The journey to finding my unique Voice

by Precious Taiwo

What you are about to read is of a lady who is still becoming… A lady who is still exploring, trying to own myself and finding my unique Voice. 

The last few months, a change came to my life as I finally started exploring a career in the Voice-Over industry. Amongst the many blessings this year brought, this is the best thing that happened to me – being able to realize the potentials in my Voice and the willingness to make profitable use of this gift that God has given me.

Early Experiences

Thinking back to my childhood days, I always had this “unique Voice”, or so people would say. It was either someone commented on my accent, tone of voice or even the strength with which I spoke. I enjoyed these compliments but really, what could I do with my voice anyway? As a teenager, I remember sitting most times in front of the TV, watching morning and afternoon shows. When I had observed enough, I would impersonate the presenter and do it so well. Perhaps this birthed my initial interest in becoming a TV presenter. I kept up with this until I lost interest and decided to face my studies. 

I had little to no exposure on the options or opportunities in this area since most of my family members are writers. So, I was stuck trying to express myself through writings rather than with my voice. I started out as a writer on Facebook sometime in 2018/19.

Somehow, I thought the key to finding my place in the world was to do what others were doing or to follow social media influencers.

At a point, almost every intentional person on my friends list seemed to be a “Coach” or an “expert”. If that was the way, I decided to join the bandwagon, and tagged myself a Confident Coach. My confidence, at that point, was below average. I wondered what confidence I had to prove to the world when I easily got depressed, especially when I had little to no engagement with my posts. When that happened, I realized I had the imposter syndrome, lost interest in social media and went offline for several months.

Then, the change slowly began. It started with the consciousness that I needed a life outside and beyond social media. I knew that I somehow needed to heal, to begin my journey again and to set a solid foundation that I could run with for a very long time.

Figuring things out

Against my better judgement, I attempted social media again but this time around, it left me high and dry. I left the online site again – for the whole of year 2021. This time I promised myself that until I was ready, until I had something to show, I would be content with figuring things out.

This year, amidst yet another *ASUU strike, I felt the hollow deeper than ever before. My family and friends perhaps understood me a little better than I did myself. They pointed out that my Voice is my strength and expressed how I could finally go into the Voice-Over industry. So, I prayed and opportunities to explore my Voice came.

*ASUU is an acronym for the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria.

A Voice-Over studio microphone (www.freepik.com)

I got connected with a Voice-Over artist and paid for a one-month training course. Although I was very zealous, I still felt something was missing. I really wanted God’s backing in it, so I kept to my secret place, and continued praying to discover my purpose. After the month’s training, God confirmed that the Voice I had was the gold he had given me to use and that all grace was given to me to fully utilize what my voice could do. 

My Voice must be heard.

Ever since then, I have been afloat and my enthusiasm is on the high, especially knowing that God is backing me up. I have been able to surpass my peers-in-training and dominate in that space.

Now, I am proud of how far I have come. As I work to train my voice to its full capacity, I also hope to be the Voice behind big brands. More so, as I look to a promising future, I hope to anchor tv shows or radio programs. 

Indeed, my Voice must be heard.

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Precious Taiwo is a Voice-Over artist, creative and content writer, fitness enthusiast, dietician and public speaker with great potential. She is a student of English Language and Literature at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria. Precious is passionate about using her confident Voice to boost brands efficiently through quality advertisements. She can also be contacted by email: taiwoprecious65@gmail.com.