Learn from the best
What do a technology executive and a renowned Hollywood voice coach have in common?
The first time I got to know about Denise Woods and her passion on giving people power to their voices was 2021 when I was reading her newly released book “the Power of Voice”. The book gave me a fresh perspective of our unique power in each of our voices. I remembered reading it in a cold winter with a cup of hot tea. Her style is like a cup of lemon honey tea - warm, healing and empowering. I included the book in the LinkedIn post of my 2021 reading list. (link in comments)
Back then, she was still a very remote figure in my life. I was not an actor and working in technology, I had nothing to do with a Hollywood dialect coach - at least that was what I thought at the time.
Fast forward to 2023, due to the WGA strike, Denise started to offer a master class on Voice and Speech with the limited free time she had. I signed up immediately. I believe I was one of the very first signed up if not the first. When opportunities arrive, I never let them slip by me. From then on, I have asked Denise to be my personal voice coach.
She helped me recognize the patterns that I have been ‘incorrectly’ practicing for the past several decades. Even though I am not ashamed of my accent speaking English as a Second Language (anymore), I want to minimize the distraction when people listen to me. I want them to deploy all their energy to my message instead of trying to understand my accent. As a result of our work, I am more acutely aware and confident in my pronunciation and speech.
She is not just a coach on accent acceleration. She is a coach for life. She emphasizes that my story is worth telling. She assures me that I have everything needed to share my message with the world to advance gender equality. She reminds me to tell stories by using both my head and my heart.
She is a sister! We started to call each other sis right away. We talk about work, life, families, the world, values, beliefs and what it truly means as a human being. We promised to march forward arm in arm.
My firm belief is that one of the best approaches to learn anything is to learn from the best. Being coached by Denise is definitely my “learning from the best” experience.
With Denise, I found the power of my voice and the power of my story.
#womenpower #voicecoaching #learnfromthebest
