Tuesday, April 26, 2011

How your voice really sounds

















When we first start watching videos of ourselves rehearsing or speaking, we are likely to be very disappointed by how we sound. For example, Lily Iatridis said:

“For my first few years in teaching, I couldn’t stand to watch recordings of myself.  I always felt my speaking voice was far too high-pitched, and I thought I sounded like a child.”

Why does the voice sound so different? What we hear in our heads is partly via bone conduction, while other people hear us only through the air.

If it really bothers you, then you can get a speech therapist or a voice coach to help you change. However, it probably shouldn’t be at the top of your list of public speaking things to work on.

The graphic shown above was inspired by a Doghouse Diaries cartoon from April 11th.

UPDATE

On April 27th Denise Graveline blogged about how last week’s Diane Rehm Show on NPR radio was all about Improving the Sound of Your Voice.

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