What’s the volume of your voice saying?
 

Loud, low or somewhere in-between?

I need volume control. :joker:

When i am out with my girls I get scolded and told to use my indoor voice like in a shop or whatever:joker:

I wish I could talk louder by-default but naturally I’m pretty low and speaking up more than the necessary amount just feels awks (to say the least). I’ve always been quietly-spoken (I was that person who was given the longest speaking role in my Year 3 nativity play because I had the best memory and articulation otherwise but was given it only with hesitance and had to really practice raising the tone of my voice because talking loudly without a microphone just wasn’t my strong point, just like it never has been). When I got to puberty the inevitable changes that come with a guy’s voice hit me like a ton of bricks and it’s just gotten worse over the years. It’s not a big problem but it is very noticeable in noisy environments where you really have to shout to be heard. People who have only ever heard me in a crowded bar or in a loud chippy think that the low-voice thing is worse than it actually is in normal environments where the amount of background noise is moderate/normal. It’s not as bad as some people might’ve thought at various points in the past but I could still do with more projection capacity. But then again more people would just say it’s a very calming and mellowingly-deep voice. Some people are just a little deaf and/or extra-biased against quietness, as if using anything like your indoors voice is a weakness even when you’re … indoors-indoors. Some people just have an instinctive prejudice against people who aren’t loud just for t’sake of being loud. They’re not exactly fun to be around in libraries.

You’re lucky you don’t have the opposite problem. Being told to speak up often gets really old and annoying.

I was once called the booming voice on a forum

What forum was that?

I talk loudly and often get told off.

Might have been the old channel 4 BB forum that ran for the first 4 series.

:joker:

when i was a drinker i used to get louder and louder with each passing pint. Mrs Bots always gave me that "behave yourself" look :laugh:

So how did they know what you sounded like?

Its was my username.:blush:

Let’s hope for their sake you weren’t booming on the trumpet. Sonia off EastEnders was bad enough for that back in t’day.

Some people are mellow even when they’re very drunk but generally even the quietest people at least act (if not talk) a little bit louder when they’re under the influence. No-one can keep a totally serene outer equilibrium on tequila rose. No-one.

I've never seen eastenders, it sounds raunchier than I thought.

They’re a right bunch of dirty thug-lord studs and hoes at Albert Square.

Ethel once called kath a dirty mare.

Two characters called Jake and Carly once slept on the floor of the queen Vic. (their local pub) I want to say 17 years ago. Ting was that raunchy they didn’t even show it in the Sunday omnibus.

But yet they’re not allowed to explicitly swear. “Bastard” is as strong as it gets.

Wellard must have been asleep in sunday

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Lol.

But yeah, the thing with me is it’s just a case of having an extra low-frequency voice that doesn’t resonate well in noisy environments or when it needs significant projecting. It’s not so bad that people can’t hear me loud enough in totally normal circumstances.

I'd say in between quiet and average

Ditto (when the atmosphere’s regular and it’s just a case of normal talking rather than projecting). Otherwise it sounds very low indeed.

I wouldn't say I'm quiet in normal conversation but have a similar issue with my voice being quite deep. It's fine in normal circumstances and I wouldn't say quiet - but I do struggle to "project" louder than normal e.g. public speaking or in a loud environment like a bar. I can actively feel the strain and a lump building in my throat :joker:.

I also physically CAN'T scream at a high pitch which my kids find hilarious, and like to attack & tickle me, as I hate being tickled, and my natural inclination is to scream, but instead it comes out as this breathy, strangulated warble. APPARENTLY that is very funny :oh:.

I’d like to hear you at Six Flags, New Jersey. That might activate your inner scream.

I've actually never been one to scream on rides/rollercoasters. Not that I like them or that I'm not screaming internally - just always been more of a "wide eyes, clenched jaw and white knuckles" look than a scream :joker:.

I won't go on anything these days though, I've seen too many horror stories on TikTok about broken seats, derailed rides and lost limbs :umm2:.

Half of what you see on TikTok (especially when it comes from anyone under the age of 21) ought to be taken with a pinch of salt. That incident in Alton Towers in 2015 was one of the first and last incidents I’ve credibly heard of involving someone getting stuck or losing half a limb (and, I mean, bless them). It’s not as common as you seem to think.

“Dad, you’re embarrassing me. You’re not supposed to tell me that so loudly in public.”

Beautiful...I love this post.

Brian Blessed what a booming voice too much for me , i used to have a friend ( sadly passed)with a booming voice like Brian and i used to say can't you speak quieter ? the whole bloody pub knows whats your saying :laugh: but it was him and how he spoke,big and loud.

Does it annoy you when people keep telling you that you’re too quiet/low in your voice or have you gotten to the point when you’re just unapologetically yourself and anyone who doesn’t like it can f-off kind of thing?

I relate to it a little as well (I can actually scream though). With the whole low voice thing I’ve had comments like “how is your voice so deep/low?” (I take the deepness as a compliment because it is) for a long time and I don’t mind that at all but when it comes to people who are a bit deaf/inattentive/anti-quiet the fact that I’m quite quiet vocally overshadows the actual deepness of my voice, to the extent where they think I’m losing my voice or something. I used to be extremely self-conscious about it but now I just laugh it off and keep it pushing. We can’t all be loud and annoying and if someone’s hard of crystal-clear hearing because they’re biased against people being a little quiet (it’s not even like you’re whispering) that’s their problem.

The quiet power of bass and that Susan Cain book (the power of quiet in a world that can’t stop talking) are a revelation. People often make it out to be almost a crime to be any more quiet than average or strictly what the situation calls for but it’s not (it’s a good thing in many ways). By all means project as much as you need to when it’s necessary and make sure your speaking voice is loud enough (and clear) but there’s a difference between loud enough and loud just for the sake of being loud. Once you get good with being tonally quieter you stop obsessing over how other people think your voice comes across as and eventually just stop caring. It doesn’t detract from what you say or anything to actually do with you as a person. With a population of 7 billion we’re bound to all be different (in terms of voice-tonality, personality, ethnicity, height, weight, etc.) and diversity’s ultimately a good thing. You don’t need to get into the habit of making silly excuses for just being the way you are. You could be a chain-smoker with intermittent severe tonsillitis or you could just have a low, husky voice. So long as you’re heard and don’t get asked to speak up too much what does it really matter.