Even Women Prefer Lower Voices in Authority Figures
This is what a study found on how women respond to female politicians:
Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously had elocution lessons to lower her voice and make it sound more masculine and authoritative.
She was advised – correctly, in light of subsequent research – that members of the public would find this more appealing.
Studies have demonstrated that men and women prefer leaders of both sexes in politics or business to have lower voices.
The new research shows this rule even extends to leadership positions traditionally occupied by women.
Unfortunately for me, the low voice phenomenon is accurate. When I was in LA recently, I had the opportunity to meet with voice coach Bob Corff who runs an LA studio. I tend to talk to0 quickly and my voice pitches upward when I speak at times. The first thing Corff told me was to speak slowly and lower my voice. “I sound like a man!” I exclaimed in my high-pitched voice. “No” you don’t,” he told me, “but if you want people to listen to you, you have to learn to communicate effectively. Lower your voice and slow down.” I now practice this technique when I am at a store, out in public or even just talking to others. It is hard and doesn’t come naturally for me but it works. I notice people hear more of what I am saying and respond better. It also helps me stay calmer when I speak which is important.
I still practice Corff’s techniques with an inexpensive audio CD called Corff Voice Studios: Speaker’s Voice Method that I highly recommend if you want to improve your voice for work, speaking, or just in general. You can also watch his video here at YouTube for more tips. (Oops, just removed the exclamation mark from that last sentence so you wouldn’t get the impression that I raised my voice).
Being a more effective communicator is ever important in the present economic and political climate.
I could not stand listening to Sarah Palin, not because of what she said but because of her high thin voice. I wrote to her campaign suggesting voice lessons / control to no avail. They probably thought it was a joke or a slam. It takes a lot of hard work and practice to become a good public speaker – voice practice and study of rhetoric. No one, especially politicians, does these things any more. As a result, there are no great orators.
Motor-mouthing also seems to be a current bad habit, though abating somewhat. I run across it in business and family mostly from young women. I listen through their torrent of indistinguishable words then politely ask them to repeat it all at an understandable speed. Some get it. Some get miffed. If you’re not communicating with your intended audience, what’s the point?
I worked in business in the 80′s and 90′s, before my children came along. The women who were being groomed for management were given a seminar on just this topic. We were taught to lower our voice pitch a bit, speak more slowly, use more powerful patterns of speech (fewer filler words, idioms, etc). Sounds much like what you are describing, Doc. Our company felt it was important enough to pay for it.
And I agree about preferring a man’s voice or a lower woman’s voice. Even in music, I would much rather listen to a male singer (Bryn Terfel) or a powerful woman singer (Pat Benatar). It’s something primeval.