“Nothing beats the sound of the human voice.”

That line comes from Cameron Crowe’s autobiography, The Uncool, which I recently enjoyed reading. Crowe began his career as one of the youngest journalists at Rolling Stone magazine, writing cover stories on such renowned bands as The Allman Brothers and Led Zeppelin. He then went on to become a very successful screenwriter of hits including Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the writer/director of Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire, among many others.

It was his father, James, who said those words to him when speaking about a human-driven answering service he founded after serving in the military and starting his family. He believed that a live 24-hour operator meant no call would go unanswered and that “only positivity came from such a personal connection.”

But what happens if you’re scared to death of using your voice? What if your voice isn’t “pleasing”?

My entire childhood―long before the advent of our current virtual world―was spent hating to speak because I was a terrible stutterer. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to hear my stammering. Those who did often responded with painful ridicule. So I avoided raising my hand in class at all costs to ask a question or seek permission to go to the rest room. A Catholic school student, I was placed in “special” speech classes conducted by scary nuns clad in dark habits.

If I had heard James Crowe say, “Nothing beats the sound of the human voice” at that time, the frustrated little boy that I was would’ve angrily replied: “Are you kidding?!?!”

But once I found writing, I had found my “voice”. It was a very welcomed, safe way for me to express myself sans the mockery. During my early grade-school years, my mother wouldn’t allow me to play with my toys after dinner until I was able to correctly spell all of my vocabulary words. Our regular trips to the local public library introduced me to the world of books, like Curious George (one of my favorites!). My father was an avid newspaper reader, so there was always an abundance of them lying around the house. As a teenager, I was a passionate radio fan where the words of the DJs and the lyrics of songs forced me to create visual images in my head―subliminal lessons on using words to craft compelling stories and poetically express a variety of emotions.

All combined, I developed an incredible love for words. Diving deeper into the craft of writing, I learned that even writers have their own distinct “voice”. It’s not verbal (thank God!). I came to see it as a mixture of my personal writing style, tone, the words I use, the syntax, and peppered with my unique experiences. Basically, I realized it’s a portrait of me portrayed in written words alone.

Yes, I’m still terrified of public speaking. While in my 20’s, I was recruited by my local church to become a priest and enter the seminary. Was God joking? I had apocalyptic visions of standing paralyzed in the pulpit while trying to give homilies to pews filled with parishioners. The little boy in me raged once again: “Are you kidding?!?!”

Needless to say, I turned God down. But over time, my speaking skills improved by taking acting classes, speaking slower, and giving marketing presentations during my years working in Corporate America.

Today, I still prefer writing over speaking even though James Crowe was right: Nothing beats the sound of the human voice.

But the writer’s voice is a close second.