Day 10: The Voice, Factors

As mentioned briefly on the information page, Berry believes there are four main factors that influence the voice including environment, ear, physical agility, and personality. A few days ago, I reflected on the first of the factors, now I will be reflecting on the final two factors.

The first is physical agility which is related to muscular awareness and freedom. It relates to the ease in which you feel you can express yourself in speech. Berry writes, "An introverted and thoughtful person often finds more difficulty in speaking, and does not carry the thought through into the physical process of making speech (P.7). She goes on to say this often has to with confidence and not laziness. This is something I was particularly found truth in and have been told I have in the past I have the tendency to drop off the ends of my sentences. I think this is in part because once I begin speaking I'll have a clear idea or be excited and if I feel like nobody is interested in what I am saying, I will not finish the thought. I have gotten a lot better about this but I definitely think it is something I still need to work on as an individual.

The final influence, according to Berry, is personality which is based on how you as an individual interpret the last three influences. The way you were taught, your sensitivity to sound, and you need to communicate all create your personal voice and speech. She also spends some time talking about how your city influences your voice. People from rural areas talk much slower and people from cities typically speak are faster and sharper.

Overall, I think these four influences on voice are extremely relevant and gave me some more insight on my voice. It also gave me a new perspective on the amount of work actors put in to learn accents. They have to change their instincts and re-learn how to speak from another place. I have gained a new found respect for accent work.

The inspiration piece I (re-watched for the hundredth) time today was Cynthia Ervio singing "I'm Here" from The Color Purple. I saw this show back in December and it honestly changed my life. I went into the show completely blind -not knowing the songs or anything about the story- and I think that was one of the reasons it was the best show I have ever seen (and I've seen Hamilton).

The first lyric is "I don't need you to love me…" and it is all about being confident in yourself and being grateful and loving what you have in life. I can always listen to this song when I need to feel inspired and I encourage you to take a listen on my inspirational pieces page.

Tomorrow I begin work with Edith Skinner.