What Did You Say?
In our Play Sessions series, we give our leaders a task: "Spend ten minutes speaking in a ridiculous accent." It sounds like pure silliness. And it's one of the tasks which we notice many people really struggle to do. They resist or refuse it, or manage it only for a really short amount of time.
As a task, it might actually be one of the most powerful tasks in the entire programme.
Because unlike going on a swing or blowing bubbles, it goes directly at the voice itself.
The voice is not just sound
Most people think their voice is a physical thing.
But psychologically, your voice becomes wrapped up with:
- who you think you are
- how you want to be perceived
- what is acceptable
- what feels safe
Over years, most adults develop a "permitted range" — a way of speaking that feels normal and socially acceptable. They stop exploring outside it. The voice becomes mostly fixed.
Children experiment constantly
Children don't. They invent characters. They imitate teachers. They become pirates, dragons, queens and superheroes.
They switch voices every few minutes. They're learning something important:
"I can make different sounds and still be me."
Adults often lose that flexibility.
Enjoy the video of Bella attached to this post as an example - Bella the Baked Bean.
It weakens the inner critic
The moment you begin the task, and start wandering around the kitchen speaking like an Australian sheep farmer or a dramatic Shakespearean actor, a little alarm bell will probably go off:
"This is ridiculous."
Exactly. That's the point.
The exercise isn't testing your accent skills. It's not a pass or fail exam and you're not being scored.
It's testing your willingness to survive feeling ridiculous.
And that's a huge voice-development skill.
Many people aren't afraid of speaking. They're afraid of looking foolish.
The accent task deliberately introduces foolishness in a safe environment.
The nervous system learns: Nothing bad happened.
That's valuable data.
It separates identity from expression
At PowerVox we love this reason.
A lot of people unconsciously believe: "My voice is me."
But that's not quite true.
Your voice is something you use.
It's not something you are.
When someone plays with accents, characters and tones, they start discovering:
I can sound different and still remain myself.
That creates freedom. The voice becomes less precious. Less fragile. More playful. More flexible.
It expands expressive range
Think about the qualities hidden inside different voices.
A pirate might be bold. A Shakespearean actor might be dramatic. A Yorkshire farmer might be direct. A Disney villain might be unapologetic. A French detective might be mysterious.
A child pretending to be these characters is unconsciously exploring emotional range.
Adults can do exactly the same thing.
Sometimes the qualities we need already exist inside us but only emerge when we give them another voice to travel through.
It reveals suppressed parts of personality
This is where it gets deliciously mischievous.
Imagine that you're trying on different characters.
One might feel awkward. One might feel exhausting. One might suddenly feel oddly enjoyable.
That's worth noticing.
Sometimes a ridiculous voice gives permission for something real to emerge.
A person who struggles to be assertive may find themselves surprisingly comfortable being a grumpy Scottish pirate.
A person who hides their humour may suddenly become hilarious as an over-the-top French art critic.
The disguise creates safety. Room to explore.
The truth sneaks out anyway. Watch out for it.
The deeper PowerVox connection
PowerVox work with Voice Intelligence, and it measures Voice Quotient™.
Most people hear that and think:
Better presentations. Better communication. Better influence.
But before any of that comes freedom.
Freedom to experiment. Freedom to sound different. Freedom to express. Freedom to be heard without constant self-correction.
The accent exercise is an invitation into our PowerVox Studio to explore that freedom.
And we are always intrigued to know:
Which voice felt the most fun to inhabit?
Not the most accurate. Not the most believable. The most fun.
Because the answer usually reveals something about the leader's personality that hasn't had much airtime recently. And that's knowledge we can work with, to help them grow their voice.
We hope you've enjoyed this blog post. If you're interested in working with PowerVox you can email us [email protected]. Learn more about The Greenhouse at https://www.powervox.co.uk/the-greenhouse. To find out more about PowerVox Play Sessions, visit https://www.powervox.co.uk/studio-play. You can also follow us on social media, using the handles at the footer of our website.
