Hi Torsten,

It’s funny you should mention buying a better microphone, because believe it or not, that’s what many of us do when we hear our recorded voice for the first time.

Our initial reaction tends to be that its the quality of the audio equipment that has skewed the sound of our voice, so buying a better microphone seems to be a logical next step.

In some cases, this can help, especially when you move from lower quality gear to high quality gear. But more often than not, this is not enough to bridge the perception gap between what we hear in our head and what we hear on tape (or perhaps more accurately these days, on disc!).

If you REALLY want to bridge the gap, and I don’t recommend this as a normal next step, but if you want to introduce that deep, rich vibration that “sounds like its missing” from your voice recordings, you might consider using some audio effects to “colour” the sound….perhaps adding a little compression or EQ to the mix.

Don’t go overboard otherwise you’ll start sounding like a bad FM radio promo voice!

Great to hear from you and thanks for sharing your thoughts here,
Con

Hi Igor,

It’s great to hear from someone who actually remembers recording on a tape deck…we’ve certainly come a long way haven’t we?!

I love your example of fitting ear plugs and walking around the house to hear just how pronounced done induction hearing really is, that’s a great way to demonstrate it.

When I run voice-over workshops for corporate Learning & Development teams here in Australia, one of the exercises I usually run is to have the team stick their fingers in their ears and say a few words to themselves. With their fingers blocking all external sound, the only sound left is the “voice inside their head”. Try it when you get a chance, and you’ll hear the exact tone that constitutes the “voice inside your head” that only you can hear….subtract this tone from the sound you perceive to be your “own voice”, and what’s left is precisely what your microphone records 🙂

Thanks for your insights!

Con

Hi Jamie,

It’s a very powerful contrast you’ve described here, Big Man / Little Girl, and in my experience, we are often our own harshest critics, I know I certainly am.

Back when I first started training as a voice over artist I recall doing a take and then listening to the sound of my recording coming through the studio speakers. Whilst others in the room were assessing my delivery & performance skills, I was cringing at the sound of my voice. Ironically, I was the only one cringing because as far as anybody else was concerned, the voice coming through the speakers was actually “just me”. They heard the same voice coming out of the speakers that they’d previously heard coming out of my mouth. I was the only one who heard something different, which meant that I was the only one who had a problem with it.

Learning to accept, value and (eventually) love the sound of your own recorded voice is a journey…and every journey starts with a single step. Listening with an open mind is as good a first step as any, and I encourage everyone to try it.

Best wishes for your journey ahead.
Con

Hi Dave,

Absolutely, you are most definitely not alone!

OK, so you mentioned that despite your best efforts, your recorded voice comes out quite monotone. Here are a couple of quick tips to help overcome your monotone-blues….firstly, think of something that makes you feel happy or excited…It might be an event, like your last major birthday celebration with family and friends, or it might be a thought like remembering the last time your football team was at the top of the league. Try and make it a thought that stirs up a strong feeling and picture it in rich detail. Now go and tell somebody about it. It doesn’t matter who, just tell somebody that’ll listen.

When we talk about something that really interests us, something that excites us, our natural tendency is to add a rich palette of speech characteristics to our conversation. We’ll vary the pace, getting faster as we talk about something REALLY exciting, and slowing down as we try and convey important points that we want to make sure our listener has understood. Our natural inflections will kick in and all those wonderful characteristics that makes our voice uniquely our own will naturally come out to play…our pitch and pace will vary and we’ll naturally vary our pauses to convey meaning…..in most cases without thinking about it.

Once you’ve done what I’ve just asked, and experienced what it’s like to naturally insert vocal colour into your conversation, repeat the process but have the other person discreetly start recording shortly after you’ve started (most smartphones these days allow you to record audio on your phone, so just use a phone), this allows you to capture your voice in all its decidedly-non-monotone-glory.

By having a conversation with another person, about a subject that really tickles your fancy, you’ll naturally exhibit all the vocal characteristics that can transform your recordings from monotone to out of this world. And by discreetly recording it, you can listen to a recorded example of your voice sounding…well, natural 🙂

Hearing it played back not only shows you what you can sound like, but more importantly, it helps you overcome your ingrained belief that your recorded voice is monotone.

Hope this helps 🙂

Con

Hi Ron,

I’m a big believer in the fact that as a procuct creator and a marketer, your audience wants to hear YOU; and hearing YOU (rather than someone else) talk about your products, can really help you to build rapport, familiarity and eventually trust with your audience.

Keep practising Ron, can’t wait to hear a recording of you talking about your next product 🙂

Cheers,
Con