Did you know that your voice affects every single interaction you have with every single person in your life?  Seriously – I believe this to be true.

And therefore, how you use it, what it sounds like, and how you present yourself, is key to whether your communication, your influence, and others’ perception of you is positive or negative — whether you are effective or ineffective — whether you are powerful – or not.

You are at your most powerful when you voice is Authentic.  What does this mean?  It means you are using your voice in such a way that you have the strongest possible connection to your listener.  You are at your most influential, your most powerful.  How do you ensure that you are using your authentic voice?

Well, first let’s take a look at the characteristics that are in place when you are NOT as authentic as you could be.

1)     Stage Fright/Nerves/Anxiety.  Yep, this one is huge.  We all have experienced this on some level.  And when these are present in you, you can be sure that either consciously or unconsciously, your listener can sense it too.  The good news is that there is so much you can do to help with nerves.  I am covering a lot of these techniques at my upcoming workshop.    Oh, and the FREE “Tapping Into the Spotlight” video series addresses one technique!  Check it out here!

2)     Taking on a false persona.  Have you ever felt like you had to put on your “sales hat” or pretend to be someone you really weren’t because you thought that’s what the boss or teacher wanted?  You wanted someone to like you or accept you, so you decided to act in a certain way?  Pretending to stand up and be someone else is a sure way to send mixed signals and become inauthentic with your audience.  They can sense something is off, and you diminish your power.  Staying true to yourself can only help you on your journey.

3)      Not being vulnerable enough.  Whoa – this sounds scary right?  But really this is about sharing a little nugget of yourself with your audience.  Something real and true so that a connection is made.  The audience can identify themselves in you as if you were a mirror reflecting them back.  When you aren’t vulnerable, the audience starts to say “Why should I care?”  or they feel you don’t really understand them so whatever you have to say loses credibility.

Being authentic is the biggest factor to your success when using your voice. 

You can’t afford not to master the skills of authenticity if you really want to fulfill your biggest dreams.   Turning you voice into a powerful tool takes patience, practice and knowledge of the following areas:

• Your Physical Voice and the sound you create (Yes, this really does matter!)
• Your mental state, preparation, and knowledge of your topic
• You emotional/spiritual state of mind (knowing your purpose)

When all three of these areas are strong and aligned, you are unstoppable!!   If you want to learn more about how to make this happen for yourself, check out my new workshop which is geared specifically to help anyone who has big dreams and wants to use their voice to help make it happen!