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How can I strengthen my natural speaking voice?

Changing your voice when speaking?

  • How many of you change your voice when speaking? how often do people do it? I'm 16 and my voice sounds fine to me, but when i hear it over mic or video it sounds kind of "whiney" or lazy, like im half tired and not putting much emotion into my voice. I don't intentionally do this, but I don't see many other kids (in fact any) with a peculiar or funny voice except myself. I'm relatively shy so I don't speak often, and the pitch of my voice itself is fine. I guess my question is, do most people try to make sure their voice sounds nice when they speak? Does mine sound rather lazy / odd because I don't make the effort, or do most people not bother changing their voice and I just have a peculiar one? Should I try to change it more permanently by practicing by myself? I know some people (especially girls) change their voice while speaking to people who they aren't very close to or want to impress / rub off nicely on, but then they appear silly when they talk normally to closer friends. Thanks, Kaviani. I think that is the main problem. To be honest I am not talkative at all, and outside of school I spend ALL of my time on videogames, in which I speak to people across the country over the mic. I guess you cleared that up for me. I don't talk directly at people enough at all that I muse have developed a very lazy voice. Are there any guides / sites / help you or someone can direct me to on how to work on your voice for public speaking?

  • Answer:

    Everyone sounds ridiculous to themselves when we hear our own voices. That's a natural reaction. But most people do NOT check their tone when it comes to body language, and vocal characteristics are very much part of body language. (Trained people can read your voice, too, to tell if you're lying or hiding stuff.) I think the reason for this is because culturally, we're conditioned to "be yourself" all the time, which is not smart. Thus, our voice becomes conditioned to our (usually lazy) "self" that are at home. And that can be very unfortunate in interviews, speeches, or any position of leadership. I eventually learned that I needed to mind my tone with the general public because it seemed I was being too brusque with some...even though I didn't have any harsh feelings or even think I was behaving in a pushy manner. Some of it is vocab, but there's articulation, speed, pitch, and volume to consider as well. It's not an easy task- you need to be able to be mindful of your feelings while speaking to someone and basically control them. But anyone can do it.

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Everyone sounds ridiculous to themselves when we hear our own voices. That's a natural reaction. But most people do NOT check their tone when it comes to body language, and vocal characteristics are very much part of body language. (Trained people can read your voice, too, to tell if you're lying or hiding stuff.) I think the reason for this is because culturally, we're conditioned to "be yourself" all the time, which is not smart. Thus, our voice becomes conditioned to our (usually lazy) "self" that are at home. And that can be very unfortunate in interviews, speeches, or any position of leadership. I eventually learned that I needed to mind my tone with the general public because it seemed I was being too brusque with some...even though I didn't have any harsh feelings or even think I was behaving in a pushy manner. Some of it is vocab, but there's articulation, speed, pitch, and volume to consider as well. It's not an easy task- you need to be able to be mindful of your feelings while speaking to someone and basically control them. But anyone can do it.

Kaviani999

Yeah, everyone sounds different to themselves, you should not change it or anything just because it sounds weird to you, that is expected. I have heard recordings of my voice a lot so I am used to it and it does not sound strange to me, but it used to. It sounds like you have that really annoying voice that some people develop, where they barely put any effort into speaking and their voice kind of drags and cracks. That really is annoying at least to me, it really irks me, I leave the room sometimes if I am in a computer lab (on a college campus) and I notice someone talking like that lol, it just really gets to me). But, I mean you do not have to change anything. Different people speak differently. While it is true that everyone sounds different when they hear themselves, but it is also possible you really do have an annoying voice. Just saying.

Yeah, everyone sounds different to themselves, you should not change it or anything just because it sounds weird to you, that is expected. I have heard recordings of my voice a lot so I am used to it and it does not sound strange to me, but it used to. It sounds like you have that really annoying voice that some people develop, where they barely put any effort into speaking and their voice kind of drags and cracks. That really is annoying at least to me, it really irks me, I leave the room sometimes if I am in a computer lab (on a college campus) and I notice someone talking like that lol, it just really gets to me). But, I mean you do not have to change anything. Different people speak differently. While it is true that everyone sounds different when they hear themselves, but it is also possible you really do have an annoying voice. Just saying.

Bent Snowman

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