Harry Key—Provocative Voice Coach

I’m getting smeared with green slime by Miss Australia-India, and I’m wondering: How is this relevant to NLP? I’ve become fond of Sue’s belief that everything is a metaphor, so I’m on set desperately trying to figure out how I can possibly integrate my current situation with the five main things I need to get said in under 1000 purposefully chosen and hand-typed words of varying relevance.

Now that you’re comfortably caressing my second paragraph with your attractive and evidently effective eyes, indulge yourself in my awkward introduction: I’m Harry Key – Bollywood actor cum Provocateur (I’m in India where they staunchly stand by the classical usage of that word). I’m on a film set after breaking my own rule: Never let your decisions rest on a need for money. Last time I did that I ended up in a terrible infomercial that is still playing worldwide. Luckily (for me not you) it’s affording me some writing time.

I came and did Sue’s Kerala Intensive in December, and it is changing my life (I usually abhor clichéd sentiments, but here it fits). Sue’s faith in other people’s potential for greatness, and her ability to actuate that greatness is really inspiring me, so now I’m a Provocative voice coach!

The way we speak to people has a massive bearing on how we are perceived. Far beyond your outward appearance comes the power and clarity of your thoughts, which is gauged by your ability to transmit them from brain to brain through vibrations in the air or letters on a page. While Sue teaches language patterns and trance-inducing language, I focus on the quality of the voice with which those words are spoken, an exercise that invariably goes right to the core of who you are.

If you are in the habit of mumbling through throwaway tidbits of tattle, then either open your mouth and share them proudly or throw them away altogether and save us the bother of being polluted by your half-formed verbal discharge. If you don’t place importance on the words you’re speaking, I certainly won’t.

But if you speak from your stomach, the pit of your emotions and the source of your power, and your voice is commanding and captivating, I’ll pay all of my attention with interest. Take deep breaths, take your time, and think about the value of each word that you’re saying. Or don’t. I guess some people’s thoughts are cheap and not worth your mind; so perhaps being understood and commanding attention is only for those people that really value it. Perhaps that’s not for you…

Perhaps you’re the kind of person that only has weak little ideas and meek little suggestions that aren’t really worth paying attention to because there’s someone in the room who is eloquently espousing their epiphanies and is commanding their colleagues rather than squeakily simply suggesting. Best leave it to them, they seem to know what’s going on.

That’s the marvelous thing about confidence: It’s a self-affirming illusion, and as soon as you really get that being confident is nothing more than the ability to behave confidently, you’ve already given yourself the permission to be confident whenever you want. Some people just shine for that reason, and some people shrink away, which is fantastic because we need shrinkers to juxtapose the shiners.

You certainly won’t learn it from reading an article, and if that’s the case then definitely don’t come to Sue’s July Alumni Reunion for a workshop in person. I’m going to be teaching everyone else how to transparently use reverse psychology and a little bit of mild offense to piss off readers and leave them wanting more from my underselling style. I will run a voice workshop if my writing workshop doesn’t generate the requisite interest and outrage because my style is confounding and my sentences are way too long to be stored in the immediate mind-space of you, my above-average reader.

Sue and I will also be running a Masterclass (well, Sue will, I’ll be assisting) at Fernleigh, my gorgeous family property in the Australian outback at the end of November. I am incredibly privileged to have the property, and it is a great honour to be able to share it with you, because it’s a perfect setting for Sue’s work. There’s more about that on the net – so encourage your fingers (if you have any) to collaborate with your eyes and brain, and direct them to Sue’s website and see my similarly wordy write-up about it.