Finding Your Voice in Virtual Spaces
Many of us spend what feels like a lifetime on Zoom meetings, Google hangouts, or Social Media Platforms, and perhaps you struggled to find your voice in these virtual spaces. This is entirely normal as the rules of engagement are altogether different online than they are in the real world.
Lucky for us, Casey Erin Clark and Julie Fogh agreed to join us on our podcast, And She Spoke, to discuss the significance of accessing your authentic, shame-free voice. Casey and Julie are the founders of Vital Voice Training, a voice, and communication company that recognizes your voice as a powerful tool for connection and expression. Real communication happens when your voice is grounded in the core of who you are.
The power of authentic voice.
As Julie boldly states:
“Voices are much more interesting when the full person shows up, not the costume of who they think you want to hear.”
We recognize this can sound like an undertaking, especially as we all live in systems that we don’t have complete control over. But that is what makes this topic that much more important —this world needs women voicing their power and unique gifts through authenticity.
Authenticity is an extremely popular word, especially in the wellness space, but what does it really mean? Webster defines authenticity as:
“True to one's own personality, spirit, or character.”
As our conversation continued with Casey and Julie, we explored the nuances of authenticity. More specifically, functional authenticity.
Defining functional authenticity and why it’s important to have this expanded definition.
Authenticity is a popular buzzword often used to grab attention, but what is functional authenticity? Functional authenticity acknowledges:
The survival imperative – Which is that at all times, the first and most important goal of our brain is to survive.
The connection between individual and audience – Authentic connection happens in front of an audience, not while snacking on your couch watching Netflix ;)
The web of bias – This includes power structures and external systems in which we live.
Along with everything listed above, it also identifies where we have agency and gives a model to take empowered action.
Finding functional authenticity in virtual spaces.
Often our clients ask us, “How do I more consistently show up as the person I want to be?” and “How do I increase the probability that other people see me clearly?”
This podcast perfectly illuminates those inquiries, and here are the steps you can take:
Be more consistent – acknowledge that this is a practice and there there is no doing this “perfectly”.
Don’t be afraid to show up – authenticity is more than a feeling; it’s a practice. (Whether or not we feel authentic plays a small part.)
Do the work – You have to be the person you want to be, which requires work.
Be self-reflective, figure out who you want to be, and recognize the flexibility within that.
Increase the probability – of all this happening in the context of communication with others and the loss of control we have over their perception.
To summarize this episode:
We touch on the importance of online communication and teaching rules of engagement, particularly in a virtual space where they aren’t so obvious. In-person meetings are not perfect either, so accepting these virtual spaces for what they are can help us feel okay in them.
Our conversation also touches on other topics such as broadening our understanding of power and confidence in the world that deifies extroversion, Casey and Julie’s functional authenticity definition, and the difficulty that many of us have ––authenticity in leadership, especially on social media.
Our voice is a marker of who we are.
It is not about talking the loudest or the most, it is about using your voice in a way that is truest to you.
If this is your first time learning about authenticity, what impacted you most about this concept? Drop a comment below. ⬇️
If you’d like to listen to this podcast then listen here
