Is verbal communication a lost art? With email and texting, do we really need to learn how to communicate with our voices anymore? I believe your answers to these questions can seriously impact how successful, influential, and happy you are now and in your future. I’m going to break down this topic for you to show you why it’s so easy to just get swept up believing that the end of verbal communication is already here!

I’m Roger Love, celebrity voice coach and bestselling author of Set Your Voice Free. I’ve spent the last thirty years studying the potential of the human voice and helping celebrities and the not-yet-famous use their voices to maximize their influence and spread their ideas, their messages and products, across the world. If you’ve walked down the street in a major city lately, you know how you have to dodge people who are texting and emailing on their phones. We’re such a technology-dependent culture, it’s no wonder that people are starting to think we don’t need to communicate with our voices. But just because that myth is easy to believe doesn’t mean that buying into it is harmless.

I’ll go into that in a second, but first, let me put this belief in historical context, so you can see its flaws in a very new light, OK? Imagine if, after the invention of the printing press, when books became affordable enough that the masses could buy their own copies, if people had said, “Oh, now that we can share our ideas and communicate with books, we don’t need to talk anymore. Verbal communication is out. Books are in.”

OK, I understand that sounds pretty silly when you think of it that way, doesn’t it? And we know that innovations in printing didn’t stop the invention and success of verbal communication formats like radio and television and podcasts. And we can also agree that trying to communicate through email and texting has its limitations. So, that’s why emojis are so popular. We’re trying to add some spark, emotion, fun, and life into our texts with these little funny characters, because more often than not, we realize the words themselves are boring as heck.

Texting doesn’t allow you to use the building blocks of voice, the pitch, the pace, the tone, the melodies, the volumes, so it’s too easy for our messages to just be misunderstood. So, while we might be using our voices less frequently, that doesn’t make great speaking skills irrelevant. In fact, I believe that verbal communication and personal connection are going to become more important in the future, and the individuals with the ability to use their voices to connect emotionally, move and effectively engage with their audience, will hold the reins of influence in their hands.

Why is that? What difference do great speaking/communication skills make today, even in a world dominated by email? Let me give you a professional example. We’re not competing with our college classmates or the people in our town for jobs anymore. Instead, if you want an incredible job or a prestigious title or influential position, you have to compete with people from everywhere. There’s so much talent available nowadays, and people are moving around the country or around the world to take a job. In many cases, who gets admitted or hired just comes down to how well that individual emotionally and socially interacts with the company’s culture or current employees. This is the whole “fit” buzzword you hear recruiters and headhunters all using all the time now. They also call it the “personality factor.” And those terms matter, because big firms and leading companies are using those variables to make the final decisions on hiring and promotions.

Bottom line—in today’s world, an amazing résumé, fantastic experience, and fancy degrees are still not enough to get you in if you can’t pass the “fit” test. This is why so many bright professionals are calling me to ask, “How can I show that I am the right fit?” My answer is always the same, “through your ability to connect with, emotionally engage, and control the way your interviewers perceive you,” which, of course, depends on the sounds you make with your voice. This is really critical, so let me go a little deeper here.

When you speak to someone, sound waves actually leave your mouth and travel in the air until they vibrate the bodies of anyone who hears you. The vibrations they feel are interpreted by the brain and turned into thoughts, memories, and emotions. That’s part of the reason why you feel sad when you hear a blues song or excited when you hear a dance track play on the radio. There are specific types of sound waves that make people feel certain ways, and when you have control over your voice, you can engineer the ones you want to produce in a given situation.

Did the job application ask for “innovative, responsible, and energetic”? Well, your voice can communicate those emotions. How about “clear-headed, confident, and strategic”? Yes, your voice can make those sounds, too. Fact is, you can control the way others perceive you and how to move them emotionally, just through the way you use your voice. This is how you showcase your authentic self, how unforgettable and how valuable you are, and convince the decision-makers to move in your favor.

Voice training’s not just a personal benefit. It’s a professional advantage. And while written communication might be a part of what gets you in the door, if you can’t masterfully speak and present yourself, getting the offer, contract, or deal is going to be exceptionally difficult. You need to see that there is a big risk ahead, and along with it, a massive opportunity for anyone who sees and hears the truth. If you can’t recognize and utilize the power of your voice, the most important communication tool you possess, then your future professional career and your personal life are at risk, based on your inability to influence and emotionally connect with people.

Now, for the opportunity—if you recognize that voice is the most powerful tool for influence and impact that you have, the world is in your hands, or more specifically, right there on the tip of your tongue. You’ll have an unrivaled ability to change minds, hearts, and maybe even the world through the way you instantly connect with others and make listeners like and trust you from the moment you start speaking. I look forward to hearing your voice and about all the wonderful accomplishments that you’ll learn. Until then, you can find free voice training resources at rogerlove.com. So, here’s wishing you good luck and great speaking.