“In life, finding a voice is speaking and living the truth.”
— John Grisham
I get a lot of questions from both podcasters and writers about how to discover their own unique voice. And it’s important — as a podcaster or writer, your voice is what differentiates you from everyone else, sets your style, and attracts your audience.
But a lot of people don’t know where to begin when first starting out, and I get questions like, “Where does your voice come from?” and, “Does developing your voice naturally happen, or do you need to develop it intentionally?”
These are fantastic questions, and while I can offer some guidelines, the development of your individual voice is going to be a little bit different for every creator.
Read and listen widely, and know that a lot of creators (myself included) start out (or started out) mimicking others’ voices we liked. A great exercise is to practice writing or speaking like [insert writer/podcaster here], then pausing, and doing the same material your OWN way. Listen for the differences and note what helps you sound unique.
However, what John Grisham says in today’s quote is even more important. Your voice isn’t an act, or a persona you adopt to perform. It’s not a crutch or an accessory. Your voice, at its core, is made of your TRUTHS.
Do you know who you are? Do you know what you believe? Do you know what is TRUE, in all-caps? These are questions that you’ll answer throughout your life journey, and your answers may shift and change along the way — and bring those changes into your unique voice.
We don’t start out with a perfected and iconic voice — it’s something we build over time, consciously and unconsciously. But at its core, it’s WHO WE ARE — what we believe, what we think, and how we say what we mean.
And your voice may not surprise you. I think that sometimes we look for this burst of strange genius to come out of us, when really, our unique voice is the voice we’ve been speaking with our whole lives. Don’t take that voice for granted — it’s what makes you YOU, and therefore unique.
Words & warmth,
Sarah
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