in a better place if he removes his foot and claims,
But my foot wasnt on Margarets chair or My foot isnt on Margarets
chair. Because you have initiated the topic of where his foot should be
rather than where it shouldnt be, you can merely repeat your request. I
asked you to put your foot under your desk and to face me. Let me see you
do that now.

Its important to note that while this is about your authority, its not only
about your authority. Engaging in his topic allows David to defer
consideration of his own accountability. Students will often seize upon this
opportunity to convince themselves that they were not, in fact, behaving in a
negative manner. Ask yourself if you want your kids to get the message that
you can change the topic or blame someone else if you havent done your
job. Ask yourself if you want them to be able to fool themselves into thinking
it was all o.k. Thus insisting that you control the topic of behavioral
conversations ensures accountability by students in both your interest, their
peers (who interests you represent) and their own.

Refusing to engage establishes a tone of focused accountability in your

classroom. Students cant change the topic. They need to do first and
explain later. It also means that the issues of who is bugging who are more
easily delayed until a time when instruction is not happening.

Heres another useful example:

Teacher (to James, who was talking): James, you are talking. Please move
your card to yellow.
James: It wasnt me!
Teacher: Please move your card to yellow.
James: Shanice was talking! Not me!
Teacher: I asked you to move your card. Please get up and move your card
to yellow.

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If you did have a question, an effective strategy would be to say, David if your foot is on Margarets chair, I need
you to put it under your own desk and keep it there. If he distracts with But she was your response is simple.
Hes admitted that his foot is on her chair and now you merely repeat your request that he remove it. If he says,
It wasnt on her chair, then you can simply reply, Good. Then it shouldnt be hard for you to keep it under your
desk for the duration of class. If you think Davids likely to test you, you could add, Ill keep an eye on it so I can
help you practice that at recess if you need the help.

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 Its worth noting here that it may be reasonable for the teacher to discuss
who was talking with James (it also may not be!), but it needs to be the
expectation that the latter conversation doesnt happen until James has first
done what his teacher asked. He can dissent. He can seek redress. Until he
has obeyed the initial request, there is no other conversation.

A final situation in which its critical not to engage is when students call out
answers. Engaging with the answer, even if you say, Right, but please dont
call out, sends the message that if what you call out is interesting enough-
or the right answer when no one can seem to get it, or said loud enough or
repeated often enough-the rules dont apply. Doing this will rapidly put you in
a place where you are faced with constant calling out. No matter how
fascinating the comment or how needed the right answer, if you engage
when it is called out, you will erode your ability to control future
conversations in your classroom. No matter how intriguing the answer, its
better in the long run to remind students of what to doIn this class, we
raise our hands when we want to speak.without engaging the answer.

Square Up/Stand Still: In every comment, you speak non-verbally as well as

with your words. Show with your body that you are committed to each
request. When you want to express the seriousness of your directions, turn,
with two feet and two shoulders, to face the object of your words directly.
Make sure your eye contact is direct. Stand up straight or lean in close
(ironically this shows your level of control by demonstrating that you are not
shy or afraid; you dont crouch down to a dog you fear will bite you). If the
student to whom you are speaking is distant, move towards him.

When giving directions that you want followed, stop moving and dont
engage in other tasks at the same time. If you are passing out papers while
you direct students you suggest that your directions arent that important.
After all, youre doing other things at the same time too. At times it may
even help to strike a formal pose, putting your arms behind your back to
show that you take your own words seriously; that they, like you; are formal
and purposeful.

Quiet Power. When you get nervous, when you are worried that students
might not follow your directions, when you sense that your control may be
slipping away, your first instinct is often to talk louder and faster. When you
get loud and talk fast you show that you are nervous, scared, out of control.
You make visible all the anxieties above and send a message to students
that if they can control you and your emotions- that they can make you
anxious and upset, make you put on a show thats much more entertaining
than revising a paper or nailing coordinate geometry, say. When you get
loud you also, ironically, make the room louder and thus easier for students
to successfully talk under their breath, etc. Though it runs against all your
instincts, get slower and quieter when you want control. Drop your voice.
Make students strain to listen. Exude poise and calm.

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Formal Pose: The Default Register of Strong Voice teachers

Imagine three interactions between colleagues at work. The work place may be a
school but it doesnt have to be. In the first interaction, a woman tells her colleague
about her recent weekend. Maybe theyre in the lunch area at work. Oh my gosh,
it was such a great weekend, begins the first. Shes recounting a trip with some
friends to a nearby city. As she does so her eye contact drifts away from and comes
back to her colleague, as if she was gazing out at some latent image of the
weekend projected on a nearby wall. Her hands move as she describes itWe
were in this funky coffee shop with old records up the walls, she says, as her hands
make a sweeping gesture alluding to the locations of said vinyl. She stands with her
hips to the side, reclining against a wall, perhaps. Shes squinting slightly. Her
weight is on one foot. Her words run together in a pitter-patter-like rhythm. All of
these things: her inconsistent eye contact; her use of extensive, sweeping gestures,
her asymmetrical, relaxed posture, her words running into one another as if each
was not so critical in its own right but part of a larger narrative- all of these things
suggest casualness, informality, a sense of ease. Were just talking here, she seems
to say. You can interrupt me any time. If you have to walk away in the middle to do
something else thats ok too.

Register is the word Ill use to describe the tenor of a conversation, encompassing
eye contact, body position, gestures, facial expression and rhythm of language. The
register of this conversation is casual and many teachers use something like it in
the classroom. Its fine to do so if youre aware of what it signals: Were just talking
here. You can walk away at any time. Im telling you a story as I talk and you just
need to get the general gist of it. The problem is that teachers often deliver an
important message in a casual register that ultimately undercuts it. There may be
times when you can tell a student, I need you to sit up in a casual register, but
generally, using it suggests discretion for the listener- you are telling a story; they
just need to get the general gist; they can walk away at any time. Sit up if you feel
like it, is what the casual register says. And if the register contradicts the words
the teachers used, its likely to win out.

Now imagine a second conversation in which our speaker suddenly adjusts to a

more formal register. She stands up straight and holds her body symmetrical. She
looks right at her colleague. Her chin rises slightly. She puts her hands behind her
back (no wide sweeping gestures here; in fact you cant even see her hands. You
couldnt read or get distracted by her gestures even if you wanted to because you
cant see her hands. The speaker could be saying anything but lets imagine her
reciting the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance, she says, to the flag.
Theres a clear distinction between her words now. Each is an important part of the
solemn ritual. Her articulation of the syllables is clearer. She doesnt ask her
colleague to strike the formal hands-behind-the-back pose shes using, but when
the colleague sees it she knows something important is happening and shes likely
to stand up straight herself and maybe even puts her own hands behind her back in
unconscious mimicry. A formal register, it turns out, bespeaks the importance of the
message and causes a purposeful attentiveness in the listener. And of course,

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transplanted into the classroom, thats a powerful thing. Imagine our teacher now
approaching a student with her hands clasped behind her back. She stands
symmetrically and leans in ever so slightly towards the student in question. Her
eyes steady. In crisp but controlled words with distinct pauses between them she
says, I need you to sit up. She makes no further movements. Her register
communicates importance, focus and calm authority. It supports her message. As
you can probably guess, Champion teachers tend to use the formal register for the
great majority of their statements in which they seek control. Watch them in action
and youll see them standing straight and symmetrically, choosing words carefully,
allowing for brief pauses between words, eyes held steady. If they make a hand
gesture its very controlled and simple, involving one movement and ending crisply.
This formal register is the wrapping that makes Strong Voice especially effective.

What about a sense of urgency though? Imagine now our two colleagues in a third
conversation. The building is on fire. The first colleague enters the lunch area. She
places her hands firmly on the shoulders of her colleague. Listen, she says.
Theres an emergency. I need you to come with me right away. I need you to put
everything down and follow me. Do you understand? Good. Lets go. Shes
leaning in closer than she would in a mere formal pose and shes punching her
words. The pauses are actually more noticeable though you might have expected
her to rush. Her eyes are locked more than steady. She makes a gesture towards
the fire exit with a crisp, truncated chopping motion. She is not panicked, not
blathering and rushed, just very, very focused.

Is this the tone you want to use in your classroom to ensure compliance? Maybe and
maybe not.

If the chips are truly downif the building is, metaphorically, on fire--an urgent
register can work- if and only if it is delivered as urgent (calm, focused and very
insistent) and not panicked (emotional, hurried and anxious). But urgency can also
be like crying wolf. It has to be saved for truly urgent situations and most control-
oriented interactions should be of the garden variety: made early in the process
before things become urgent. Over used, urgency shows weakness and lack of
control. But in the rare situations when its needed it can be useful. Again, it must
be distinguished from a panicky register, a you have me rattled register. Those
are never useful.

If you watch champion teachers for long enough you will see that a large
percentage of interactions in which control is at stake happening in the formal
register. Again they do not conduct every interaction in the formal register. In fact
like the five Strong Voice principles generally, it is not for the moments when youre
discussing the Civil War, two-variable equations or Of Mice and Men. Its for the
moments in between, when you need students attentive and ready and focused so
you can have a worthwhile discussion of the Civil War, two-variable equations or Of
Mice and Men.

Putting the Strong Voice techniques together

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In his third grade classroom Darryl Williams Strong Voice drives a clear and
compelling culture. On a recent morning he demonstrated all five techniques
within a sequence of just a few seconds to bring his class to order. Having
completed a study of prefixes and suffixes at the board, Williams turns to explain
whats next on the agenda. Ok, he begins, Lets see whos but his voice pulls
up abruptly, demonstrating a refusal to talk over students. Two or three boys have
their hands in the air while he is talking. Two others are talking to a classmate.
Someone has their head down on the desk. Well, most of us are doing an
excellent job today, he says, dropping his voice to just above a whisper. He puts
the book he was carrying down. He turns to face the class a places his arms behind
his back in a formal Square up pose. Quietly, slowly, firmly he says, Please put
your hands down, focusing their attention on the request with strict economy of
language. His refusal to take hands is yet another way to avoid engaging in a topic
other than the one of his own choosing. The distractions are gone now. The room
is silent. All eyes are on him. For Williams, though, theres one more step- the task
of making his actions transparent and benign. Thank you, he says, showing his
appreciation for their rapid return to full attentiveness. The reason I cant answer
all your questions right now I would like to and I love it when you tell me
intelligent things. But we dont have a lot of time. We still need to read our story
and then For Williams, the strength is not just in the control but in the caring.
His explanation of the rationale behind his authority ensures his ability to sustain
that controlwith students buy-in, for the long haul.