69. What's your vocal brand?

Understanding your vocal brand is the first step to connecting with your voice and in turn connecting with others. In this episode I take you through five steps to work out your vocal brand, so your voice can embody who you are!

Transcript

I want to say a huge thank you to those of you who've supported the podcast since the early days. Wow. Look how far we've come. And of course, a big welcome to you if it's your first time here! We are kicking things off talking about vocal brand. You would have heard me say in the intro, your voice is the soundtrack to your personal brand. What do I mean by that? What do I mean by brand? Well, last year I found myself being asked to speak on so many podcasts and panels about my personal brand, which led me to Google, "What is a personal brand?" And I came to realise it was me showing me. That's what resonates, doesn't it. People showing up like real people, or better still showing up like themselves.

When it comes to your voice, we always sound more real when we feel more aligned to ourselves. This is why I bet you sound more expressive and animated when talking about something you're really passionate about. You know, you're not overthinking and not trying to say something in a particular way. It's just flowing from that spring of inspiration. I really believe if you connect with your own voice, you're going to connect with others. Connect with your own voice, to connect with others. And working out your vocal brand is really going to help with that. It will also give you your why. It's not, why am I doing this weird thing with my voice? Oh, because Sally said so? No! You'll embody your voice based on a clear code of who you are, what your vocal brand is. And I've been working with clients on this and I've put together five steps to get to know your vocal brand, and I would love to share those with you today?

But first are you sick of getting nervous before speaking? Tired of saying ums and ahs and tripping over your words? Frustrated your voice sounds weak or boring. Imagine being able to confidently speak when called on. Hitting record and not doing 100 takes. Captivating an audience with your voice. Sounds great, right? Then join My Six Week Voice Makeover! Over six weeks, we dive into the fundamental steps you need to make an impact every time you speak. How to hack your mindset, how to tap into your body, control your breathing, literally speak from your heart, form your words and phrases clearly, and top it all off with beautiful expression. To make it happen, join My Six Week Voice Makeover by heading to my website, sallyprosser.com.au or just click the link in the show notes. Look forward to seeing you there.

So these are five steps to help you work out your vocal brand, and you can use them to work out your personal brand as well, I just use them for voice.

Step 1: Reflect (03:51)

Step number one is reflect. Get to know yourself, do that inner work. It sounds very deep. Who am I? What do I stand for? Crack out the candle and the journal and the red wine or cup of tea or whatever you're drinking, and write it all down. What do you really stand for? What do you stand against? This is a very deep question and you can be spending a lot of time doing this and believe me, it's not a done and dusted thing. This is a thing to revisit. But start with that.

Step 2: Brainstorm (04:25)

Then you can get to step two, which is brainstorm! And brainstorming is "How do I want to be described when I'm not in the room?" How do you want to be described when you're not in the room? If you're a bit stuck here, ask your family and friends and close colleagues what they like about you? What do they see as your best qualities? Are they the qualities you see in yourself? Write it all down. So for me, I would like to think that people describe me as being fun, professional, zesty, knows what she's talking about, relatable, down to earth. Feel free to DM me any other words that you can think of if I haven't covered the main ones! Do it for yourself.

Step 3: Consolidate (05:17)

Then we get to step number three, three is consolidate. Consolidate that list. So if you've got in your brainstorming list, and this could be brainstorming on post-it notes up on the wall or on a big piece of paper, I definitely recommend, you know, bright texters or bold colours, like just don't be using those horrible pastel post-its with a little biro, that's really not going to be very inspirational for you. So if on that brainstorming list, you've got, "good at what she does, knows her stuff, professional," all of those might fall under the term competent. You know? So you're really grouping together all of your brainstorming into some key themes. And when you read out this new shorter list, it should bring a big smile to your face. When you read it out loud, it should sound like the best version of you. The version of you that you love. So we've reflected, we've brainstormed, we've consolidated.

Step 4: Align (06:15)

Step four is to align. Is the way you're showing up aligning with that list. Is the way you speak, dress, post on social media, carry out your work, have conversations with people, lead your team, talk to your family, do all of those things reflect that list. And this is where the pennies are going to drop for you. This is where the pennies are going to drop because you'll be able to get to step five, which is bridge.

Step 5: Bridge (06:49)

Bridging those gaps. Where are the gaps? Is the way you're showing up somewhere, not matching your list? How so? How so? So if on your list, you have got somebody who is warm and approachable and caring yet, the way you speak is very small and reserved. And in some ways you're not even being heard. Is that voice reflecting warmth, approachability, caringness? I don't know if those last two were actual words, but you get what I'm saying. If someone makes a critique, ask yourself, is this a gap between my brand list and the way that I show up? So for example, if somebody says, Oh, Sal, you're like out there and they say it in that snide way, when they're really having a go, I take no notice at all! Because absolutely part of my brand is I am out there. That's on my list. I am Sally Prosser and I'm out there. And if you don't like, out there, then, you know, you're not in the right place. And so I just don't even take that as a criticism because I know that's who I am and it's who I want to be as well. If you have a strong sense of your vocal brand, you are on really, really solid ground. You're not going to be pushed around by the opinions of others because you have this strong opinion of yourself and you know exactly who you are and what you stand for.

So when you're looking at these gaps, look for ways to bridge it. Can you change it through self-awareness? So in your brand, you might say that you are a considerate listener. I know this has been one for me because I'm an interrupter. I'm getting better at it, but I've always got so much to say. So I've had to look at that and say, well, I'm going to make a conscious effort not to interrupt people. If you can't change through self-awareness you can ask, can you make a simple change? As a leader you might want to be patient and present and approachable, yet you are literally running into different meetings all day. And so when you speak, you sound exasperated, rushed, pulled from one place to another, you know, your voice doesn't demonstrate those qualities of your vocal brand, your personal brand, around being patient and approachable. And so just making sure you get to meetings on time or work out your calendar so you're not rushing from one thing to another will change your voice for those things straight away.

Now, the last way to bridge the gap, I'm all for, of course, is do you need some coaching? Do you need to invest in some training? Your vocal brand lists might've had phrases like, they're on top of things. They're competent. They take things in their stride. They're calm. So if you were to then speak at a hundred miles an hour, when you were speaking to people, that would be a misalignment. You're not going to sound like you're taking things in your stride. Like you're calm. Like you're competent. Like you're on top of things. So working with a coach like myself, we cover this in My Six Week Voice Makeover and of course I work one-on-one as well, is we'll go through these strategies to slow down your rate of speech, stretching out the words, taking more pauses, taking longer pauses. What are the ways we can change that habit? So your voice can beautifully reflect your vocal brand.

So that's what I've got. Step one, reflect, get to know yourself. Step two, brainstorm. How do you want to be described when you're not in the room? Step three, consolidate. Consolidate that list. So it's a little bit more manageable. Four, align. Have a look, is how you're showing up in your conversations, aligned with that list? And then step five is to bridge. Where are those gaps and how are you going to fix them?

If you enjoyed this chat about vocal brand, please let me know, drop me a message on Instagram. I'm @SallyProsserVoice Please feel free to share a story or leave me a review in the Apple store. That would be much appreciated. I am really happy to be back on the podcast waves and look forward to new episodes coming out every Monday. I'll see you next week.

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