Old Person's Voice...

[Atheist]

I've started recording a reading of my first chapter, and my voice has become that of an old man. It's rather sweet, but I hadn't realised what I had become. I hear lots of old people with wavery or wheezy or doddery voices, but I didn't realise that I had gone a bit that way myself. I feel young and virile.
How do ABers feel? And does it matter?

[Stableford]

Yes, it's an interesting point, Atheist. It was observed by Shakespeare in the play 'As you Like it'- I think he said, speaking about the advancing years, "and his big manly voice, turning again, 'twards childish treble, pipes and whistles in its sound." So, it's been a phenomenon for a long time. And can come as a surprise, as you say, when we hear our voices being played back to us. Whether it matters is totally subjective- it doesn't matter, unless it does! ;)

[Atheist]

Stableford; BA if no-one better turns up.

[Stableford]

Hey, give then time, Atheist! And you're definitely not alone I'm feeling the way you do. It is perfectly natural to be uncomfortable with the way your voice sounds. I have always hated my own voice, despite a lifetime of public speaking, and never had any criticism- it's one of the things which make us unique. I don't think I will ever love my voice, but just grateful I am able to speak- it's a gift which is denied to many.

[Atheist]

I have also hated my voice all my life; but hearing it now I wonder if I should take up singing again - but for that I'd need to write some songs and I'm not sure I'd be up to it.
What public speaking did you do?

[Sqad]

When you speak, you hear the vibrations through your skull bones which is then interpreted through you brain.

When your hear your recorded voice, the skull bones are bypassed and the pathway is through your eardrum and bones insside your middle ear.......this pathway continues to the brain and is interpreted differently.

The bone conduction is known as .....bone conduction and the trans eardrum route is known as Air Conduction.

The brain translates the two methods of transmission, differently.

[Atheist]

Thanks, Sqad, for your interesting contribution.

[NYAD]

Last year, a few months after some surgery, I was holding my arms out together in front of me. I mentioned to my daughter that the arm subjected to the surgery "looks like an old lady's arm". She responded, "It is an old lady's arm".

[gness]

I feel young and virile, Atheist but I now get a bit breathless half way through my party piece of an Irish reel and I can't leap the farm gate anymore.
Your voice is you now. Don't try to change it....don't be false. We are what we are in different stages of life and I think that matters.

[Stableford]

I did public speaking throughout my working life, mainly in the form of addressing conferences, and also as a charity volunteer, as well as some at my church. I never grew to like my born voice, but learnt to live with it. Keep going, and don't give a second thought to what other people think.

[Ken4155]

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can.
Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it.
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Baz Luhrmann

[Barmaid]

No, it doesn't matter. It's what you are saying that is important. And if you have family, they will treasure the sound of your voice when you are no longer around.

I hate the sound of my own voice, but I have had to be recorded quite a bit. A recent recording of a speech I did at a wedding had me cringing, but it was well received by the audience.

Try and think of it as a voice of experience. You will naturally be critical of yourself but others will appreciate it.

[chanel5]

Sqad's explanation is the best information I've received for a long time as I've often puzzled about that very process.
I think changes in our voice as we age contribute to the way others perceive us as oldies. A wavery voice is interpreted as evidence that the owner of the voice is in some way less capable, and less cognitively aware.
It has annoyed me for a long time, also.

[Atheist]

Thanks for all replies. I'm not worried about it, I just found it interesting.