What words best describe your speaking voice?
When you hear your voice on a recording, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Would you say your voice is weak, weak or too soft? It may be guttural, harsh, or hoarse. Do you find it higher in pitch than you thought? Maybe it sounds too young. You may find it breathy or whispery or the exact opposite: shrill and shrill. Does it sound nasal and whiny like Fran Drescher’s? Maybe it’s fluted, heavy, boring, or loud.
There are several words that can describe the voice. You may feel that various terms are adequate descriptions. The question is what can you do about it. You’re not stuck with the voice you hear on your answering machine because you actually have a better one inside of you. I am not speaking figuratively. I am speaking literally.
When I was studying music composition in grad school, one of my professors told me that my speaking voice was too high pitched (pitch refers to the pitch or gravity of the sound) and that my actual voice was pitched lower. deep. I had no idea what he was talking about, but when I heard my voice lower and richer, I knew I wanted to keep that sound. So, I practiced using my ‘real’ voice as much as I could and it soon became a habit.
What did I do differently to produce that better voice? I used my chest cavity as my main sounding board when I spoke. He certainly hadn’t been talking that way before that particular class. My usual voice was not only higher pitched, but lacked resonance and was thin and youthful sounding. By changing the way I placed my sound, my voice suddenly sounded mature. And then he got me the jobs I was looking for in New York City.
Regardless of what terms you’ve used to describe your voice, the good news is that by changing the location of your voice, all of the features mentioned in the first paragraph will disappear. No, you don’t need a different exercise for each of those problems. Use your chest cavity and those problems will be solved. It’s really impressive to see how this works.
Since the majority of the population produces the sound of their voice primarily through their throat and voice box, then it’s probably safe to assume that they’re currently feeding their voice in the same way. This results in a sound that is higher in pitch and lacks resonance. However, add your chest cavity to the picture and you’ll be amazed at the results.