Is Your Voice Helping or Hurting You?

by Lauri

Is your voice helping you or hurting you?

That’s a question you may never have asked yourself before. And it’s a vital question that every Leader must ask.

Last Thursday night I watched the Grey’s Anatomy episode “The Sound of Silence.” [Spoiler Alert] In the episode, title character Meredith Grey gets attacked, temporarily loses her hearing, and has her jaw wired shut. This prevents her from speaking for the middle 80% of the episode (much of which also occurs in complete silence).

Nowadays, I usually watch Grey’s Anatomy to wind down and fall asleep. I was not expecting to be captivated. And yet, there I was, utterly and completely captivated, by Ellen Pompeo’s SILENT performance. I suddenly saw deep pools of talent radiating out of her. The depth of her character’s anguish and anger beamed out her eyes like a lazer. And, as soon as she opened her mouth and spoke again, my excitement deflated like a cheap balloon.

When she spoke, it was as if a brilliant, dynamic, shining ray of light was covered up by static. There is so much tension in her throat that it strangles the life out of her voice and prevents the fullness of her talent from shining through.

Watch this video for a demonstration of what I mean …

To theatrically trained voice coaches, this is known as emotional armor. Habitual tensions, born out of years spent subconsciously training herself to speak with the voice of suppression rather than expression, create the armor that restricts her voice.

This same emotional armor may be limiting your impact as a Leader. In fact, the cold, hard truth is that your voice probably is minimizing your impact. Why? We have all been unconsciously training to speak from that same voice of suppression.

I hesitated to share this with you. It’s not my intention to be a “hater.” I never want to push people further into their self-protective silence. Commenting on another person’s voice means we run the risk of hurting their feelings. I doubt Ellen Pompeo will ever see this. And, just in case, let me be completely clear: I’m not talking about a “pretty” voice or a “good” sound. Those are Soul Sucking descriptions.

I’m talking about rediscovering a VOICE that RESONATES and REVERBERATES with a kind of CLARITY that creates an undeniable impact. A voice that shares the resonance of what lives inside her with the outside world.

Consider what everyone is missing out on when the emotional armor and unnecessary tension block her gifts from reaching the world.

Now, back to Leadership…

If, as a Leader, you have the kind of habits of suppression that Ellen Pompeo has, imagine what the world is losing out on.

Frankly, if you have even a fraction of her emotional armor blocking your soul’s full signal from reaching the world through your voice, that’s a tragic loss.

With passion & love,
Lauri

PS: If you’re ready and willing to stand in your power and speak your truth in order to help do your part to change the world, sign up for a FREE Breakthrough Session with me. I will help you embrace your gifts and show you where to focus your attention in order to walk the path of growth.

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