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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.
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And I’m Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a Special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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What do you think of my voice? Do you like it?
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What about my voice?
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Who do you think has the most beautiful voice?
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Is there a perfect voice?
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The BBC says there is! Researchers in England say they have found a set of rules – a mathematical formula – that defines the perfect voice. The sound of the perfect voice is important. It is confident, powerful, trustworthy, and usually deep. But the timing of the voice is also important. The perfect voice speaks only one hundred sixty four [164] words in a minute. It stops briefly between sentences – less than half a second. No person has the perfect voice, but the researchers say some people come close. Andrew Linn is a professor who studies human speech. He says:
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“As humans we have a sense about which voices make us extremely happy and which voices we hate. The results of this study give us an exciting look into the way voices work and what makes them appealing or not.”
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Today’s Spotlight is on the human voice. Did you know that the voices you hear every day have an influence on you? Have you ever thought about how important your voice is?
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All sound is vibrations, movements, in the air. Our ears change these vibrations into sound that we hear. So how do our voices make vibrations?
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Physically, the human voice involves three parts of our bodies. To begin the process, the lungs must produce enough air. This air travels through the vocal folds in the neck, producing vibration. These vocal folds decide the pitch of our voices – deep or high. They also decide the tone of our voices – how our voice sounds – for example smooth or rough. The vibrating sound travels through the vocal tract. This is the mouth, tongue and lips. This is where we shape the sound into words.
Voice 1
We use these three tools – the lungs, the vocal folds, and the vocal tract – to give our words meaning. With our voices we can communicate much more than just words – anger, sadness, happiness, surprise and more! For example, a person might say the words “oh no!” Here he is angry: Oh no! Here he is sad: Oh no! And here he is surprised: Oh no! These are all the same words – but the voice gives them very different meanings!
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But this is the physical explanation of the voice. Every person knows there is so much more to a voice than just the physical description! So what is it about voices that we love or hate?
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Our love of the voice begins even before we are born. Barbara Kisilevsky is a nursing teacher in Ontario, Canada. Barbara led a research team of Canadian psychologists – scientists who study human behaviour – and a team of doctors from China. Together, they were studying how babies develop.
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In one test Kisilevsky studied sixty [60] pregnant women. All were very close to the end of their pregnancy. The mothers each read a poem into a recording device. Then researchers divided the mothers into two groups. The first group of unborn babies listened to the recording of their own mothers. The second group listened to a recording of a different mother.
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As the unborn babies listened from inside their mothers, both groups showed changes in heart rates. Heart rates of babies who listened to recordings of their own mothers got faster. Babies listening to another mother had slower heart rates. Researchers say these babies were trying to pay close attention to the new voice – they did not know who was talking. But the babies who heard their own mothers became excited. Researchers believe this early influence of voice helps us to learn languages – an important skill!
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Later in life though, the human voice also influences our relationships. You may already know that voices have a big effect on sexual relationships. A voice can make a person more or less attractive or appealing.
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A woman is fertile about once a month. That is when she is able to become pregnant. A study from New York University shows that around this fertile time women begin to change in some little ways. Sex hormones in women’s bodies produce these changes. One of these changes includes the sound of their voice. Women who are fertile often speak in a higher voice. Men are more attracted to women during these times.
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But men’s voices also influence women. The effect of voices on possible mates interests Coren Apicella. She is an anthropologist – she studies people and culture. In 2007 Apicella traveled to Tanzania to study the Hadza people. There, she recorded men from the tribe saying “hello” in the Swahili language. She asked the Hadza women to listen to the recordings.
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She asked the women which men they liked more, based on their voices. Apicella found that the Hadza women liked the Hadza men with deeper, lower voices more. Apicella’s study also found that the men with deeper voices had more children.
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Like women, men are influenced by sex hormones, chemicals in the body. Apicella believes that the men who have lower voices may have more of the male sex hormone testosterone. This hormone may have influenced these men to be more attracted to women. Or, it may have influenced women to be more attracted to these men.
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Our voices also help define our places and relationships in our culture. People can change their voices to achieve a particular goal. Have you ever found yourself changing your voice to “fit in,” or belong, to a group of people?
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In general, our voices also send a message about who we are – no matter where we come from or what we are trying to say. Laura Spicer is a voice coach. She trains people how to fix problems they have with voice and speech. She says
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“Communication in any situation is divided into three things. Fifty five [55] percent is how we look when we say it. Thirty eight [38] percent is how we sound. And just seven percent is the words we actually say... Without knowing it, we often make judgements based on voices.”
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The human voice is a link to language, a signal of sexuality, and a message about who we are. This amazing part of God’s creation is a huge part of our lives. Is there a perfect voice? Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, we should think about how we use this important tool. What does your voice say about you? What do you say with your voice?
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