The Forgotten Component of Beauty: 3 Reasons to Think About Your Speaking Voice

Your everyday tone is part of your long-term success.

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“Where are you from?” I asked. I didn’t know it yet, but that was a question the man from Texas didn’t like to answer. He was hiding his accent.

From a young age, he had yearned to bust out of his small-minded town. He wanted long-term success. Leaving Texas behind would not be enough, he decided — he would have to leave its accent behind, too.

So, when he ran away to Los Angeles, he got an accent coach. There was wisdom to this. My old friend made a full-time living for years there as a SAG actor.

By the time I met him, he had left Los Angeles long behind, too. Yet still he tried to hide his accent from me in Colorado (a place known for its near-neutral American accent). Why?

We grew close. I came to know when he spoke from the heart, or the bottle, based on how much drawl slipped into his voice. While I became affectionate of it, he did not like the accent til his dying day.

Your voice leads you. It represents you. It leaves as much impression about who you are as the shape of your face or your smell. Is any consideration of beauty complete without thinking about your voice?

Juliet Binoche’s voice won my fascination in the movie, “Dan in Real Life.” It wasn’t the tone — it was her accent, faint as a perfume.

The film credits listed someone as “Ms. Binoche’s accent coach.” This intrigued me all the more. I assume the coaching was to fade her foreign accent, not to give her one. But it doesn’t matter which way the labor ran — the result of the accent coach work was enchanting.

Why Change Your Voice?

The voice is an integral part of who we are. Changing it is as personal and intense as plastic surgery. Yet our voice leads us. It represents us. When is it worth changing?

The voice is an integral part of who we are. Changing it is as personal and intense as plastic surgery.

Should only the Hollywood stars worry about “improving” their speaking voice? Or is there something to mimic here? Your voice has character. Like any other beauty routine or self-improvement practice, the goal is to bring out your best, not to change who you are.

As such, I believe paying attention to the aesthetic of your speaking voice can improve your life.

Reason #1: Your voice represents you.

Voice helps people connect immediately and remember you forever. The best is if you’ve got a signature sound (think Elvis, think Marilyn Monroe)!

It’s worth working on fitness, cleanliness, and style. So it has to be at least as worthwhile to work on the way you sound. (Tips in the last section).

Reason #2: You might be needlessly speaking in the annoying part of your vocal range — at work and at play.

I’m not a star, but my voice affects my career: I’m a pilot. The week I lost my voice, I couldn’t work! Being able to speak on the radios is that key.

I haven’t been flying long. Yet, I’ve already heard many coworkers comment on Air Traffic Control, copilot, and most of all, female voices on the radio.

The opinions are not always flattering.

I’m a woman, so believe me, I’ve taken a note. Yet, it would be a lie to say pilots are the first men to complain about ‘screeching’ women. Dates have talked about this, too: the way a screeching voice shuts them down and turns them off. A shrill laugh sends them running.

On the other hand, people love a mellifluous voice. I’ve known more than one copilot on certain routes to share he hopes to hear “the sexy ATC controller on tonight.”

Hey, being able to make your voice sexy is a tool for the tool kit. Why not learn it? (See the next section for Paul Waggener’s thoughts on how men, specifically, can do this).

I can say one thing for sure. I don’t want to be a screecher. I want to be understood and a pleasure to be around. I don’t need to sound sexy to do it and neither do you — but sounding confident and clear? Yes!

Reason #3: People may be working too hard to understand your pronunciation/to ignore your distracting tone.

People will find any reason to dismiss you, but we try to give them as little cause as possible.

Failure to communicate can be disastrous. In my industry, something as simple as modulating my tone could save a life. In other lines of work, a great speaking voice could mean more sales, more productive business discussions, and shorter meetings.

People will find any reason to dismiss you, but we try to give them as little cause as possible.

Working on your speaking voice is a courtesy. It improves communications at the most fundamental level. Everybody wins.

Men, Too

Paul Waggener is a content creator who provides self-help for men, among other topics. Mr. Waggener once advised that a man “keep the bass note” in his voice whenever speaking. This helps him radiate confidence and strength.

A man, like a woman, can tune his vocal pitch to convey desirable traits. This becomes a social boost for him every time he opens his mouth.

A man, like a woman, can tune his vocal range to convey desirable traits.

Should You Change Your Voice?

I’m a pilot, not a movie star. You might be anything at all, dear reader. But if we can make our talk sound good, we help those around us hear what we are saying. I’d rather have my message heard more than the way I’m saying it.

I’d rather have my message heard more than the way I’m saying it.

If you have an accent, it is a beautiful part of you. And there is no wrong type of voice. But whether your voice is bass or soprano, accented or local… do people respond well to how you use it?

If you have a heavy accent or sound abrasive, some self-improvement might make your life easier. It might make your communications in and out of the workplace more pleasant. Your personal life and your career might go further.

A little accent is charming around the world. But too much accent and people think it’s too hard to talk with you. Screech and they’ll recoil. Lose the bass note, and they’ll doubt.

How to Get Started

Build up self-awareness of how you speak.

Does it distract people from what you say? Does it add any positive subtext to what you’re saying (confident, pleasant…)?

Look up YouTube videos on these topics:

How to speak your sentences with a declarative tone, instead of a question-mark tone

Vocal fry (Note: controversial)

Experiment in real life.

Good places to practice are stores, restaurants, and conversations with friends and family. If you’d rather play with your speaking voice in private, record yourself talking and play it back to yourself.

Try these things:

• Speak slower (when you bring your cadence down, you draw people in)
• Speak louder
• Speak in a lower tone
• Speak in a higher pitch
• Speak with and without a smile
• Exaggerate vocal fry, then test removing all your vocal fry
• End your sentences in a declarative (downward) tone.

If you have an accent, these two tips will help soften it.

1. Practice making the sounds of your second language’s alphabet. Not words, just the most simple phonetic sounds as a native speaker forms them. There are video resources online to help.
2. Read along with audiobooks, then practice reading small passages yourself the exact way the narrator sounded.

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Take control of your voice. It’s a self-development tip and a beauty tip. It’ll help you take charge of your life!

Your sound is part of your unique appeal. Make it shine.