Lisa Lockland-Bell is a Business Chicks member, award-winning vocal coach and Founder of The Woman’s Voice.

As a professional singer, I am trained to use my voice to evoke emotion and tell stories but now, my business is to listen and help you tell the story you want told.

Listen carefully to any voice and you may hear the distant echoes of hopes and dreams, put down and forgotten; cries of pain and anguish, some recent, some distant; and the exuberance of those rare moments full of boundless joy.

At least, that’s what I hear when I meet people for the first time. I hear you, the woman behind the voice. Embedded in your tone, cadence and language is the story of your life. Others hear this too, whether on a conscious or unconscious level.

It’s not the simple, black and white series of events but a tale, told through the filter of your own acceptance or resentment. Your life is a story, remembered as you choose.

This is the key.

Your voice does not need to be forever changed by tragedy, pain or suffering. Your journey can lead you through courage to acceptance and peace. Your voice can reflect your true self, the voice full of infectious childlike freedom, wonder and expression.

We are talking about your truth, so I need to be frank. When I start working with new clients, the first step is to diagnose the voice and help them to understand the technical aspects of physical and verbal language, vocal quality, nuances and inflections. This provides a clear and concise blueprint for the physical voice. To any skilled vocal coach, these characteristics are used to ascertain the balance and well-being of a voice.

After 20+ years of implementing this routine in my vocal practice and surviving some of life’s greatest challenges, I started picking up additional information about individual voices. Information that would allow me to immediately understand the root of their concerns and issues surrounding their voice.

When I listen to a client’s story, I am listening with my intuition, while tapping into their emotional state. At first it was subtle and difficult for me to understand that I was getting flashes of someone else’s feelings. Sometimes the information would come in the form of a picture. Other times I would hear something in my mind, but in most cases, I feel the sympathetic vibration of their voice inside my body.

As these feelings and diagnoses became stronger, I realised I was navigating my client’s life journey in minutes. I can tell if someone is depressed or anxious because their emotions come over me, as if I were experiencing them myself, but I remain distant enough that I don’t feel trapped. It allows me to briefly step into my client’s thoughts and emotions, helping me to understand and have great compassion for their circumstances.

Getting to the bottom of your voice

You might feel uncomfortable if I were poking around your home while you’re not there. At first, I was resistant to sharing this information with my clients, then I realised that this was valuable information. It’s a powerful opportunity for you to understand the stories your voice may be telling without you knowing. Stories that may be negatively impacting your life and holding you back.

As I disclosed what I was experiencing, my clients would ask me how I could discover and then articulate something so intimate about their lives by just listening to their voice.

We are all empathic beings and, with practice, you can develop your ability to listen to another’s story through the vibration of their voice. In turn, you can also train your voice to support your profile, by creating a powerful vibration that contributes to every conversation.

You have the ability to hear and be heard on a deeper level. To speak your truth and have the world listen with acceptance and joy. You may have to start by listening to yourself before you can live in soulful peace, speak your truth and realise every whisper of your potential.

Everything from hormones, medicine, science, self-care, upbringing, language barriers, diet, mindset and lifestyle choices can all affect the woman’s voice today.  Like so many other layers in a busy woman’s world the voice is not defined by just one thing. You are so much more than that.  The Woman’s Voice aims to help you build that bridge between the unchecked career goal of speaking your truth, the dream that you put on the shelf and speaking with a voice that supports your deeper desires and contributing to conversations that matter.

It may be a long journey but remember, you deserve to be heard.

Want more tips from Lisa? Check out The Woman’s Voice, a space for you to learn how to access all aspects of your voice, or listen to her podcast: The Woman’s Voice. Raw real and rational conversations with leaders from around the globe.