“Oh I hate the way my voice sounds!” Even if you don’t feel that way, we’ve all heard plenty of people say that before. And we’ve all experienced the shock of learning what our voice actually sounds like when we listen to it on tape. The voice we hear come out of our mouths isn’t the voice everyone else experiences. But you don’t need to record yourself to find out what you really sound like. There’s a simple trick you can do to hear your actual voice.
All you need are your hands.
@bobfeeser_voiceactorThis is why you don’t like your own voice. Hearing your voice from another perspective is unfamiliar. ##voiceactor ##voiceactingtips ##learnontiktok ♬ How to look like a lizard – bobfeeser_voiceactor
Voice actor Bob Feeser offered up a quick lesson and tutorial on his TikTok page about why our voices sound so different to us when we speak compared to what they actually sound like to everyone else. It has to do with the very different way our voices reach our ears.
Sound is processed deep inside our inner ear, and what enters is altered by the environment we hear it in. But our own voices reach us more directly, with far less interference from our surroundings. Also, the bones in our heads are great at conducting low frequencies. So we hear our voices through reverberations in our skulls.
You typically only experience your voice the way everyone else does when you hear a recording of it.
But there’s an easier way to find out what you sound like. Feeser showed the simple method you can do to eliminate those reverberations. Make your hands flat and put them against your head like you’re doing an impression of a fish. Place them between your ears and and your jawbone, and then speak. You’ll hear what others hear.
You can also use folders, magazines, or any other flat object to create the needed barrier.
Simple, but effective.
However, just be prepared for what sound you produce. You might hate what you hear.
Featured Image: Chris Beatty