Voice coach and former journalist Sally Prosser has just released her debut book Voiceprint and wants everyone to know that finding your voice can be “a really powerful channel for healing”.
The book is a three-part guide to using your voice to leave a lasting impression, which Ms Prosser hopes will help bring her terminology – “voiceprint” – into mainstream vocabulary.
She explained that everyone has their own personal, unique voiceprint, just as each person has a unique fingerprint.
“The strongest vibration every single one of us has is our vocal cords,” Ms Prosser said.
She said this belief helped her manifest handing her book to beloved media personality Oprah Winfrey when she was in Brisbane last month.
“The words we speak, and the way we speak them, have a direct impact on our reality,” she said.
“Your voice is an access-all-areas pass to people, places and possibilities.”
Sitting down with Village Voice at Hallowed Grounds café, the Teneriffe local was eager to spread her message: that when someone has a strong voiceprint, people listen.
After nearly 24 years working in public speaking, Ms Prosser said she was keen to write down what has helped hundreds of people — especially women — find their voice and speak with confidence.
The book condenses decades of experience into anecdotes and practical insights on voice, including how to evade AI voice scams, tackle negative self-talk and use your voice to create opportunities.
The book is written in dedication to her childhood speech and drama teacher, Carole Miller, who she says taught her how to speak confidently and gave her “the medicine of her own voice”.
Two of the main inspirations for putting her teaching into writing are the voices of her dad – who passed in 2014 – and her mum’s late husband, who passed last October, who she said both had strong, distinct voices.
“Hearing someone’s voice is the closest thing to touching them,” she said.
“When we lose someone, sure, we can flick through photos, and that’s beautiful, but hearing their voice is what gets closer to us.”
Because of this, Ms Prosser has always encouraged her students to “take the gloves off”, and “get your grubby, gorgeous voiceprints all over every room you walk into”.
Voice has been a common thread throughout her life — from opening a speech and drama studio at 16, to working as a radio and television reporter, to acting as a spokesperson for Queensland’s largest water company.
The main message of her book is “your voice matters”.
“Many people don’t realise how much of a gift their voice is. It’s more than sound — it’s a voiceprint, and I hope more people will learn how to make their mark,” Ms Prosser said.
Purchase Voiceprint at sallyprosser.com.au or in store at Dymocks.
