Finding Your Voice: Andrew Zimmern

One of the many things that make us each unique is our voice. I’m not talking about about how our voice sounds, but the concept of “voice” that is often associated with writing. Perhaps you once had a teacher tell you that while your writing was ok, it lacked your voice.  By this she meant your style of speech, your sensibility, that special je ne sais quoi that makes you, you.

[featured-image single_newwindow=”false”]Photo courtesy of Jennifer Yin.[/featured-image]

Many of us, at different times, feel like we lack our voice in some situation. But there are few things as important, or as difficult, as finding and maintaining our unique voice in life. Sometimes a chance to establish that voice can happen in a single instant, and the decision we make in that instant will make all the difference. This is about one such moment for one person: Andrew Zimmern.

Although Andrew is currently building his platform through a number of efforts, he became a household name as the star of The Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern”, a show where he generally is found somewhere in the world sampling some of the more exotic local cuisine. If you name it, Andrew has probably eaten it on his show.

After I became aware of the show I thought that its title, with it’s emphasis on Andrew eating bugs and various objectionable cuisine, didn’t do it justice. I quickly realized that while the show’s title might be designed to ensnare viewers with a promise of transient shock value, Andrew was creating something more lasting and real.  In fact, Andrew is a respectful travel reporter who simply uses food to introduce us to the magic of a local culture.

Which brings me to this podcast, which should exist in some mythical Podcast Hall Of Fame. It’s actually Alton Brown’s podcast (another busy TV Chef guy), where he and Andrew talk about some truly fascinating aspects of Andrew’s career, life, and what makes him tick. But in a podcast with an endless stream of nuggets for those who are seeking to make a difference in the world, there was the one brief exchange where Andrew recounted a moment when, I think, he took a huge step in finding his voice. Finding his voice at that instant, in turn, helped make his show something bigger than the title, ultimately led to the show’s success, and enabled Andrew to create platform today to speak on issues that are important to him.

Andrew describes a moment when they were shooting scene one, on day one, of their first pilot in a restaurant that served exotic foods. A young Japanese chef who couldn’t speak English but was “dedicated to his craft” presented Andrew with a skinned frog with a still-beating heart – a perfect moment for Andrew to follow the producer’s direction to use moments like this to make a joke (which, invariably, would be at the young chef’s expense).

Here’s how Andrew describes it:

“I remember the camera, it was like slow motion to me, it turned around to me and I had a decision to make that that very instant. I could make the Faustian deal which would be to make fun of the young guy who didn’t speak any English – and it’s really easy to do that. You see a lot of those shows, you know, its someone who’s setting someone else up to be the punch line, and I purposely said ‘I can’t do that, that’s not me’. I didn’t want to get trapped in a show that was successful where I had to act, or be someone other than myself..”

There is much to love about this podcast, so I encourage you to listen to the whole thing. But this short little aside can be instructive for all of us.

In some ways, it’s scary to know that major voice-finding moments can sneak up on us without warning, and our ability to make the right decision in a split second can have such long-term consequences, but such is life.

To find your voice is an important part of living an authentic life. I wish you every success in using yours.