When did talking become a modern inconvenience?
I’m a self-checkout queen.
My scanning speed, packing precision, and mild control complex mean I simply can’t trust a professional to do it for me.
“But isn’t it nice to chat to a person?” Mum is a manned-checkout kind of woman.
“No,” I say. “I like not having to interact with another human.” (Says all of us, at some point.)
From pizza to payment to parting - all sans speaking.
And the grocery store isn’t the only place where technology has muted our voice.
I hear stories of colleagues emailing the person sitting right next to them with a question that could have easily been spoken.
Restaurants now offer QR-code ordering and robot table delivery. Waiter-free service.
And telephobia is a real thing - the significant anxiety young people feel about making or receiving phone calls.
In fact, a 2023 survey of more than 1,000 Gen Z Australians found that more than half dread making or accepting a phone call.
There’s no question: in a world where we’re head-down and thumbs-up, technology is quietly bypassing the need for human interaction.
And it’s impacting the most human technology of all - our voice.
Incidental speaking. The everyday conversations with strangers as you move through your day.
These moments don’t just exercise your speaking muscle, they create micro-connections we inconveniently crave.
As I left my self-checkout domain the other day, I smiled and offered a big “Hello, thank you, and see you next time” to the young woman who drew the short straw monitoring for steak thieves.
The way her face lit up - the visceral reaction in her body - told me everything.
Thousands of people walk past her every day as if she’s not even there.
A sad sign of disconnection.
So in this first edition of my substack, The VOICEPRINT VANTAGE, I invite you to consider where you might gain an advantage - for yourself and the collective - simply by talking.
As we move through the world leaving digital footprints, let’s make sure we leave a human voiceprint along the way too.
