Conference Voice

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.