The voice and its speech

The voice speaks beyond words. Sometimes, unknowingly, the impression that our words leave on other people is not what we believe to be saying. This is related to the “tone”, the attitude and the “charge” or intention. The way we say what we say can make a phrase mean different things to the other person. That is why every oral communicator should know what the possibilities of their instrument are depending on what it is they want to say. If we say "I love you" and the tone we use is punitive, these words do not convey their actual value of meaning. The same would be true in the opposite situation, when saying "I hate you" with a sensual and intimate tone. Voices have a trademark. Some voices endure in our memory forever. The voice is intangible, and yet, a part of the body. A mother’s loving voice is part of the intimate contact that takes place right from the womb. The voice also carries the mood of the speaker and conveys it directly: “Your voice sounds strange, what’s the matter?” This is instantly expressed in a simple hello over the phone. In the best of cases, intellectual content and the emotional charge that relates to it come together in the words we speak. We can learn a lot about someone by listening attentively to their voice. A worn out voice, with recurrent hoarseness or too much air in its sound shows a difficulty which may be caused by a state of distress. There are people for whom having to communicate is stressful, so they put no emotional charge into their voice and, therefore, they are not heard. And so we are surrounded by voices that speak to us throughout our lives and enable a connection through memory, desire, fear. Voices can be an effective way of seduction; through locution, through political speech, through loving discourse. Having a voice means being present. An actor should develop a sound that links him to the character, in order to be able to speak through them. When someone’s voice is indistinguishable due to its fragility, they are often overlooked. When politicians are inexpensive and detach themselves from their words, they simply fill in time and rarely actually say something. Speech that is present, with the necessary emotional charge, catches attention and invokes silence. Children are attentive and immediately respond to this. Thus they either have fun and engage, or they get bored and leave. They are also the first to perceive humor or love according to the tone in which they are spoken to. As soon as words are spoken, they are charged with meaning, depending on the speaker. In the best of cases they become a way of healing. If an agitated person with a weak voice is spoken to slowly, lovingly, after some minutes they will begin to show up in their sound, and therefore in their speech. It would be worth it to ask oneself who wants to be heard or who thinks that they should be heard or knows that they will never be heard. It is a good starting point for any vital or transforming communication. It is not those who wish to speak that do, but those who can. They can because they are gifted or because they have had the space to create speech in front of others, due to having been heard since their childhood. So if we wished to teach people propitious verbal possibilities, we should offer them the necessary silence for them to be able to pronounce themselves. The voice is also the soul of singing, although everyone sings at least in their minds. Songs are part of that memory produced by someone who managed to get to us and therefore remains. Words find their way in a voice that succeeds in transcending the body and remaining in the active memory. That is how they outlast the moment and create meaning. It is how we prove, both to others and ourselves, that we are alive in the present time.