I often talk about the importance of appreciating and using your authentic voice—in the talks I give, the podcast I co-host with Jerome Deroy, and in coaching sessions. We tend to think of “authenticity” as something gentle and natural, like simply aligning with our true selves.
But here’s the truth: using your authentic voice requires courage. It asks you to speak even when your inner critic is suggesting you soften your words, edit your truth, or stay silent altogether.
As I write this, I’m fighting for concentration because my “inner Queens Girl”—my ongoing source of gritty, no-nonsense wisdom—is loudly interrupting. So I’m handing her the mic:
🗣️ “Whatareyoukiddingme? The way you’re writing, it sounds like you glide into these ‘Learned-It-in-Queens’ stories without a care in the world. How about telling people what it was REALLY like presenting at that Storytelling Symposium in Germany? Your colleagues were quoting scientific books, theories, and research on brain function… and YOU brought along Fritz Gunther, the ironworker from Queens, as your change-management muse!”
As usual, she’s right. Saying “keep it authentic” is one thing.
Living it, especially in front of a global audience, is another.
During that virtual presentation, I was:
📹 Unable to see the audience, staring instead into the dark, unblinking eye of my Logitech camera
🐢 Slowing down my natural NYC pace so listeners in Germany could follow my rhythm
🎯 Concentrating fiercely to tell the entire story without skipping important details
All while visualizing people smiling or laughing—because in reality, I was speaking into total silence.
No chuckles.
No coughs.
No chair squeaks.
No evidence that anyone was even there.
Was my story landing?
Were they engaged?
Or was this a collective moment for a quiet mid-day nap?
And yet… when I finished, I felt relief. Then pride.
And when I finally saw their reactions—smiles, laughs, warm faces—I remembered something Murray Nossel once said:
✨ “You can’t get it wrong. It’s your story. Go tell it.”
This is what I’m carrying forward.
Using your authentic voice is a risk. It’s stepping into uncertainty with your truth in hand.
And you never know what will happen until you take that chance to speak in the way only you can.
The end. 🎤💛
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