Your Personal Development Guru's Speaking Voice

[Michelle]

I heard Tony Robbins speaking on tv this evening, and admit to being shocked at his speaking voice. This is a voice I would have extreme difficulty listening to for extended periods of time without discomfort. His vocal chords are coated in mucus and which creates a very cloudy sound. The voice sounds somehow unstable and never really at home.

Steve Pavlina's voice on the other hand is healthy and clear sounding, and while it would be more enjoyable if he worked on a more resonant rounded out sound, it is a voice which I can listen to without problem.

Are any of you this sensitive to voices while listening?

[Savage]

I think voice preferences have a lot to do with personal, regional, and cultural differences. Some people have told me they love my voice on the podcasts; others said they hate it. Those who hated it were from cultures different from the one in which I was raised.

I happen to like Tony Robbin's voice, especially his vocal variety, but he and I both grew up in Southern California, so it could be a cultural thing. I used to live about a mile from the 400-sq ft apartment he once called home -- his place wasn't pretty, but it was only a couple blocks from the beach.

Some speaker's voices seem a little odd to me, but I always get used to them eventually. One speaker that took a while to get used to was the late Earl Nightingale. He had an incredibly deep voice, but it added character to his messages.

I've been wondering about my own speaking voice and whether I should work on changing it -- I'd probably have to hire a speech coach for that, since it's too hard for me to be objective. I can do lots of variations on my voice, which I worked on when doing improv earlier this year, but mostly those were for silly characters.

[Michelle]

You are right in that the location of a speaker's voice in his head/body has a profound effect on how that voice sounds. The location of a speaker's voice in his body is a result of language, dialect, culture, hearing, education, psychological health, anatomy and breath.

From what I heard Tony Robbins does indeed have a very lively and varied way of using his voice. Still, the voice itself is less than healthy. This could be a result of overuse or other issues listed above.

I think Earl Nightingale's voice had an inflection special to his generation.

Generally, health=beauty concerning voices, and that should be the primary goal of anyone learning to speak or sing. Playing with one's voice can be really fun, but after the play it should fall back into a natural low sitting relaxed position.

Good luck to you with your vocal development, Steve :-).

[Flame]

I adore Zig Ziglar's voice. The first time I heard him on CD, I had to listen to about 10 min before I understood everything he was saying, but I really enjoy listening to him now. If you aren't familiar with his voice, he grew up in Mississippi during the Depression and has an enthusiastic, Southern drawl.

I like Steve's tone and pace on the podcasts. Earl Nightingale's deep voice and cadence make me feel like I'm listening to either an old school news broadcast or a science fiction audio book (the sounds, not the content, which is quite good).

[Reyv]

I remember the first time I listened to one of Steve's podcasts, I was shocked by how nice his voice was. I actually have a note on one of my Someday lists to work on my voice as a result. Erin's first podcast was equally surprising, I mean for lack of actual technical terms, your voices are plain beautiful, and you come across as very nice people.

[Ali]

Anybody Listens to Jim Rohn?? he has a strong voice ay? like a straight to the point type of voice.

Ali

[Patricia]

I'm very sensitive to voices. In my case, besides the "normal" perception, because I'm a synesthete, voices trigger other senses, evoking taste and smell, among other things (meaning when I hear a person's voice, what I perceive is not only the sound itself, the sound triggers other senses, so some voices actually have a smell and a taste to me, sometimes other things related to the sense of touch and sight - shapes, texture and colors).

So, to me, while some voices are wonderful to hear, other voices are almost unbearable. I love Steve's voice. (So, Steve, if you want to improve for whatever reason, go ahead, but don't change it much! ) I know I'm the "exception", but I think everyone is sensitive to voices at some degree. Perception is a complex thing. Take singers, for example. Forget technical ability, consider the voice's sound itself: there are extremely talented singers whose voice I can't stand. While they sing perfectly, the sound is unpleasant to me.

There's another interesting thing about voices: I work with people from around the world and most of the time I hear their voices but don't see their faces. When we hear a voice, we tend to create a visual picture in the mind's eye. And in my experience, most of the times this image is not even a close match to reality. And the other way around too: if you see a person's picture and try to imagine their voice, it's usually very different. And because perception is unique to each individual, 2 people looking at the same picture will imagine a different voice - or 2 people listening to the same voice will picture a different visual image.

[bodhiavttas]

I'm also sensitive to the quality of voices, esp. while listening to a podcast or something similar (ie not as sensitive when having a visual parameter to refer to).

It is true that one gets used to a voice--therefore it is not mandatory for a speaker to have a generally pleasant voice.

But first impressions sometimes count more than they should.

I agree that Steve's voice could use some improvement. I like the overall timbre, but I think some words get a bit too nasal at times. I find that true especially when he's pronouncing words like "buggy" (was just listening to the amazing podcast "Overcoming your Fears" earlier today.) Also the pacing could be slightly slower.

It might be just me, though; I generally like deeper, slower voices. And I'm not nearly as aware of these factors as I was when I first started listening to the podcasts.

I find Erin's voice absolutely beautiful, with a nice silvery ring to it. Very soothing.

Nice topic!

[Erin Pavlina]

Now I'm going to be in a constant state of blush all day. Thank you for the compliments on my voice. Makes me want to do another podcast sooner rather than later.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Michelle

Are any of you this sensitive to voices while listening?

I'm not particularly sensitive to voices themselves and the various characteristics associated with voices, although I am very sensitive to sound (when I want to be; I find good hearing requires focused attention and awareness, so it's not feasible to maintain it ALL the time). If I knew what to look for and paid more attention I'm sure I could improve in my ability to assess the "quality" of an individuals voice.

Usually if I'm listening to a recording of some sort, if I notice anything, it would be the quality of the recording and how the compression (if any is used) has effected it. You learn to accept that you are rarely going to listen to something that is truely of high quality, but you never really get used to it (low quality sound is like a sonic assault to the ears).

That said, I'm not quite sure how much the quality of a recording (or lack thereof) impacts your ability to assess the "quality" and characteristics of a voice, although I imagine a low quality recording wouldn't make it easy.

And I'll note that while the sound reproduction devices can have a noticeable effect on quality, I make an effort to use devices that give a relatively accurate portrayal of the original sound (I primarily use a pair of high end "audiophile" Sennheiser headphones, specifically, the HD580 model, although I also own a pair of HD590's -- both are very good headphones).

Originally Posted by Patricia

I'm very sensitive to voices. In my case, besides the "normal" perception, because I'm a synesthete, voices trigger other senses, evoking taste and smell, among other things (meaning when I hear a person's voice, what I perceive is not only the sound itself, the sound triggers other senses, so some voices actually have a smell and a taste to me, sometimes other things related to the sense of touch and sight - shapes, texture and colors).

That is absolutely fascinating, Patricia. Before you spoke of it, I never new such a condition existed. Listening to sound must be a very interesting experience for you, or at the very least, a very multi-layered experience.

It really does raise profound questions about the nature of perception and awareness.

Originally Posted by bodhiavttas

I agree that Steve's voice could use some improvement. I like the overall timbre, but I think some words get a bit too nasal at times. [...] Also the pacing could be slightly slower.

While I'm sure that Steve's could improve his voice (again, I'm not such a good judge of this), I happen to like the pacing of his voice in that his delivery is very fast and efficient. Of course, this comes down to personal preference. While I can appreciate the effort people put in to make their voice more sonically pleasing, so long as someone doesn't have any significant voice "quirks", I generally prefer listening to someone speak efficiently focusing on delivering what they have to say, rather then listen to them try to pace their voice perfectly (non-native English speakers probably don't like me right now ). Although I do recognise that delivery can be an key factor in communicating content, so you can't completly leave it out of the equation.

Overall, I'm disappointed that we're still hung up on 'language' and 'translating thought into words'. I thought we'd all be using telephathy by now.

On a sort-of-related side note, I found this video (which you can also watch on YouTube here) entitled The Power of Kiai pretty interesting. The video is an excerpt from the documentary, Mind, Body and Kick-Ass Moves, and it shows a Japanese martial arts master (supposedly) using the power of his "kiai" (which is basically his voice) to bring a man to his knees and ring a temple bell.

[Susie]

I think that Steve speaks slowly and clearly enough...but I agree with some others that a little voice coaching wouldn't be a waste of time...his (I feel strange speaking about Steve in the 3rd person when he probably reads this, but...looks like that's what we're using right now) voice sounds a little constricted and high-strung. I hope this doesn't come across as rude but it sounds kinda "nerdy." That said, you don't want to get a too perfect, radio announcer voice either.

Who knows, maybe next podcast we'll be wondering, "Wait a minute, when did Barry White (r.i.p.) get into personal development?"

[geekchic9]

I've only heard a little of Steve's voice from the first podcast, and it sounds all right, nothing discordant. However, it does not sound like the voice of experience. I have a similar problem: Someone once told me that before I go into management, I need to find someone who's a bit older to be my partner (I'm 25, but I look 12!) because I won't be taken seriously by people, especially those older than I am. My voice is rather pleasant, and it sounds older than I look. However, it's a fairly high-pitched, young voice, and thus, some people may not take me as seriously because of their ageist prejudices.

[tc33]

I nominate James Earl Jones to record every future Pavlina podcast.

[JohnnyJimJams]

Originally Posted by tc33

I nominate James Earl Jones to record every future Pavlina podcast.

Or Patrick Stewart

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by tc33

I nominate James Earl Jones to record every future Pavlina podcast.

Now, that's a voice. Wow.

[skydust]

i like steves voice, i think its friendly and kind of cute. when he talks it is like you are listening to a good friend speak. and i find it easy to relate to, probably because it isnt deep.

i would like to have some voice coaching done sometime. does anyone know how to go about this? would it be like singing lessons, but speaking lessons instead?

[Bisha]

I think, as some people said, it's something that's affected by culture.

I think I can take a deep voice with a British accent far more seriously than I can any other. Though I'm sure some people would take me less seriously if they heard my moderate-range British accent if they weren't British themselves.

But I also think that hearing a voice adds a lot to the words spoken - in fact it would be interesting to hear some of the poster's voices. It adds a bit more feeling to the words if you can associate a certain tonality with them.

A little bit off topic:

I'm very sensitive to voices. In my case, besides the "normal" perception, because I'm a synesthete, voices trigger other senses, evoking taste and smell, among other things (meaning when I hear a person's voice, what I perceive is not only the sound itself, the sound triggers other senses, so some voices actually have a smell and a taste to me, sometimes other things related to the sense of touch and sight - shapes, texture and colors).

Is this a hindrance or a valued added dynamic for you? Can you "feel" music?

[Erki]

What about the singing voice of Tina Thörner?