The Quality of Your Voice Matters

How to use it to your advantage

9 min read

Did you know that Margaret Thatcher worked with a voice coach early in her career to lower her voice pitch?

Truth.

She knew something critical in 1975 that science is just beginning to catch up with: Voice matters.

Recent science demonstrates that people judge several personal characteristics based on hearing a person’s voice, including their:

Competence
Charisma
Intelligence
Power

Pretty important qualities if you are competing for the top job of running a country.

What does my voice say besides words?

So, what does this mean for the rest of us who are not running for the position of Top Dog?

Well, science also tells us that qualities of voice signal a lot of other important things about us to the world, including:

Specific emotions of fear, happiness, boredom, anger, and sadness, regardless of language barrier
Our true inner feelings that people believe over what we say
Features of personality, including benevolence, anxiety, competence, pleasantness, and honesty
Our perceived level of attractiveness
Attitude
Level of authority, including power, dominance, physical strength and aggressiveness
Our interest level during a date or interview

Vocal attributes of emotions are so accurate that new research is evolving in speech emotion recognition (SER), which uses AI to perform assessments of mental health.

Therefore, whether we want to attract a date, portray competence in the workplace, or come across as friendly to a new group, we can take a page from Europe’s first female Prime Minister’s book and consider not only what words come out of our mouths, but how we say them.

Vocal science

The science behind voice is fascinating.

Research shows that for both men and women, when it comes to appearing dominant or powerful, a low pitch rules the day (think Sean Connery, Geena Davis).

However, when a female wants to come across as friendly or attractive to a male, a higher pitch wins out.

When you start to look closely, each element can vary based on context.

So, what is the bottom line?

Turns out it depends on your objective.

Qualities of voice

The National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS) describes 25 different qualities of voice and acknowledges that vocologists (those who study voice) agree that there is no consensus on this list.

For our purposes, we will look at eight more commonly understood qualities, with two grouped for a total of five distinct categories, and the key research related to each group:

Pitch/tone:

Not only does pitch affect how likely a speaker is to persuade others, but also how likely the speaker is to persuade themselves.

This means how you speak affects how you feel — and that you can change how you feel based on how you speak!

Low pitch:

The research on “pitch bias” is very clear that a low pitch is favourable if a speaker wants to convey attributes such as confidence, dominance, leadership, intelligence, charisma, and power (true for men and women)
Speaking in a lower pitch makes people feel more powerful and increases their ability to think abstractly
A “falling intonation,” or a low pitch at the end of a sentence, is a signal of confidence and certainty when answering a question

High pitch:

A high pitch can signal loss of control and trigger the fight or flight response in listeners
It also signals low confidence when a “rising intonation,” or rising pitch, is used to answer a question

A higher pitch is advantageous in certain circumstances, such as when characteristics of femininity are seen as important. For example:

Men rate a higher pitch in potential female mates as more attractive than a lower pitch
In a group setting, women will respond more favourably to a higher pitch from another woman than a lower pitch
Speaking in an “ascending melody,” where pitch rises in steps towards the end of a sentence, such as, “I feel happy,” conveys feelings of happiness(conversely, speaking in a descending melody conveys sadness)

Modulation:

When it comes to modulation, more is better. Many studies demonstrate that a monotone voice will lose the listener’s attention, such as in the case of teachers as well as politicians, and that this can have a more significant impact for women.

One study in particular that analyzed the speeches of former President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney found that Obama used modulation much more than Romney in speeches leading up to his successful vote.

Low modulation can have advantages in the case of lowering stimulation, such as soothing a child or gearing up for sleep.

Rate/speed:

Overall, a faster rate of speech signifies higher levels of confidence. However, speaking too fast can also distract from the content.

Research shows that if a speaker does not know a lot about a topic, or does not have an overly convincing argument, a faster rate of speech is more favourable.

However, if a speaker has a clear and well-reasoned argument, a slower rate with more strategic pauses is more effective.

Volume:

Besides making sure everyone can hear you, volume comes into play with voice modulation to make speakers more interesting. That is, when a speaker varies their volume for effect along with pitch, they are perceived more positively than if they keep a uniform volume.

Also, a consideration of context — if you are trying to soothe a baby with quiet, low tones vs engage a group of students with high volume and enthusiasm.

Clarity of speech/pronunciation:

Clarity of speech and pronunciation are included because they can indicate the intelligence and competence of the speaker. Additionally, depending on cultural dialect, pronunciation can also indicate social status.

As every situation and intended outcome is different, this is a category to be mindful of and where working with a voice coach as well as strategic practice comes into play.

Overall, a man or woman speaking with an overall low pitch, strategic modulation of volume and tone, as well as a clear, well-articulated and slow rate of speech, is the best way to come across as confident, intelligent, and in control of a situation.

What to do about it

The NCVS defines an individual’s unique vocal quality as: vocal tract configuration + laryngeal anatomy + learned component.

This is interesting because, while a lot of these elements are genetic, with training we can control and therefore change elements of each of these components.

Controllable elements of vocal quality:

Laryngeal anatomy:

Muscle strength
Tissue hydration

Vocal tract:

Air pressure
Lip rounding

Learned:

Rhythm and rate of speech
Pronunciation

How to change your voice

In my online course, Flip the Fear of Public Speaking, I review the main concepts of voice and how to experiment with range to bring more strategic energy and enthusiasm to your presentation.

Before doing this, or doing any kind of public speaking, warming up your voice properly is essential.

This will both protect your vocal cords and prevent injury from strain as well as help to broaden your vocal comfort zone, bringing more range and opportunity to this element of your speech.

Prepare and warm up your voice:

Before trying to lower or raise your pitch, focus on a few warm up exercises, which are important for any pitch:

Ensure you are adequately hydrated
Practice diaphragmatic breathing by filling your belly and then your lungs, followed by fully emptying them and keeping the abdominal muscles relaxed
Practice humming in your normal range
Practice dropping your jaw and opening your mouth wider (unclench teeth)

Pitch/tone

Pitch is modulated by changes in vocal cord tone. Research shows that vocal training can lead to changes in pitch range. A higher tension in the vocal cords means a higher pitch and vice versa.

To achieve a lower pitch, focus on reducing tension in the vocal cords by:

Breathing deeply into the diaphragm and producing sound from “low” in the vocal tract. This feeling comes from the chest rather than from the throat.
Focus on lower pitch sounds such as saying “ahhhhh” and dropping the jaw and opening the mouth wide, while keeping the jaw relaxed
Focus on keeping the throat and neck muscles as relaxed as possible (tension will cause pitch to rise)

Conversely, to achieve a higher pitch, which is helpful for modulation, showing enthusiasm, or drawing attention to certain elements in a speech:

Produce sound from higher up in the vocal tract and less from the chest/throat
Practice humming “mm — hm” by starting “mm” in your normal range, then going up to “hm” in a higher range

Modulation

As voice coach, Roger Love states, people will remember how you make them feel, and you make them feel happy with melody. Similar to a song, melody involves using all of the notes in your vocal range rather than staying on any one note for too long.

Experiment with modulation by intentionally practicing speaking through your full vocal range
I like to practice this by singing the alphabet and both ascending and descending the notes to the maximum of my range
The more you “push the comfort zone” when practicing, the easier it will be to bring melody and modulation into your speaking

Rate/speed

Rate and speed are excellent for bringing drama and intrigue into voice.

Play around with this concept experimenting with speeding up, perhaps building up to a crescendo of pitch and volume for drama or to highlight a point
Contrast is effective in creating drama and intrigue — in particular, following faster rate and speed with strategic pausing and lowered volume can be effective

Volume

Similar to rate/speed, it is helpful to experiment with volume for strategic impact in your speaking.

Critically, it is important to ensure everyone can hear you — ensure to test this in any venue you will be speaking at
Practice matching volume with changes in rate/speed for effect, or used independently to draw attention to key information and build suspense
Don’t forget that silence is a key part of speaking with volume and is a highly effective way to draw attention — either before or after (or both) — a critical point, or to build suspense and intrigue

Clarity/pronunciation

For clear pronunciation, it is helpful to study speech examples and then practice them out loud or by recording yourself.

Find someone who speaks with the pronunciation you desire and study how they speak
Practice, practice, practice, ensuring you are breathing properly and using your full mouth (open wide, drop jaw, and release tension)

The sky is the limit for creativity when it comes to vocal variety. The more variety you can bring into speech — in particular to strategically emphasize critical points, build in drama and enthusiasm, and add melody that triggers feelings of happiness and enjoyment in the audience, the better.

So, just like Margaret Thatcher, who recognized that her particular quality of voice was not likely to sway voters, we can adapt the quality of our voice strategically based on our chosen objective or elements of a speech.

The bottom line:

Voice is a key part of who we are and how others perceive us. Because it has so much influence on how we interact and form connections in the world, it is important to consider what it is and which elements of it are within our control.

Regardless if we speak in public for a living or want to run for office, factors such as trustworthiness, attractiveness, and charisma are likely important in our lives.

Armed with an understanding of the qualities of voice and how we can use each of these to advantage based upon our objectives can be helpful in many facets of life, not limited to dating, interviewing for a job, engaging students in a classroom, making friends, and soothing a child or friend.

More than this we know that how we speak not only influences how others perceive us, but how we perceive ourselves. We can use this to instil confidence in ourselves and use this purposefully in context such as when preparing for a job interview.

The bottom line is that information, self-awareness, strategic training, and relentless practice are key to shaping our influence and coming across as our best selves.