The Voice and The Accent

My Voice and Accent

I have a few videos up on YouTube and this is where people can hear me talk. I seriously don’t think my voice is special, in fact, I think I sound uncultured and fairly inept, however when people across the pond hear it some people think I sound a little more than acceptable.

We never like the sound of our own voice, and when we first hear ourselves recorded we are sometimes shocked because we sound so much different to what we think we sound like. We then get into criticising our sound and thinking we sound rubbish, we that is me.

I first heard myself recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder in the sixties and refused to believe that the sound coming out was me.

That didn’t stop me from picking up a guitar in the seventies and thinking I could sing, though singing is a lot different than talking.

A Break

This is my flimsiest ever concept for a Vocal story ever, the sound of my own voice as perceived by others.

Continuing on about The Sound of My Voice

So yes I can sing in tune, though not as Leonard Cohen jokingly described himself in “Tower of Song” as “The Man With The Golden Voice”, but I can keep time and sing almost in tune, so my voice is ok with backing music.

Over the years I have learned to talk publicly and people do sometimes complain about how long I go on for. An ex boss used to put me on a timer when I gave work presentations so I had to be careful about what was said.

Some people complain that they can’t get into the conversation but don’t want me to stop because they like the sound of my voice. The thing is I also love the sound of their voice probably more than they like mine, but once I start talking sometimes I find it so difficult to stop unless they hit me with a stick.

I love a lot of Canadian and American accents in the same way that Americans and Canadians love mine, which they hear as English and attractive. They can see me on the videos so they haven’t even been put off by my incredibly ugly mug, which I think would be a definite showstopper.

An Observational Break

We are now in the digital age so read a message or a poem into your recording device. Listen to it. What do you think? Do you want to do it again? Do you want to share it with a friend? What will they think about it?

Back On Track With My Voice

I am ok with my voice now, direct or recorded. I can confidently leave a voicemail knowing the recipient should be able to understand what I have enunciated.

When we speak in a conversation or on the phone we don’t have to consider what we sound like, we just have to ensure that the person we are speaking with understands us. Most people will be fine and will be able to understand you but if you could hear yourself you may worry about the sounds that you are producing.

Concluding The Sound of My Own Voice.

I may be having a chat with someone on WhatsApp of Facebook Messenger and my inherent laziness causes me to hit the record button and send people a short voice message, knowing that they will be fine with it and maybe even listen to it more than once, or maybe that is just me flattering my ego with self-confidence.

Let me know what you think.