Hi, it is my pleasure to be here with you all today.

In those 13 syllables, you all just made judgments about me,

about my socioeconomic status, my intelligence level,

and whether or not you're going to sit here and listen to me

for the next 10 to 12 minutes,

based primarily on the perception of my voice.

That's Dr. Wendy LeBorne, a voice pathologist,

speaking at a TEDx conference in Cincinnati back in 2018.

LeBorne is a researcher and consultant who works with everyone from Broadway actors to

Grammy-winning singers to CEOs on maintaining and maximizing their voices. As you might expect,

she's big on the idea that your voice is a central part of your identity.

Her TED talk was titled Vocal Branding, How Your Voice Shapes Your Communication Image.

Your voice is like your thumbprint or your facial features. It is unique and authentically you.

There is in fact a decent amount of research looking into this question

about what your voice means to you and to how people perceive you. I've reported on voice

forensics before and the truth is we're not as great at detecting voices as we think we are. But at

the same time, your voice undoubtedly broadcasts a huge amount of unique information about

you.

It helps dictate how others perceive you, both in the moment with its level of strength and

emotion in any given conversation, and longer term in what it conveys about your age, where

you're from, and your overall temperament.

Your voice is your calling card, and it is the most important element in your

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