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Voiced, tired, soft… It reflects our condition, our intentions and attitude towards others. But often we pay attention to it only when it lets us down. How to learn to control your voice?
Young radio presenter Natalya recalls the moment when she, sitting in front of a microphone, found that she could not utter a word or sound. Her dumbness – aphonia – lasted for several days. Natalya admits that without a voice she felt as if she had nothing to breathe, not enough air.
“It is the voice that determines the uniqueness of a person, reflects his personality,” says Larisa Solovieva, a voice and speech specialist.
We recognize others by voice. To a significant extent, it depends on him whether there will be mutual understanding between the interlocutors. But it also affects us. Therefore, when the voice disappears, like Natalya’s, it may seem to a person that a catastrophe is happening, that he is losing his identity, part of his “I”.
It depends on the voice whether there will be mutual understanding between the interlocutors.
Around the sound of our voice there is a whole imaginative world. “They say about the manner of pronunciation: dry, solid or, for example, viscous,” notes anthropologist David Le Breton. – About the tone of the voice – dull, low or inexpressive, about the intonation – that it is uneven, slow, viscous or swift, hurried. The voice is never neutral for the listener, who finds shades in it that can characterize the one who speaks. It conveys the mood and intensity of emotions, evokes a feeling of physical presence.1. But is it really that important to learn to understand your voice?
Mirror of uniqueness
“The organs of hearing develop before the other sense organs. And the first thing we perceive, not yet born, is the mother’s voice. Experiments show that all babies on earth are soothed by its sounds.
There are no two identical voices, which is why we recognize the other by the timbre or manner of speech. “What he says is irrelevant,” the philosopher François Fedier wrote of his friend. “The modulation of his voice, that’s what’s important. The only timbre that distinguishes him from all other voices “2.
Mikhail, 46, recalls getting flustered when a former classmate called him: “We haven’t seen each other since we graduated from high school. Hearing him, I experienced genuine surprise – this is strange, because more than once I was happy to look at pictures of my childhood friends on social networks. But those were images, and the voice touched me to the depths of my soul: I immediately recognized him and in an instant seemed to return to myself – to what I once was.
Expression of emotions
Have you noticed that the sound of our voice depends on our mood? It really is. Neurotransmitters act on the larynx: when we are very worried, it narrows and restricts breathing. “So, from annoyance, the voice can become as if cracked,” writes the laryngologist and phoniatrist Fyodor Zasedatelev, who has worked with opera stars of the Bolshoi Theater for a long time. “When we feel joy, we breathe shallowly, while experiencing grief, we sigh rarely and deeply.”3.
This physiological process cannot be completely controlled. “I work on television, but even this experience of owning a voice is not enough for me to always be its sovereign mistress,” admits 35-year-old Daria. – When I am very worried, he treacherously betrays me, soaring up. My friend jokes: “On the air -“ Pioneer Dawn! ”, Knowing from the first words that I will tell her some unpleasant news.”
The sound of a voice always clearly indicates whether we are in agreement or in internal discord with ourselves.
Daria is a professional, and most of us do not know our own voice at all, because it sounds in ourselves, from the inside, and we never perceive it the way others hear it. Hence the surprise, sometimes painful, that we feel when we hear ourselves on tape. “Some are especially hurt by this,” notes David Le Breton, “and the point here is not at all that their voice is dissonant. It’s just that its sound always clearly indicates whether we are in agreement or in internal discord with ourselves … “
It is not for nothing that psychoanalysis considers the voice and the word to be the main conductors of our unconscious: a moment of confusion, a sigh, or a change in tone often reveal more than a long and detailed story.
“I felt guilty.”
Nikita Semenov-Prozorovsky, 65 years old, actor and dubbing master:
Talking not with my own voice, but inventing it depending on the image of the on-screen hero is my profession. My own image is far from created for the role, which leads to various incidents. So, once I played in the series the father of the family – obese, with a gray beard and bald head. A young lady of 12-13 years old was also filming with me. She was languishing on the site during long rearrangements of light and cameramen searching for angles. Trying to occupy her, I ask: “What do you think, in Lost, that is, in the famous TV series Lost, who do I voice?” She looks doubtfully: “Negro? Or Johnny? No, Johnny is good… Ah! So small, bald? And then with a plea, in a half-whisper: “Well, who, who ?!” And I, like a schoolboy, in a half-whisper: “Soera, that is, Josh Holloway.”
Never before or since have they looked at me like that. The poor girl tried to realize the “betrayal” of her idol, with whom all or almost all of her friends are in love! Where is this ridiculous dad hiding inside him? I watched a serious shock and felt guilty. After filming, she came up to me and said confidentially: “I won’t tell anyone.” Thank you child. This is how the wives of the Decembrists are born.
In tune with yourself
The ability to sound so that the voice evokes positive emotions of the listeners is relevant at all times. In the last century, the writer Scott Fitzgerald admired the way one of his heroines could give her voice: “There was both a melodious authority and a sensual call “hear and come” in him, echoes of violent fun and crazy joy were heard in him, and, most importantly, promises of even more unearthly bliss awaiting in the not too distant future”4.
Developing magnetism and charisma in your voice is more and more often the concern of the participants of today’s social networks: for those who post records of parties and other events with their participation in their accounts, the effect that their performances have on others is important. “Another modern customer of charismatic voices is large companies that send their top managers to trainings: it is important for them how their main representatives sound in communication with partners,” says Larisa Solovieva.
But is it possible to come into harmony with yourself only with the help of exercises? 32-year-old Lyudmila had to turn to a psychologist. She worked in a large company and literally could not bring herself to take the floor at meetings – the sound of her own voice seemed unbearable to her. Reflecting on this during the consultations, Lyudmila gradually realized that … she felt unworthy to hold her own position. By working on her voice, posture, breathing, as well as on the psychological reasons for such low self-esteem, she was able to regain confidence in her professionalism.
“Many later admitted to me that it was difficult for them to recognize me,” she recalls with a smile. After all, finding your own voice, bringing it into line with your “I” also means restoring inner harmony, truly becoming yourself.
Three exercises to find your voice
1. You think he’s not right for you.
Fold your left hand in a boat, palm opposite the left ear – this is your handset. Raise your right hand to your mouth – this is your microphone. Now pretend that you are testing the sound: count in a loud voice, changing the timbre; say a few letters; articulate a few words, checking sonority. Do this exercise 5-10 minutes a day for 10 days. By being aware of your voice as it is heard by others, you will be able to play its timbre.
2. You feel like it doesn’t reflect your personality.
Stand barefoot, spread your legs slightly, lower your arms. Close your eyes and focus on your feet. Breathe slowly and deeply, without pausing between inhalation and exhalation. Calmly repeat several of these breath cycles. As you exhale, effortlessly, relaxing your lower jaw, begin to sing the sound “a” – the way it will be most natural for you. Feel this sound vibrate in your jaws and head.
When you find “your” sound, chant the following syllables on each exhalation: “ma”, “me”, “mi”, “mo”, “mu”, “me”, “mu”.
Try to get each sound to resonate throughout your body. Repeat this exercise 10 times. Singing “with your whole body” will help you enrich the timbre of your voice, fill it with who you are.
3. You think that he does not reach others
Read some text aloud (5-10 minutes a day), skipping the consonants to feel their importance. These letters work like a springboard, allowing the vowels to vibrate; this is how fingers make guitar strings sound. For example, “training for my voice” becomes “eeoa a ooo ooa”. Then immediately read the text again, this time minting the consonants. Thanks to this exercise, your voice will be more saturated with vibrations. It will gain strength, and it will be easier for others to understand you.
About the Expert: Philippe-Nicolas Melo, vocal teacher
1 D. Le Breton. Bursts of voice. An anthropology of voiх (Métailié, 2011).
2 F. Fedier. The Voice of a Friend (Ivan Limbakh Publishing House, 2010).
3 F. Zasedatelev. Scientific foundations of voice production (Librokom, 2011).
4 F. S. Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby (AST, Astrel, 2011).