Hello Everyone and Happy Monday!
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending The British Voice Association’s event focused on accents. It was a truly inspiring experience for a voice enthusiast like myself.
The event featured multiple speakers, each presenting a variety of fascinating topics and research. One exercise that stood out was led by Andrea Caban. She asked us to fill out prompts about our accent without using judgmental or oppressive language.
She gave examples to clarify her point:
- "Lazy": This term often carries judgment when describing a way of speaking.
- "A beautiful Ah sound": Even positive judgments are still judgments, which we were encouraged to avoid.
Andrea emphasized noticing our emotional reactions. Terms like "nasal," "twang," or "fry" can evoke strong responses, which can be unhelpful for the exercise.
The prompts we worked on were the following but on accent rather than voice. I however have changed the wording and encourage you to give it a go now:
- My Voice is…
- My Voice was…
- Others’ / (my students’) voices are…
When I completed these prompts, I realized how challenging it was to avoid judgmental language.
Here’s what I came up with:
- My voice is mine and flexible.
- My voice was something that existed on autopilot.
- Others’ voices are theirs.
It was surprising how little I had to say without resorting to judgments. The exercise highlighted how quick we are to judge and how these judgments can lead to bias, which I fully agree with.
However, it left me wondering if avoiding judgmental language entirely might overlook the existence of bias.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these prompts and this exercise. Feel free to share your experiences – I'm always here to chat!
M x