"Chip Jones" wrote in message ...
Part of this "voice" thing for me is always sound like I'm in complete
control (even when I am not). I did try to be clear and concise and I did
emphasize the control suggestion in this scenario but I did not really
change my tone of voice to what I think of as "urgent". I am reevaluating
my technique here- your suggestion certainly has some merit.

Chip, JMO, but I don't think your technique needs reevaluation.

Long ago in days gone by when the kids walked 2 miles to school
through 3 ft tall drifts uphill in both directions, I was an
EMT in a major hospital emergency room. I learned two things
PDQ:
1) in an emergency, if I wanted anyone to do what I said, I
had to cultivate a calm, DEEP tone of voice (as a young
woman, the deep part was more of an issue for me)
2) the experienced hands all knew this and would chide me
"calm down, relax" if I didn't make a point of it, which
was embarassing and all that

I believe there have actually been some studies done which
show that in a crisis situation, humans respond best to a calm
authoritative voice.

FWIW
Sydney