Recently I had a conversation with a friend about the Conference
Voice. You know, that voice that all of the Conference speakers (Jeffrey R.
Holland excluded) use when they give their talks. It has a certain unnatural
lilt to it and an extra dose of sweetness. Kind of hard to describe, but
definitely distinct.
For my friend, Conference Voice makes it hard for her to
want to listen, especially to Women’s Conference. Somehow the voice seems more
pronounced in the women’s talks. And it’s so distinct from normal speech
patterns that it almost feels fake.
I absolutely sympathize with my friend. I’m pretty used to
Conference Voice by now. I’ve heard it for 27 years. But it doesn’t make it
sound any more natural to me, and it certainly doesn’t help me feel a stronger
connection to the women who are speaking.
These women are older than me by at least 20 years. They’ve
never been through what I’ve been through and they certainly don’t know, at
least first hand, what it’s like to be a YSA in these times. And hearing them
talk to me in a stilted, sugary voice certainly does nothing to help me feel
like they get me.
BUT
I think my friend took exactly the right approach. She said
this time she tried to pay more attention to the words than the voice. And she
got something out of the message.
That’s what we should be listening to: the message, not the
voice.
It’s hard, I know. The Conference Voice is distracting and,
frankly, sometimes off-putting. But it is possible to get caught up in
the message and the Spirit and forget about Conference Voice.
As a side note, the culprit behind Conference Voice is the
teleprompter. Every speaker prepares their talk far in advance of Conference
and reads it from the teleprompters when it’s their turn to speak.
And reading off a teleprompter is hard. I tried researching
how teleprompters affect speeches, and all I found was article after article
talking about how hard it is and giving tips. Most speakers—Conference or
otherwise—have a difficult time speaking naturally while reading from a
teleprompter, even after practicing several times. Add to that the fact that
you’re standing in front of 21,000 (!) people and a handful of cameras
broadcasting your face around the world…yeah, I’d be speaking unnaturally too.
But speaking in teleprompter-induced Conference Voice
doesn’t mean that the speakers don’t know what they’re talking about or that
they can’t relate to me. It just means that I have to try harder to listen to
what they are saying and pay attention to how I feel. Besides, even if they don’t
completely understand my situation, God does, and He inspires His servants to
say what we need to hear.
Times change, but the gospel doesn’t. The principles are the
same. We just need to learn how to apply them to our circumstances. And God
calls older women and men to teach us these principles because they’ve had lots
of time to practice living them.
Maybe the future will see a few younger women and men reading
their carefully prepared talks from the teleprompter. But for that to happen,
the younger generation—us—has to start listening now to what the older generation is teaching. Because they are
teaching us what God wants us to know, and they are giving it their all.
I’m hopeful that one day Conference speakers will master the
teleprompter like Elder Holland seems to have done, and we’ll hear most of the
talks given in a more natural, relatable way. But if not, that’s okay. Because that’s not
what’s important; it’s the words.
This year, I’m going to listen to the words, not the
Conference Voice. And when I do notice the Voice, I’m going to find it
endearing. I’m going to let it remind me of how many hours, prayers, and
possibly tears the speaker put into preparing that talk that they are reading,
hoping that it will touch at least one person and that it will deliver the
message God wants delivered.
I know that the men and women who will speak at Conference are
called of God. They are not perfect. And neither am I. And that’s why they need
to learn from the preparation process and I need to learn from what they’ve
learned.
I know that as we listen to the Spirit—the only voice we
really must listen to—we will be blessed to know the things we need to know.
We’ll find the answers we’ve been seeking. We’ll feel the peace we’ve been
praying for. That’s the point of Conference. To help us find answers and
redirect our lives. And God will help us do that if we will look past
imperfections and listen to the words and the Spirit.
