Thursday, November 24, 2011

The Voice Within

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA2k79EGHbc

I love deep, rich, and husky voices, but not too deep because it becomes scary, not too rich because it sounds fakey, and not too husky because then it gets scratchy.

Voice can be sweet, sexy, intelligent, confident, gentle, kind, melodious, and lilting; it can also be sad, wary, guarded, hushed, piercing, thundering, nasal and whiny.

Once a voice actor friend told me that we can hear many things in people’s voices, but I think we can also discover a lot from the way people talk.

I absolutely hate whisperers and mumblers. After politely asking them several times to repeat what they just said, I would usually have to give up and just smile and nod at whatever they say. I am not their psychiatrist or teacher.

But I also distaste those who are in love with their own voices. Given the chance, they would keep talking for hours without you uttering one word in reply. You might as well start planning your next holiday while they are busy loving their voices.

Some people speak faster when they are nervous. I used to speak fast too, until I found it was like verbal diarrhea. On the other hand, I also can’t stand listening to people choosing every word careful. I often can’t help listing up some options for them.

Of course there are many other factors too, like tones and intonations, words and pause, etc, although sometimes what’s not said is actually more important than what’s said. And whatever our voices are like and however we use them, the bottom line is communication. It's how we resonate with one another.

If we are lucky to find a voice we love to hear saying good morning and good night to us every day, then we will probably find comfortable silence too, which could be even more beautiful than any words. But even if we can’t find any voice that make us feel the way we want to feel, we can always look inside ourselves and trust that the voice within will guide us to brighter days, if we just learn to listen.

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