The Evolution of a Voice

♥ 6 MIN READ-

My newsfeed and almost every conversation has revolved around the protests, race, and police brutality. So many people are speaking right now in words and action. We each want our voice to matter. We each want our message to be understood. To impact. To resonate. We all want the end result, but I wonder how many people truly prepared their voice for this moment.

What I See Clearly

I believe a voice is a tool crafted to achieve a specific purpose. Words, tone, rhythm, timing- they are all components to create a voice that resonates. We all want our voices to be used in powerful ways, but we rarely refine it so it can be effectively used. Learning to use our voices is a process that many of us don’t fully complete.

A Vocal Journey

I was a shy kid. I didn’t speak a lot around people I didn’t know, but if my sisters talked to you I would consider speaking up. At that age, my parents had to push me to use my speaking voice. I loved to write though. That’s where I spoke the loudest. Twisting words to share the things I wanted felt like home. Safe and comfortable.

As a teenager, I had a quick tongue. The one who rarely spoke in public now had so much to say. In these years I learned how to make my voice take shape. I could make it cut, make you laugh, or make you think all without much thought or effort. I learned it could heal or hurt you depending on how I formed it. Honestly, its multifaceted nature surprised me.

Now in adulthood, I realize I want more for my voice. I’ve discovered much of what it can do but have only glimpsed what it’s meant to do.

I am learning to speak in every sense of the word with intention, clarity, and accuracy. My voice is directed by purpose now. Not the results or the situation. If my voice is to matter to them then it must first matter to me.

Vocal Matters

Every voice is meant to bring change. To impact. But far too often we don’t complete the tuning process so the message is can’t be clearly heard.

There is a tuning process. A discovery of how, when, where to use your voice. A refining of its message, tonal quality, clarity, etc. When a voice is properly tuned regardless of how it’s used, whether writing, singing, preaching, protesting, in quiet words of affirmation, stand up comedy, or social media posts, the vocal quality remains the same. When you have truly learned to use your voice, your message will impact regardless of the medium or environment.

My tuning process is about finding the balance. Learning when to speak or when silence needs to speak for me. Finding the cadence of my voice and not letting my attitude make me lose my rhythm. Maintaining my tonal quality when my anger wants to get the best of me. Discerning timing and finding my frequency hasn’t been easy for me. I often want to speak when the words enter my head but I have seen the benefit in taking a beat. There is beauty in letting my voice rest.

It has been the moments I wish I could take my words back that has shown me how to use them and the times I’ve kicked myself for not speaking up that have shown me where my words fit. The tuning process is a process. It’s filled with falling into the right words at the right time and failing to get it right. Both experiences are necessary. Don’t cop out of the process by choosing to remain silent or be careless with your words. The world doesn’t benefit from either.

Choosing to speak or remain silent costs each of us something, but if the purpose of our voice wasn’t achieved then was it worth it, or have you paid a cost that may eventually bankrupt you? I’ve heard the saying that silence is deadly but misdirected words have their own body count. The casualties for each are endless and unnecessary.

Our voices are a tool. A gift given to us to help us achieve our purpose. But what we don’t learn to use we will inherently abuse.

Purposeful Intentions

I use to speak with the purpose of being understood. Using way too many words. Speaking way too long. Fighting to feel like I was heard. This resulted in me holding people hostage with my voice. Confining them to a conversation that was frustrating for both them and me. I hadn’t yet learned the purpose for my voice.

See, I had been prophesied to that I would be a leader in enlightenment so I went into many conversations with the intention to help (well “make” if I’m being honest) people understand. What I had to grow in realize was entering the conversation with the intention of presenting a new perspective is my job, but understanding was God’s. Making people see the truth (that’s impossible anyway) was never the purpose of my voice. Honestly, these conversations were set up to fail before I even opened my mouth because the results I expected didn’t line up with God’s purpose for that moment.

Many of us abuse our voice because instead of focusing on intention, we focus on results. We speak for the reaction of the other person and often sacrifice our vocal integrity. It is meant for a higher purpose and when we let lesser motivations direct our speech the frequency of our voice changes. It’s not about them it’s about you. Your voice is meant to resonate with you first. That’s how you learn to use it. How, when, and to whom we speak should resonate with the truth we carry within us.

Your voice will change in the direction of your focus. When my motivation was to be understood instead of becoming stronger, my voice became more diluted. But when aligned with purpose, my voice has impacted others in ways I never imagined.

Without purposeful intention, the danger is becoming a person who is speaking but isn’t saying anything. Who’s using a bunch of flowery words that don’t resonate. Your voice will do the opposite of what’s intended if not used with intention.

Let purpose guide your voice.

The Method of the Message

There are some voices that speak up at the exact moment their needed and their impact is immeasurable. That is the intended destiny for every voice. It is true that not all voices resonate with all people, but yours is meant to resonate with someone. Diligently go through your tuning process. Seek God to learn the intended purpose of your voice. You purposefully using your voice can show others how to use theirs.

Learn the methods and message of your voice knowing that the message is constant but the method changes as you do. Don’t confine your voice to only one way of speaking. It is meant to evolve.

A Message to You

If used with intention your voice will always matter, whether they recognize it or not, but sometimes your voice isn’t meant to teach them, sometimes the lesson is for you. You refine your voice not only by speaking but by listening. Learning from others how their voice is used to achieve their purpose. Learning from the moments when you didn’t use your voice quite right. Don’t let those vocal mistakes make you silent. Let it make you intentional.

«Consider This»

• What has your tuning process been like?
• Have you learned the purpose of your voice?
• Have your vocal mistakes refined your voice or have you chosen to be reckless with your speech or silent?
• Whether written or spoken are you intentional with your voice?

Let’s have a conversation about this. Share your thoughts below.