I was just wondering if you guys had any idea about what causes a persons to speak lower than other people. I'm not talking about the person that is shy, and doesn't speak up. I'm talking about the person that actually tries to speak loud ,but still struggles to make himself/herself heard in a situation where there's enough noise for people to need to speak loudly. For instance, it could be in a classroom setting, at a party, at a nightclub, and so on.

Do some people just naturally speak with better technique than some other people? In a room full of people you might find that person that talks so loud you could hear him from another room. At the same time you could find that guy that people are always asking him to repeat himself, because he speaks so low, and in order to be heard, he has to force himself so much that he gets a sore throat or his voice is barely loud enough and it can't become any louder.

Or do most people speak more or less with adequate technique, but some have stronger voices by default while others don't. And both of them can improve their technique and therefore the power of and their voices in general?

I know breathing is supposed to play a crucial role in singing and speaking, but I'm not sure how big of an impact it has on the volume potential of the voice.

I've read and been told that by using proper placement one can achieve a mower powerful voice. But what about that really loud nasal-sounding guy that you can find at that restaurant, screaming and yelling and making himself heard with what seems to be no problem at all? Could it be that it just comes down mostly to breath management?

I myself have always struggled with a low, weak voice. Sometimes I find that if I consciously try to make my voice louder by altering the way I speak and maybe focusing on my breathing, I'll be able to make my voice louder. But I soon go back to my low, weak voice.

I would like to read your thoughts on this matter. What you think the reason for this might be, and how it can be corrected.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Alex,

A lot of people have poor speaking habits. Men, especially those who want to put forth this Dominant" persona, sometimes try to speak lower in pitch than they should, and they will also end up speaking with under-energized vocal cords, and poor placement so they create this low volume, raspy, radio-friendly voice. One of my friends did it for years as a Telemarketer, and he has supposedly made a lot of money via phone sales due to the sound of his voice. The only problem is, after doing this for 20+ years he can barely speak.

Hum an Mmmm sound. Don't think about pitch, just hum it. Is it in the range where you normally speak, or is it higher in pitch?
I don't know if this is true or not, Jaime or Oiselle will have to correct me if this is wrong. I had a voice instructor tell me that our first nature when humming an Mmmm sound is to create the sound in the range where our voices will fall naturally, not necessarily where we "do" talk, but where we should.

There are a lot of things that go into bad speaking habits - placement, breath management & support are a few of them. My mom is in her mid -late 60's, and these days she barely speaks above a whisper with an under-energized voice, and too much air-pressure...and it is like she forces air out just to make a sound. I'm not sure what brought this on, I believe she may have sleep apnea, and this is a potential side-effect from it. She has told me to "mind my own business" and I simply replied,"then don't get mad at me when I can't hear you speaking, or understand you mumbling."


Speaking and singing really should be no different, except with singing you should sing with an open throat, while that is not necessary just for speaking,


Jaime has some video interviews with Dr. Morton Cooper and I would suggest that you watch them.


Tim

Thank you for the thorough response.

If I may ask, what is it about breath management that plays into your ability to speak powerfully? What do people with a weak voice do exactly, in regards to their breath management, that they speak so weak?

And do you think that people who have powerful speaking voices, simply have better technique regardless of if they worked on it or not?

I have two friends who are public speakers and both of them have had lots of voice training.

Probably many of them stumble into it, but you get guys like Richard Burton, Richard Harris who are trained in Shakespearean acting, and they have this great resonance to their voices, and they speak with a Low but commanding voice, and I think it is a combination of their culture - where they grew up imitating a sound that is used in their region - and technique they are taught. After all, as a dramatic actor in a live setting, they are taught the same projection techniques that are used in classical vocal training - they learn placement, but rather than singing into the mask, they are speaking into it - either way, they have two "horns" (think of a horn lens on a PA speaker, or the end of a trumpet) for projection in their nasal cavities and mouth; learning to use those correctly via placement will increase your volume without having to overuse air.

Learning to control your breath, learning how to use exactly how much you need, and not using any more than that is half the battle in singing. It was the component that I was always looking for.

I was a drummer in a metal band, and my lead singer died, and the other band members pushed me to sing because Glen and I had worked together for years, but I would slack off and just push air sometimes because I wasn't serious about it, and I kept blowing my voice out. Our lead singer had been my best friend for 16 years and he had lived in Italy for years (his dad was in the Navy) and while he lived there he studied voice with a guy who taught "old school" Bel Canto - which included using what Jaime calls "The Power Push".
Glen would always say,"You push down like you're taking a crap."
I thought he was joking until I finally tried it, and that was when I learned that the power in the voice doesn't (or shouldn't ) come from air, but from the electrical energy that is created. Air is the fuel, and the pressing down is the spark. You need the right combination to get the maximum volume without damaging yourself.

And let's not forget resonance - that is free volume and tone! It is simply just a matter of learning how to "get out of the way" and let the resonance happen - you can't "make it happen", it is wanting to do it on it's own, you have to learn how to remove the ego - you - so that the body can ring.
Once you do that, you can mix all three together and you'll have that large robust voice you're looking for.


And I personally would say most of those people with those types of voices consciously think about and work on their speaking voice. I find myself doing it sometimes.... it depends upon the situation.



Tim

Thanks for the answer

My mom has a super loud voice and can't help but speak loudly all the time. When she tries speaking softer, it sounds really weak. When I would tell her not to
speak so loud, she'd tell me she couldn't help it. That that's how her voice is.
I really envied her, given that I struggled to make myself heard even at a supermarket or something.

Today I noticed a couple of things. When I tried to speak louder and my neck tensed up, I couldn't do it. If I tried doing it without my neck tensing up, then I could. I noticed that when I was doing it I was pressing down. I then tried doing it just pressing down, and noticed that you can press down as hard as you can and still speak softly. If I inhaled and press down I could do eheir do it without the volume changing, or with the volume increasing. When I did the latter I just focused on not tensing the neck. I even tried it with various kinds of voices, from super nasal to not nasal at all. So it got me thinking, what is it that creates the volume? Because I don't think it's only pressing down.

Approach speaking the same way you would singing. Take the time to breathe and support your voice. Slow down your speech and enunciate to shape your resonance chamber and propel your voice. If you'd like more input on finding your natural dynamic voice, please visit my website and check my new book (published by Jaime Vendera) here:

http://www.voiceyourselfintheclassroom.com

It's addressed to teachers but anyone can benefit from it.

Thank you, Valerie. I purchased the e-book, hopefully it will help me understand my voice better and improve it!

Awesome! Thanks and good luck :)