Most people strain their voice by not using their natural pitch. The premise of this book is simple: do a couple of exercises to discover your natural pitch, then endeavor to use that all the time. This will cause your voice to be more enjoyable to listen to, you will be more understandable, and generally more charismatic.

The exercises are simple - so much so that the book really spends about 5 pages describing them, and then all the rest are trying to convince you of their efficacy. Basically, it's this: say ummm-hmmm over and over, as naturally as you can, as if you were agreeing with something. Try not to think about what you want your voice to sound like, and instead just let yourself say it naturally, with a rising tone. This is the pitch of your voice. Now lead into short words like numbers, "ready", "go", "do", etc. "ummm-hmmm-one", "ummm-hmmm-two", etc, keeping the pitch between the umm-hmm and the word after it the same.

The most interesting point the book makes is that western culture values low tones over high ones. In a man low tones represent strength, confidence, and authority. In a woman it is considered sexy or sensual. Whatever the reason, most people strive to lower their voice, resulting in a lot of cracking, strain on the throat, and potentially serious medical conditions later in life. (If you find yourself clearing your throat a lot in conversation, you may already be on the road to such a condition.)

You can do a physical check to see if you're speaking with your correct pitch. The "mask" area of the face - everything from the bottom of the nose down to the chin, exactly what a standard dust mask would cover - should vibrate when you speak. If your throat area vibrates more than your mask area, then you're speaking too low. If your nose vibrates more than your mask, then you're speaking too high.