If you come from another country to the United States, you come not just bearing an accent but the full imprint of your culture—the sociological imprint, the psychological imprint, the vocal imprint. It’s very important, as you strive on your journey in your new land, to not think that you have to make yourself over into somebody you are not.
Let me give you an example. A number of years ago I had the privilege of teaching Arnold Schwarzenegger for nine or ten years. In his very first lesson, I made a decision not to get rid of his accent. That would be inappropriate as it was clearly such a fundamental part of who he is. Rather, I clarified certain vowel and consonant sounds, helped him strengthen his vocal muscles, deepened the pitch of his voice, etc. I did this to better help his voice embody the strength, focus and intelligence of the man himself.
In the 21st century, thumbs and fingers tend to be the preferred mode of communication. Typing can convey data points but not feeling as effectively as the human voice. Please be aware that because of this, there is a tendency* to become unconsciously disenfranchised from our most important communication tool our voices.
The root of the word “health” comes from the Old English word hal meaning “wholeness.” The root of the words “integrity” and “integration” also mean “wholeness.” The root of the word “patient,” as in a doctor’s patient, comes from the Latin word patior meaning “suffering.” What I am saying here is that patients suffer from fragmentation of mind/body/spirit. Your goal, as a Self-healer, (healer also comes from the same root “hal”) is to integrate Self and bring the suffering patient into essential wholeness.
Few weeks ago the United States inaugurated its 44th president, Barack Obama. At his inaugural address he was stunning. He gave a stellar presentation—a stellar performance. I’d also seen the candidate speaking at the Democratic Convention and his acceptance speech on election night among many other campaign stops. Those presentations were effective and as elegant a political moment as I’ve seen in the last few years.
An opinion is created in 3 seconds there is no warm up time and as the proverb goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” So before your next interview, sales call, dating opportunity, please take a moment to be aware of how you communicate. Think about what you want the outcome to be and download your key “bullets” in the first 10 seconds of your opening statement.
One of the more remarkable words is the word “intimate.” The Latin root word is “intimus” which in part means intrinsic or essential. No matter what culture or what walk of life we come from or live in, the word “intimate” means the same thing. One of the reasons this is important is that it doesn’t matter what language we speak, there is nothing more intimate than the human voice. It is— our insides and our outsides.
I was recently teaching one of my corporate leaders whose company is based in Washington State. During my visit, I helped him recognize something that he took for granted—that he is in fact a visionary. Then I shared one of Walt Disney’s favorite words that he helped coin, “imagineering.” Walt Disney used to say, “If you can imagine it, you can engineer it.”
Millions are going to You Tube and clicking on Susan Boyle from Britainʼs Got Talent show—five million hits and counting. Thousands of words have already been written and here are a few more but with a very different slant. Congratulations Susan!
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The universe was formed billions of years ago. Dinosaurs roamed the earth hundreds of millions of years ago. Man first began emerging from his cave several hundred thousand years ago. This past weekend there was a 90th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden for the great American icon, Pete Seeger. Today in the LA Times, I read about the passing of another champion, Salamo Arouch, a Greek born Jewish boxer who survived Auschwitz by fighting fellow prisoners in bloody combat. Over a two-year period, he estimated that he fought over 200 times. That was a mere 65 years ago.
I gave a recent seminar and just received two of the most poignant and caring email responses that anyone has ever sent me from two different participants.I thought there would be value in my sharing a bit of both with you. The first one “I wanted to thank you for the work last Friday night and Saturday…I have to say it is the most profoundly transforming work that I have experienced. The biggest thing that I find when I am in Vocal Awareness, is that if actually has a reverse effect … Read the rest of this entry »
