Do you allow yourself to step into your full voice-power?

No sounds are out-of-bounds!

"I don't think I've ever done this before in my REAL life. It seems like a very female thing to do!"

This from Martin: good-looking and physically fit, unmistakably masculine and also good-natured. I couldn't hold it back, I laughed like mad - and luckily so did he!  

But first let us re-wind.

Martin works mainly online, he's a podcaster so totally reliant on the sound of his voice.  And there was something missing.  Despite having a "good voice" there was a flatness, a lack of sparkle in his vocal sound. This meant that his recordings were less inspiring than his content - which was great - really deserved.

My mission was to help him explore and develop the many, many shades of colour that he was capable of, to free up his TRUE VOCAL POTENTIAL.  

So, what had I asked of him?!

Simply this, to say "Aah!" - not as you do for the doctor, but in the following sequence:

a quick breath in while stretching the eyes open, followed by an "Aah" sound - swooping from high to low (glissando), as ifpleasantly surprised.  Give it a try!

He did it, very beautifully, through the laughter which helped by adding a genuine energy of pleasure to the sound.  

Then he made the above comment that revealed so much.  The association which he made about that sound-gesture: a MAN should avoid making GIRLY sounds!  His - perhaps unconscious - fear of that girly sound had provoked him to limit his natural expressiveness.

We played around with the exercise, mixing the high tones with the low and before long he was totally comfortable with it - his masculinity intact, maybe enhanced!

Actually, there is no gender specificity to the functions of the voice, both sexes can make many/any sounds. Those"timbres" have associations: warmth, coldness, sexiness, reliability, authority and so on, they can convey raw emotions, and can be blended together to produce an infinity of customised feelings.

For many clients of mine, their "vocal" problems are not vocal at all, but in the mind.  

My method of working challenges the underlying limiting beliefs as well as the vocal consequences.

So, Martin learned that there's no such thing as an out-of-bounds sound.

Using this and other exercises he went on to develop and enjoy the full richness of his unique Sound Palette. And his clients enjoyed the results!

The beauty of an audio-only medium is that we have the chance to truly appreciate subtle and vocal sounds.

The voice is not designed to always sound the same

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The listener's attention is enticed by an ever-changing human story expressed in sound.

My question to you:

Do you censor your authentic sound out of fear of how you might be perceived?

I'd love to hear any comments you may have on this topic!

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