***If 37% of the Image You Project is the Sound of Your Voice -- Uh-Oh!

Before the invention of equipment that could capture the sound of the speaking voice, people really had no way of telling how their voice sounded to others. When I first heard my voice, back in the '70's, I was horrified. What I could not understand was why my friends' voices on the tape sounded correct, but mine didn't! I thought it was the tape recorder. Duh!!! I will never forget that day or the day - some years later - when my singing professor in graduate school told me that my speaking voice was not good. She referred to it as my habitual voice and proceeded to show me where my real or true voice was. In fact that day changed the direction of my career because it led me to become a voice coach. No, I do not teach singing, although I have in the past. I teach others how to find the speaking voice they don't know they have. For many people, hearing themselves on an answering machine, voicemail, or some form of recording equipment is uncomfortable to say the least. Other words that come to mind are embarrassing, humiliating or disbelieving. We do not have the capacity to hear ourselves as everyone else hears us because we recognize our sound by means of our inner ear. This is sound that is distorted. After spending a lifetime hearing yourself one way and then hearing your voice on a recorder is like comparing apples to oranges for many people. They do not believe it.

Unfortunately, that 37% of the image you project is the voice you find embarrassing, disgusting, shocking, or atrocious. It is the truth.

The good news, however, is that you have a better voice inside. It is in there just waiting to be heard. And, once you find it, you will actually enjoy hearing yourself on your voicemail because it is deeper in pitch and warmer in quality. In addition, you will be able to increase your volume without shouting, which means you could watch the Super Bowl this year and not lose your voice while rooting for your favorite team! It also means that you will sound more mature. Not too old, not too young, just ageless. And that is an image which will speak well of you. You don't have to live with the voice you don't recognize. Make the change and discover the voice that was meant to be.