***Do You Cringe When You Hear Yourself on Your Answering Machine or Voicemail?

The first time I heard myself on a recording was many years ago when I was in college. I had a small portable Sony tape recorder and I was with my friends when we recorded ourselves. I was horrified when I heard my own speaking voice.

What is fascinating about that experience is that while all of my friends sounded exactly the same on the recording as they did off, I was sure that my voice was a mistake. I even blamed Sony for what I heard, attributing the quality of my voice to cheap equipment.

While the sound of your voice on recording equipment is the truth and the sound by which everyone recognizes you, the good news is that you are not stuck with that voice. You have a richer, warmer, deeper, more mature-sounding voice that is just waiting to be found. I call it your ‘real’ or true voice.

Those who are using their ‘real’ voice sound like George Clooney, Diane Sawyer, Julia Ormond, Kate Beckinsale, James Earl Jones, Peter Coyote, Phylicia Rashad, and Kathleen Turner. Not only do these voices have a warm quality, but, given the right tone, they can be very, very sexy.
Powered by means of your chest cavity, your ‘real’ voice may be just as good or even better than the voice of the actors listed above. Until you change your voice placement, however, you will never know just how good your ‘real’ voice is.

In addition to sounding better, you will also have the ability to increase your volume without shouting so that the next time you root for your favorite team, you won’t lose your voice or be left with a sore throat or hoarseness.

If you are soft-spoken, your volume will increase automatically once you are using your chest cavity as your primary sounding board. The good news is others will no longer ask you to repeat yourself, time and time again.

If you speak with an accent, on the other hand, your diction will become clearer. You will not lose your accent, but you will be much better understood because of your improved articulation.

The benefits of voice training are too many to list in an article; but, there is no doubt that you will sound better. What is interesting is that you will probably look better and you most definitely will feel better about yourself. Imagine discovering your richer, warmer, resonant voice while at the same time looking better as well as feeling better about yourself. Now that is something to get excited about.