Following on from the recent spate of blogs about the importance of names and handwriting as a part of identity, I got to thinking about voices. Today, results of some research have told us that women's voices are more sexy when they are ovulating, and also, that men find higher-pitched voices more attractive.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/womens-voices-sound-sexier-during-ovulation-818760.html
Does anyone actually like their own voice? On the whole, I don't think about it; but when I hear a recording of myself speaking, quite often I simply don't recognise myself, and aside from that, I think I sound terrible! The only things people have told me about my voice is that it's quite low-pitched, with a posh accent, and that on my mobile phone answerphone, I sound very sweet and innocent; which is presumably because I recorded it when I was about 12. Oh, and the first time I spoke on the phone to someone who went on to become a good friend, he asked me if I had a cold. I didn't.
I do, however, change my voice according to the company I am in. My best friend was surprised to hear me speaking in a much posher accent than normal when I met her dad (who I was scared of meeting!), and I speak like this around my dad's side of the family too. Around builders, electricians, plumbers etc...I take a lot of the 'posh' edge off of my accent, which is a bit shameful really! My dad does it too, which is utterly hilarious since he's the sort of person who pronounces "shower", "fire", and "flower" as "shah", "fah", and "flahh" respectively.
Your voice is a large part of your identity, I feel. It's this that enables someone to say "it's me" on the phone and for the other person to recognise them. But I'd never really thought about the attractiveness of someone's voice, except that some voices are bloody annoying. The speaking clock ones are nice, but then, they spend a lot of time finding the right person for that job! So, does how you speak affect how people think of you? What is in a voice?
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I've heard my voice recorded a few times and it's so sharp and grating, I think! Also I shout...
Once my sister and I recorded ourselves saying the same sentence, each. Playing it back the only way we could tell who was who was by the order in which we had recorded ourselves. We're vocally nearly indistinguishable.
I can't fake accents, at least, not deliberately, but I seem more susceptable than most to that whole change-in-accent-depending-on-surroundings thing. I know I'm far less posh at my new college than around my back-home friends, say, and yet I can't imitate my posh accent for the benefit of my college friends, nor can I do the college-voice to amuse my old friends. I sound posher than most people I know anyway. And I acquire this weird northern/irish tinge to my accent on going up north -- talking like my granda and the rest of the Mohan side, even though it's not necessarily them I'm visiting...!
Meeting people I wish to impress, like peoples' parents, I speak more softly and the posh accent gets even more marked.
And once in Nero's the man serving me ended up crying with laughter over the way Sam and I talk!
Another visitor from Callan :-)
My voice also changes with company, although my accent's a complete mix-up of regions and occasionally dialects anyway.
Meeting new people it gets quieter. Talking to strangers I find myself emulating the way they pronounce words, something which I noticed in the Indian-run newsagents that I was in earlier (although that was an Indian accent with a Geordie twang, not a twang like at home in Birmingham). Talking to southerners I tend to get more Brummie but talking to northerners I then get more northern. I'm at my poshest, probably, when at home and completely relaxed, although how 'posh' I sound even then probably depends on your starting point!
I spoke to Callan online before I met him, and one of the things that startled me most was his voice. Voices are very personal things!
Welcome Lucy :)
I'm glad it's not just me whose voice changes depending on the company/situation.
And I met Callan through t'internet too, though I don't remember being overly surprised by his voice...I was surprised by his appearance though I don't know what I expected! How did you expect him to sound, out of interest?
hehe yeah voices are very personal, take it from me. i cant remember much of what i see (its to do with having bad eyesight from birth so relying on my hearing. so i remember what people sound like. and everyone is unique.
as for changing how you talk depending upon company, oh yeah im guilty of that. but my accent also changes randomly. if i am tired, then i can sount anything from irish, scottish, northeren... anything really i cant do it on purpose but i have been asked before if im irish, i didnt even realise that i was doint it at the time!!
On the phone people ask me if I'm my brother...that's not good either way as I sound like a guy or he sounds like a girl.
I've been told I have a pretty posh accent but that an occasional twang of farmerland gets through on certain words - I'm not an utter yokle but close ;o)
I pick up other people's accents very easily, it's just embarrassing most of the time, you can see them start to twig what I'm doing and yet I can't seem to stop.
I love accents, I'm pretty sure I've professed my love for them at least once every month - really can't get enough of the Irish accent. From the age of 10 I told my mum I was going to marry and Irish man, hah!
I still think I sound accentless, but then, is that possible?
I thought I left a comment...?
I'm a sucker for a sexy accent,
voice is a major part of attraction, definitely.
As it is for most people, I sound different in different company. I never considered myself to have a distinguished accent, but guesses on my whereaboutility have varied considerably! Everyone has an accent of sorts, I didn't realise I had raised intonation until someone said it was a habit she'd picked up from me.
Boys sound weird on the phone. Even after several conversations with someone, I am still slightly startled at how their phonevoice differs from normalvoice.
Ha, I am amused by how it seems that Callan just picks up women from the internet. Of course, I met Callan through...
To be fair, I lived about 6 miles from Claire and we went to the same college. And had mutual friends. I'm not quite the internet harlot I'm made out to be!
I too am prone to modifying my accent to the accent I am surrounded with. I have a rather posh accent, but I don't hear it - neither can I hear my mothers rather strong Dutch accent. I sound a lot like my dad on the phone, apparently, to the point that I've had SHOs start rattling off case histories to me when my dad is on call.
Flix, you've never met me =P You have, however, determined simply by my gender that my phonevoice is quite different from my real voice - less toneful and deeper on the phone, I think...not sure if I can remember what people have told me about it. Jenny, Claire, you both have heard me on the phone and in real life - answer that for me =)
Wonder if I can post a recording of my voice up somewhere. Think I've got the means to, but will look into it.
Callan, we weren't at the same college when we first met! And we had one mutual friend. Stop pretending to not be the internet harlot that you blatantly are!
You sound like your dad full stop, and even more so on the phone. I tend to play it safe with phone calls by asking "Is [name] there?" even when I think it's them; I once thought my friend's brother was her...oops! As for your phone voice in general...I'm not sure. I've known you too long to judge now, I think! To me, you sound the same both in real life and on the phone, and I'd recognise your voice anywhere.
Hannah: I'm a sucker for an Irish accent, too. *Melt*
Sorry, I get overly excited about hearing people's voices. It's more real than handwriting :oP
Yeah, boys voices generally sound deeper on the phone, it's weird. I dislike talking on the phone though. Surprise surprise, I conduct most communication through text ;o)
...and I thought I could do hyperlinks :o(
I see what you were aiming to do there...
Sadly, I have a distinct lack of microphone.
Callan, you sound deeper and growlier on the phone, from what I remember. Slightly curt...but then, I don't like phonecalls and don't use the phone often, so I'm no judge. Callan related phone-calls have included a handful about meeting up for badminton, and one which was mainly about how disgracefully drunk I had been the night before, and was I still coming to badminton despite the hangover so he could laugh at/harangue me some more...!
So that might explain the 'curt' thing.
Another guy friend rang me the other day with directions to his houseparty, and he sounded older BUT his voice sounded higher, and he sounded posher and less american. He's actually not american at all, just...sounds it due to wherever it was he used to live.
One day one of my comments will actually be longer than the original post...!
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