Voice Training

IPlease keep in mind these are my methods and thoughts, based on my own trial and error methods, and following in the footsteps of those who taught me with minor modifications for my own style. I comment on cyber aspects as well as real life aspects since I've received questions about both.

First, voice training means that the slave knows how to verbally respond. This means they can be left ungagged, and trusted not to make a fool of themselves, or you, in public. Antoniou writes in her fiction that slaves who are sold in the Marketplace and have not been voice trained have gags to indicate they have not been voice trained.

A slave who is by nature quiet, may find #1 the easiest. A slave who is very chatty may best be trained by leaving the silence part to the end, and instead of re-granting we will simply make them more thoughtful about speech before the silence phase. I note that both in cyber, and in real life, I never cut the slave off from their network and community. Isolation is a standard sign of emotional abuse. If a slave is silence training, then they may at least have contact with their peers. Everyone needs emotional support. To deny that is simply cruel, and serves no purpose. In addition, a large portion of a slave's training takes place as they interact with their peers. Those more experienced pat their shoulder and say "It will make sense soon." Those less experienced gawk with mouths open. Those going through the same thing commiserate and wail about how horrible the trainer is. This is all natural. This is all an important process. We cannot go from point A to point Z without the process in the middle. Remember...the slave is incorporating lessons and new mindsets even MORE when they are not with you. How do others react? How does that make the slave feel? How will you manage the slave's conflicting emotions about those reactions? And much more, of course, but let's move on to the specific outline on voice training.

1. Take away speech. This causes the slave to be more aware of how they use speech. Without it, they learn to express themselves better with their body and their eyes. We're looking to enforce this with a slave in public, at events, and sometimes in the household. In cyber, I enforce this in typing to the main group. Makes the slave think creatively. Duration in cyber for me at this phase is anywhere from 24 hours to a week. In real life? Well that's real life and has many more variables and much more depth. You be the judge.

2. Re-grant speech. If you've taken it away, re-granting it will hopefully cause them to carefully consider their words. Make the slave more thoughtful about speech can be done in any order of course. A favorite of mine is to forbid the slave from using a common word. Such as, "hello" when answering the phone. "Good" is another one. Slaves have patterns they use. Slave training is intended to make them think outside of their comfortable "boxes." If the slave relies heavily upon certain words, even if they are describing their actions (in cyber), forbid them at this stage. Naturally, one doesn't describe their emotions in real life, but annoying phrases such as the inappropriate and frequent use of the word "like" is eliminated at this stage in real life training. "Like, you know" is cause for a beating in my household at this phase. Change the word daily. Hard? Of course. Isn't that the point? The variations here are endless, and this phase lasts approximately a week for me in cyber, with changes daily. It lasts longer for me in real life. As always, real life is much more complex and deeper. But that is not a topic I'm tackling here.

In cyber, an aspect of High Protocol is the capitalization of the FP's pronouns. If this is not something the slave normally does, then assign it for a day or so in cyber. For myself, the capitalization of pronouns is a very minor thing. I accept that I am in the minority on this, and that's fine with me. In real life, an equivalent training method is to deny pronouns at all. "The Master" being substituted for "he" and so forth. Awkward? Yes. That's the point. To break the speech cycles and make slaves think. Conversely, if the slave does cap FP's pronouns, be devious. Order them not to for 48 hours. Remember, we're encouraging them to think outside the box. It's good for them. The process of their squirming and the internal struggle will be beautiful in and of itself!

Naturally, your formula for this may not be the same as what I've outlined. Give it some thought! Apply this to as many difficult situations you can imagine your slave in. I'm sure your formulas will look different than mine. What's important is that as the trainer, you think it through. We are not looking to deny the slaves creativity. We encourage creativity. But in a difficult spot, some formulas are called for.

And as a little tacked on tidbit, I also include some begging with this phase. Begging is an art. Begging is NOT "please please please please please." That's called unimaginative and whiney. To beg is to "beseesch, entreat, implore, importune, to plead," according to the dictionary. That is FAR more than "please please please." Effective begging skills are critical for a slave, in my opinion. I touch on it here with verbal training briefly, but I have a whole begging training that I put slaves through. That will have to be for another time.

In summary, voice training is, most importantly, getting the slave to think outside "the box." As is all training. Expanding their understanding about their own weaknesses, and building upon their own strengths. It is a polishing procedure that can be vulnerable, but improves them. It does NOT make them feel worse about themselves. It makes them more confident and makes them feel better in the long run. This is but the briefest of outlines on voice training. An entire book could be written on all the techniques, examples, assignments, and recommendations. But in our limited time and space, I hope you have found it helpful.