I finally got my first CD in the 'Exceptional Voice' program, and listen to it incessantly while driving to and from work, doing the exercises. It seems so simple for me to hit the A3 note..... I never even get close to a falsetto when I'm at the top, backing down to A3. HOWEVER!......I am still having problems, especially on the phone. On the phone, I can do almost anything short of sounding like a phone sex call center employee and still get "sir".
Okay....the CD helped a great deal with my day to day selling. I'm in consultative sales, and face customers every day, hopfully all day long. I present as female and MUST get this voice thing down!
Most of my customers are women, lucky for me, because I've always preferred the company of women, and get along just fine. They notice there's something about my voice that's very different though, but after a couple of sentences, everything seems just fine. It's the take-off that's rocky, and even though A3 fits easily in my natural range, the timbre of my voice is more male. I just don't know quite what to do about that.
Last week, for the first time, I got a "yes ma'am" out of a male customer on the phone. Finally!
I haven't bought a frequency meter yet, but plan to. Maybe that will help.
The single thing that destroys me at work are the co-workers who use male pronouns, or my old male name. From that point on, I have to just keep truckin'. There is no way to quit in the middle, beginning, or end of a sale. So you put on your best personality, and hold your head high, and hopfully get to thank them for their order.
I would just change companies, but first my legal stuff has to be in place, driver's license, etc.
But....wherever I go, that voice is going to follow me, so I'd better find a way to improve it. It just gets more and more frustrating!
Bev
