your authentic voice

Sometimes called the hero voice but that’s stupid. Your authentic voice is what you sound like when you’ve surrendered the ego. You’re just talking. Sometimes you’ll hear, “Talk like you’re talking to your best friend.” That’s terrible advice. We put on a show for even our closest friends. Your authentic voice comes out when you stop giving a shit. When you let the words drop out of your mouth. When you don’t filter what you’re feeling in that moment. Your authentic voice is the one that speaks to your authentic self. You have no judgments or preconceptions. You speak to be heard. To reveal yourself.

You know all that chatter in your head? Those voices? Those aren’t you. That’s the ego screaming to be heard. To chastise you, to worry about the future, to beat yourself up about the past.

Greg Dean, the great comedy teacher in LA, speaks in this youtube video, he claims that the voice inside your head is the “real you.” I, and lots of other commenters, completely disagree. Those are the voices in your head. For comedy, awareness of these and speaking them out loud is extremely funny. But only if you have some kind of awareness. Otherwise you’re just a maniac.

Here are two great examples of voice actors who were entirely present in the booth, speaking from their authentic voices. You can't help but listen. Mary Gross in this spot for ooma. And the amazing Lorenzo Music in this spot for Sutter Home Wine.

Here’s an exercise I ask my students to do. The next time you’re driving in your car, listen to those voices, recognize them, then speak them out in real time. This not only makes you aware of the screaming of your ego, you disempower them. They just want to be heard. The listener is you. And when the listener speaks, that’s your authentic voice.