Speaking Of My Voice

I've been listening to myself talk lately. That is to say that I've been paying attention to the apparent quality of my voice as I speak to people, and sometimes as I speak aloud while alone just to hear how something sounds. I know I must sound somewhat different on the outside of my head than I do on the inside, but regrettably people are not volunteering description of it in the numbers that I would like. One exception came some time ago, when I spoke in passing about my voice. I thought now might be the time to consider it in some kind of depth.

I would certainly be derelict in my responsibilities if I did not first address volume. This is the one area on which I do receive feedback from people. It is not praise. At best, it's constructive criticism, and at worst frustrated venting. The way I always put it is that as a performer or public speaker, I have never personally been given the note of needing to speak louder or project better. In that realm of performance, my voice is entirely ideal, and is perhaps meritorious of praise. I must sadly observe, however, that I speak with much the same voice in situations calling for more discretion. I recall a Saturday Night Live character played by Will Ferrel who volunteers that he is afflicted with a condition described as "voice immodulation". I laughed, but wonder now about that.