How should the voice be during good spoken communication?

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

How should the voice be during spoken communication? Some of the things I can think of are :

1) Calm - Just like your body language your voice should also reflect calmness.
2) Confident - It should reflect confidence and not the one reflecting doubts in mind of speaker.
3) Clear - Each word should come out clearly even if it means reducing the speed.
4) Slow - If it will be slow one would be in more control of the words he speaks.
5) Happy - It should reflect happiness instead of grumpiness or sadness as happiness is what everyone likes in this world.

Any corrections/additions?

[Paul Clapham]

I'm not so happy about number 5. Consider this communication:

"I've called this meeting because I just heard that our warehouse in City X burned down this morning. We need a plan in place immediately to continue serving our customers." (This actually happened at the company where I used to work.)

Of course grumpy or sad wouldn't work either, but happy isn't appropriate for that kind of communication.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Paul Clapham wrote: happy isn't appropriate for that kind of communication.

Agreed. Except for such exception cases, should the tone be happy in general? If not, what kind should it be.

[Campbell Ritchie]

This would vary from country to country, but I would suggest a happy tone is only appropriate when there is something really good to relate.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Agreed. I am talking about US.
When I hear my recorded voice, it sounds harsh to me. So that's why I wanted to know how should the voice be in general (not for exception case).?

[Campbell Ritchie]

Not harsh. Ask somebody else to listen to your speeches.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Ask somebody else to listen to your speeches.

In my previous organization there was a soft skill trainer whom I had asked about this. She said that voice is natural thing. We should be happy with the voice God gave us. She was right.

When I hear my recorded voice and assume that this is a third person's voice which I have to judge, then it sounds dull and harsh and also not 'firm and confident'. I am sure that barring exception conditions, the voice should not convey dullness, harshness. So what emotion should it convey. I think if one is slightly smiling while speaking (atleast from inside), the voice would sound good.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be welcome.

[Tim Holloway]

Satyaprakash Joshii wrote:Agreed. I am talking about US.
When I hear my recorded voice, it sounds harsh to me. So that's why I wanted to know how should the voice be in general (not for exception case).?

Consider yourself lucky.

I sound like a Muppet.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Yes , I do.

But I want to improve. I feel when one speaks with a slight smile (atleast from inside), the voice comes good in spoken communication. The another thing I want to learn is a firm voice instead of shaky one which reflects lack of confidence (my recording sounds like that).

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

What I understand is that in general cases (without exception scenarios), the voice should not be having negative qualities like harshness, dullness, lack of firmness (showing doubt).
Is there anything anyone wants to correct/add ?

[Campbell Ritchie]

Satyaprakash Joshii wrote:. . . lack of firmness (showing doubt). . . .

You can indicate doubt very firmly, or say, “Don't know,” very firmly.

[Tim Holloway]

It's an Indian idiomatic trait to use the word "doubt" in a way that no other English dialect does that I know of. Innumerable questions posted on the Ranch begin with "Doubt in" when the standard phrase would be "Question about/regarding". It's especially notable because the Queen's English has outward-facing "doubt". That is, "doubt about" (or "I have doubts about"), "doubt over", doubt on" not inward-facing ("doubt in").

But a good thesaurus can help a lot, especially since they typically show sample usages. And of course there are lots of courses available on speaking and communications.

And why is that stupid fly buzzing around in the snow on the first day of Winter?

[Paul Clapham]

Tim Holloway wrote:And why is that stupid fly buzzing around in the snow on the first day of Winter?

We have hummingbirds in our yard and black ice on the roads outside. The hummingbirds certainly find things to eat in the winter.

(For those who don't recognize the expression "black ice": you get that when water in the form of rain lands on a paved road and then the temperature falls below freezing. The water freezes and it's transparent, so when you drive over it you're likely to slide off in some unexpected direction.)

As for tone of voice, I still think there's a lot of variation based on context. Are you trying to get your audience to buy something, or buy into something? Are you in an ordinary discussion about what needs to get done next week and who is going to do it? Are you in a subordinate position to your audience or a superior position?

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Tim Holloway wrote: Innumerable questions posted on the Ranch begin with "Doubt in" when the standard phrase would be "Question about/regarding".

But "question" does not have the same meaning as "doubt".

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Paul Clapham wrote:lot of variation based on context. Are you trying to get your audience to buy something, or buy into something? Are you in an ordinary discussion about what needs to get done next week and who is going to do it? Are you in a subordinate position to your audience or a superior position?

In general  I think the voice should not have negative aspects (Barring exception scenarios). And harshness, dullness, lack of firmness (showing doubt) are negative.

[Paul Clapham]

Satyaprakash Joshii wrote:In general  I think the voice should not have negative aspects (Barring exception scenarios). And harshness, dullness, lack of firmness (showing doubt) are negative.

Yes, I'd agree with that. There can be times when you need to tell people off (football coach after the first half when the team was really bad) but otherwise yes, keep it positive.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Thank You!

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Queen's English has outward-facing "doubt". That is, "doubt about" (or "I have doubts about"), "doubt over", doubt on" not inward-facing ("doubt in").

What's this outward-facing and inward-facing ?

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

And why is that stupid fly buzzing around in the snow on the first day of Winter?

What's this?

[Campbell Ritchie]

The moose at the top left. By the time Tim wrote it was already the second day of Winter.

[Tim Holloway]

Satyaprakash Joshii wrote:

Tim Holloway wrote: Innumerable questions posted on the Ranch begin with "Doubt in" when the standard phrase would be "Question about/regarding".

But "question" does not have the same meaning as "doubt".

Probably in Hindi, or whatever. But that's the problem with translating languages. Different meanings of a word can have less than 100% correspondence. Actually German is very vexing for me in that way, since the same word diverged at a 45-degree angle in many cases. The root for "let" in English typically means to give permission, but the German "lassen" is more of a command. Literally, the German phrase for "I tell the barber to cut my hair" would be when translated word for word more like "I let the barber to cut my hair". What there is of it, anyway.

In English, doubt means primarily a distrust, and you can question something if you have doubts about it, but if you are asking a straight question with no pre-conceptions about the subject, "doubt" wouldn't be the word, because you haven't assumed a position to distrust.


Oh, and incidentally, the Solstice Moose was still being displayed on my screen, snow and all when I asked about the fly. But it's my understanding that most insects go dormant in snowy climes during the Winter. Except for stink bugs, which apparently crowd around people's windows.

I'm at the same latitude as Dakka or Cairo, so snow isn't something I'm well-versed in. But flies are scarce here this time of year.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

In English, doubt means primarily a distrust, and you can question something if you have doubts about it, but if you are asking a straight question with no pre-conceptions about the subject, "doubt" wouldn't be the word, because you haven't assumed a position to distrust.

That is absolutely right. Saying doubt for this is wrong.

Thank You!

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

I get the feeling that regarding the tone of the voice, the most important factor which makes the tone come good is confidence. If the confidence is there the voice comes out firm. If it is absent, the voice comes out shaky and does not sound good. A confident firm voice sounds good in tone.