0958 – The ‘Quiet’ Voice

Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2023.08.16 – 0958 – The ‘Quiet’ Voice

Quiet voice

Symptom: I once worked with two people in the same office who spoke very quietly. Neither of them seemed concerned or embarrassed when their colleagues continually said “sorry?” or “pardon?”, or when it was easier, simply nodded along unable to hear them. Talking quietly is usually the result of little vocal energy or breath support. In a studio you can electronically boost the levels of the sound being recorded, but as we saw before, this can also mean that other sounds are louder too: your breaths, the slight clicking as you open your mouth, the studio air conditioning and the general studio ambience.

Prescription: A quiet voice can be the result of a number of issues.

· It may be a mental issue, inasmuch as the speaker (whisperer?), is shy, nervous or embarrassed. You can overcome this in part with friendliness, explanation and other ways to boost confidence such as their ‘on-air miles’, and understanding of what is expected of them, how to ‘drive’ the studio desk and the topic or script at hand.

· It may be a symptom of that person not being very enthused with their job. Basic talking ‘therapies’ may uncover such an issue.

· The main physical reasons for a quiet voice are to do with a lack of projection of sound, a lack of energy from the diaphragm pushing the air. This can be overcome with better breathing, done diaphragmatically of course, and better posture, all tied up with core-strengthening exercises to better assist your abdominal muscles to be able to push and regulate the whole air-flow mechanism.

· Episodes 354 and the couple after that, deal with this ‘voice extreme’ and how to overcome it

---

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.