Barbara McAfee initially slammed the door on her "air voice," the lighter, more expressive register she dismissed as ditzy and unprofessional, until she discovered that rejecting a part of her voice meant rejecting a part of herself. "Turns out there were a lot of gifts in that voice for me."
Her insight: you can't change your voice without your life coming along for the ride. The vocal qualities you suppress don't disappear, they just go underground. And reclaiming them changes how you move, how you dress, how you sing, and most importantly, the conversation you're having with yourself.
This clip is for high-achieving professionals who feel the tension between the version of themselves they've built for the world and the one they sense is still waiting to emerge. If personal reinvention, shadow work, or authentic leadership resonate with you, Barbara's story offers a practical entry point — one that starts with something you already have.
Barbara McAfee is a master voice coach, author of "Vocal Intelligence," and a two-time TEDx speaker whose work bridges vocal intelligence and authentic leadership. This clip is the entry point to her framework for expanding your voice as a path to expanding your life.
To watch the full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CPwnUdqKwU&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=1&t=57s
In the full conversation, Barbara explains why the truth lives in your belly, not your head, and why your tone of voice will always reveal what your words are trying to hide. Drawing on over three decades of coaching leaders, Barbara breaks down how emotional intelligence and executive presence are not about speaking louder or commanding more authority.
Music in this episode by Amplify Music.
What Do You Know To Be True?" is an invitation for those who are in the middle of a mid-career reinvention, attempting to pivot from the old version of you, into one that is more aligned with purpose and values, and becoming more of your possible self.
These conversations are with leaders who have been at that pivot point, who’ve navigated the messy middle, and now creating more meaning in the world through their work.
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"What Do You Know To Be True?" is hosted by Roger Kastner, is a production of Three Blue Pens, and is recorded on the ancestral lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish people. To discover the ancestral lands of the indigenous people whose land you may be on, go to: https://native-land.ca/
Keywords
#findingyourvoice #innercritic #shadowwork #authenticself #personalreinvention