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When I last visited New York, I decided to grab one of those dessert waffles in Times Square. I approached the stand and said my order, to which the cashier responded, “I didn’t expect your voice to be that deep”. Looking back on that, I find it curious why my appearance may have insinuated one kind of voice, then surprised the cashier when I actually spoke. And thus, another blog post was born.
Faceless communication has had a rollercoaster of a journey. Way back in the day (like the 18th century back), people mostly communicated in person, with letters serving as a means of distant communication. When phones and radios came along, communication took on a faceless…face? Meaning you could hear what the person was saying without seeing them. As technology evolved, texting and emails stripped communication even further, to the extent that phone calls seemed unnecessary and/or intimidating. But the modern-day ease of making videos has made face-to-face communication prominent again, even if digital.
Each of these modes of communication has its strengths and weaknesses. We spent time discussing the difference between voiceless and voice communication in previous posts such as “The Power of Voice in a Digital World”, but what about the differences between faceless and face-to-face? In other words, how does only hearing a person’s voice impact how we communicate with one another, compared to when we can see the person?
How Much Does My Voice Reveal About Me?
In our previous assessment of what voice brings to the table, we focused on tone of voice and how voice conveys our emotions. Now let’s go in a different direction and understand what our voices can say about who we are.
The distinction between what we feel and who we are is one of permanence. How you feel in any one moment can change, but who you are remains the same for longer periods of time. People naturally change, just not as rapidly as their emotions. This then brings us to the first point on the list:
Personality: Whether or not the assessment is accurate, people can assume quite a bit about what kind of person they think you are based on what you sound like. For example, a study by the University of Göttingen found that deeper voices are associated with dominant and extroverted personalities. Perhaps hearing a quiet voice may have you imagining an introverted person. This doesn't mean their assessment is always accurate. Not everyone with a deep voice is extroverted, and vice versa. I myself have tested as a heavy introvert in every one of those personality tests, but at least according to the waffle store cashier, my voice sits on the deep end. This voice-personality connection isn’t a one-size fits all. However, it goes to show what people might think of you just based on your voice.
Character: Character differs from personality in that character relates to your core beliefs and moral characteristics, whereas personality relates to your everyday behavior in any given situation. A study by Duke University showed that voters preferred political candidates with deeper voices, irrespective of gender. A deeper voice also signaled strength, trustworthiness, and competence. At this point, those of you with higher voices may be punching the air. Fear not, because a study by the University of Guelph points out that people associate higher-pitched voices with trustworthiness. Conflicting studies, I know. We’ll get to that in a moment.
Age: Everyone has been through it. As we age, our voices get deeper. Our vocal cords can also show signs of strain and rasp in our older age. These qualities provide the listener an estimate of your age.
Alongside the sound of your voice, the words you say play a role too. Generational slang is one of those things that comes naturally to the generation it spawned in but cringey when anyone older tries it. Can you guess my age by my usage of cringe there? How about if I’m low-key finna ask that hella groovy chick out.
Nationality: Your accent can immediately signal where you’re from, or perhaps who raised you. I find this one to be interesting because it can contradict what you think of a person by their appearance. This is especially true in a country with more diversity. The look of a person may make you believe they’re from one place, but when they speak, their voice reveals a country halfway around the world. Word choice matters here as well. For example, even if a British person manages to disguise their accent, calling fries “chips” can out them real quick. Speaking of which, did you know that a Preply study found that 80% of people feel that accents can make someone more attractive? At the top of the most attractive accents is British.
Looks: While related to age and nationality, looks are broader. It goes without saying that two people of the same sex, age, and origin may look very different from one another. And yet your voice can reveal it all. A study led by Dr. Harriet Smith at Nottingham Trent University asked participants to listen to 18 voices and judge their health, masculinity or femininity, and height. The study found that people could just as easily measure these qualities based on voice as they could based on photos of the people. Moreover, respondents were able to match up a voice with a photo with 60% accuracy.
Mental Health: Mental health differs from the others because it could be one of permanence, but it could also be temporary. For example, if you’re nervous during a particular moment, say before giving a presentation, your voice may sound higher or shaky compared to normal. That’s temporary. But if you’re a generally anxious person or experiencing depression, your voice may show that too. Research shows that people with depression often speak with a reduced range of frequency, meaning their voices sound flat.
Others may tell you to put on a brave face, but your voice is a lot tougher to mask. Fortunately, some good comes from this. For example, AI technologies nowadays can help detect your mental health by measuring the sound of your voice.
Class: By class, I’m referring to how wealthy and/or educated someone may perceive you to be based on the sound of your voice. This one relates to both how you sound and how you speak. A study published in PNAS found that people can guess the social class of someone based on their speech with 55% accuracy. Not only can voice inform someone of your wealth, it may boost it! A study by Duke University showed that male CEOs with deeper voices by 22.1 Hertz make on average $187,000 more and their tenure lasts 151 days longer.
Here too, your word choice comes into play, and even how you say words. For example, an erudite lexicon can reveal a level of education (or at least access to a dictionary). I’m reminded of an episode on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody where the rich hotel heiress London wants desperately for her boyfriend Lance to fit in with her rich social circle. Mind you Lance works as a lifeguard at the hotel. One of the things they do to make him sound wealthy is changing the way he says some words, such as saying the words dance and chance as donce and chonce. Yes, I did just use an obscure reference to a 2007 episode from a kids show to make my point.
Likeability: I hesitate to include this one because this has nothing to do with the speaker as a person, but it is a signal your voice sends nonetheless. The way you sound goes a long way in first impressions. By long way, I mean even to the extent of marriage! That same Preply study found that 1 in 3 people rank liking their partner’s voice as very important.
Listeners of course have preferences. I can think of several times when a song started with the instruments, getting my hopes up, only to immediately skip the moment I heard the singer’s voice. Yet that same song is a hit on the radio. So even if one person dislikes you based on your voice, a whole host of people may love you.
Based on some of these things, the answer to the question of how much your voice reveal about you isn’t straightforward. Our voices for the most part aren’t of our choosing. Some of us have higher voices, some lower, some raspy, some resonant, but the qualities of our voices still signal information to the listener. Whether or not that information actually aligns with who we are is the trouble.
Still, your voice reveals a ton about you. That’s why so many of these studies above found higher-than-expected levels of accuracy in matching up voices with other traits.
My mother used to say how you can see a person’s character on their face because people’s physical characteristics eventually embody who they are as people. I don’t know if this is grounded in science, but I’m willing to bet that our essence lives in our voice as well, both in how we sound and the words we speak.
Should I Modify My Voice?
These findings above then beg the question: should you modify your voice? The question is especially relevant to social platforms, where first impressions and likeability run the show. On top of that, platforms like Voicebox and others provide ways to change your voice. So should you?
Like the answer to many things in life, it depends. A lot of filters and effects people use on their appearance are for fun’s sake. Giving yourself a dog nose and floppy ears is an obvious example of this. So, too, are voice filters that make you sound like a robot or like you’ve just sucked out all the helium from a balloon. People use these to get a laugh and have fun. Generally, they’re harmless.
Where we get into trouble is when we use filters and effects to make ourselves appear, in our own opinions, better looking. Several studies have shown this to harm both the user and the audience.
A survey by Parents Together found that
- 87% of teens have used a filter on social media.
- The most common reason for doing so is to look more beautiful (67% of respondents).
- 61% say filters make them feel worse about how they look in real life.
On the flip side, Consumer Reports found that
- 59% of Americans find beauty filters to be troubling.
- 28% felt jealous or bad about themselves after seeing another’s post.
The desire to look perfect can extend to wanting to sound perfect, particularly on audio-based platforms. Fortunately, voice effects aren’t nearly as sophisticated as visual ones. I’ve not seen an ability to change your accent or make your voice raspy, AI developments notwithstanding. And pitch modification can often be obvious. But that doesn’t mean technology won’t eventually get there.
What I will say though is that in a land as vast as social media, pleasing everyone is impossible. While some people may like one accent, others won’t. While some people find a raspy voice pleasing, others may find it grating. Some people may find a person with a deeper voice more trustworthy, some people find a higher voice more trustworthy. Given all these clashes, it’s in our best interest to let our true voices shine because, at the end of the day, listeners gravitate toward the genuine.
Voicebox: The Name of the Game is Honesty
Voicebox is an extension of faceless communication. Its predecessors include phone calls, radio, and podcasts, technologies that allow people to communicate without being seen. As such, several may take comfort in knowing that the way you look doesn’t matter. Still, others may feel that this then brings all the attention to how you sound, so dressing up your voice becomes a priority.
To that, I say this as politely as possible. Once you have a decent quality of audio (minimal static, not muffled, etc.), the vast majority of folks won’t care what you sound like. That’s not what audio communication is about. It never has been. For over a century, radio hosts have spoken in their natural voice. People have talked over the phone in their natural voice. Podcasters have shared knowledge, experiences, and truths in their natural voice. Like its predecessors, Voicebox too is a home for your natural voice. So let it be heard.
Sunday Blog is a series where we discuss the many facets and functions of the human voice.