7 Chapter 7: Vocalics

Excerpt from: “A smile in someone’s voice.”

The reason that I’m nervous in person is because people can see me and, as such, they know things about me that I don’t even know about myself. I don’t know what people look like. If you haven’t been blind since birth, it’s hard to understand this, but I want you to think about it: I don’t know what a face looks like, so I don’t know what faces do. I’ve never seen a single wink, shrug, or smile. All I’ve ever seen is brightness and darkness. I understand the essence of black and white only by their absence in each other.

I perceive the world through my ears. Most everything that happens makes a sound of some sort, and I use those sounds to find things. It’s called echolocation. If I click my tongue against the roof of my mouth, the soundwaves from the click travel around the room and bounce off all manner of objects. I can hear walls, cars, people, trees, and pretty much anything else that is at the level of my ear when the sound bounces back to me. I am, essentially, a giant wingless bat, and I’m not ashamed of my unsettling nature!

Even though I can’t see how someone looks, I can hear expressions in the tone of their voices. It’s what any sighted person tries to do when they’re on a phone call, but we blind people do it constantly, and we’re good at it. Barely concealed undertones can describe what a person really thinks of you. I can tell when someone is faking an emotion. I can hear a smile in someone’s voice, and the same goes if they’re worried or sad. True happiness is very difficult to fake. I pay attention because I always hope to make the people, I love happy.

– Shane Lowe, author (pictured above)

What a powerful testimony and reminder about the importance of our voice. The study of variations in the voice that impact communication is called vocalics or paralanguage (meaning with-language). In this chapter we will cover several aspects that contribute to the way we use our voice to communicate specific information: the physiology of the vocal cords, vocal and verbal congruency, variations in vocal elements (e.g. pitch, tone…), prosody, personality, and culture/ co-cultural information.

 Anatomy of the Voice

The vocal cords, also known as the vocal folds, are two bands of muscle and connective tissue located in the larynx. They play a crucial role in the production of speech and sound. Air passing through the vocal cords causes them to vibrate against each other hundreds of times per second and produce sound. However, the voice box isn’t the only system affecting the sound of a voice. It is also affected by the resonating system or vocal tract, which includes the throat, oral cavity, and nasal passages. Listen to the video for an explanation of the way air affects the voice and ways to make your voice more resonance through breath. 

Vocal and Verbal Incongruency  

Mehrabian studied inconsistencies between the spoken word and the voice. He found that when the verbal words were positive, but the tone was negative individuals believed their negative assessment. However, this is the opposite with medical physicians. When an M.D. gives a negative assessment in a positive tone, patients believe the negative words spoken, irrespective of their positive tone. This research is dated, though. As a matter of fact, much of the research on vocal and verbal incongruency is older than 10 years. Many events have transpired since this research. 

However, more recent anecdotal evidence is available. In 2022, Tamara Thompson, a Marriage and Family therapist, states that it all matters, word, tone, and other nonverbal cues. She frequently tells clients “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it” because tone tends to be an issue in sessions more than other types of nonverbal communication. She writes about an experience she had during a couple’s therapy session. In this particular account, she had been working with a couple in one of her recent sessions. During the session, one partners says “I love you babe, I know we will work this out, we have the tools, so we will get through this.” She goes on to explain that these were the exact right words that needed to be said. You likely read the words with the same warmth, passion, and hope as I did when I first read them. However, what she doesn’t explain until later is that when the words were said, it was delivered in a monotone voice with no expression. Read those words again, except this time read them the way they were actually delivered, without any vocal inflection “I love you babe, I know we will work this out, we have the tools, so we will get through this.” You likely interpreted it as dismissive as I did and as the recipient did. One of the recipient’s responses was “if you don’t mean it, please don’t share it.” They were hurt and confused. However, the original communicator was also hurt and confused by the recipient’s response. Thompson goes on to explain that many times we don’t realize how we are actually saying something, and this inability or unawareness can increase conflict and tension in our relationships.

Prosody

Read the following sentence: Woman without her man is nothing

The punctation was intentionally removed for you to interject your own pauses and emphasis.  What does the sentence mean to you? Which words did you change your pitch for? Where did you pause? Read the sentence again and increase your pitch on the highlighted words and pause at the commas: Woman, without her, man is nothing. Woman without her man, is nothing. These vocal elements create meaning apart from the spoken word.

Merriam-Webster defines prosody, related to vocalics, as the rhythmic and intonational aspect of language. It is sometimes called the music of language. Prosody is the volume used to say a word or parts of a word, the highness or lowness of the sound of our voice when saying a sentence, word or parts of a word, and the length of time we spend on a syllable. Repeat both of the sentences above again and this time pay attention to your loudness, pitch, and duration as you speak.

There are several ways we use our voice to encode meaning and, by the same token, there are several elements we listen to (perhaps even for) when decoding someone’s vocal cues. They include: pitch, tone, rate, volume, accent, resonance, and breathiness. I’d like for you to think of someone in your life (not a celebrity) who has a soothing voice. What do you like about their voice? Is it deep, calm, smooth? Does it have a vibrato? Is it high-pitched? In this next section we will talk about those variations. Specifically, we will cover pitch, volume, and rate.

 Pitch, Volume, and Rate

Much of the research on vocalics includes pitch, tone, volume, and rate; few look at each of these elements individually, if at all. Therefore, it is important to understand that they are interdependent; however, we will discuss them separately below.

Pitch is the highness or lowness of a voice. It is determined by a person’s physiology: vocal folds vibrate and create high or low sounds. The tenser the vocal cords, the faster the folds vibrate; the faster the folds vibrate, the higher the pitch. High-pitched voices are rated differently than low-pitched voices, but there are variables that affect those perceptions. For example, women’s vocal cords tend to be tighter and vibrate faster. Therefore, women tend to have higher-pitched voices.  Actors and singers alike are taught to relax their throats in order to create a lower pitch when speaking or singing. One of my favorite actors is Morgan Freeman; I love to listen to his voice. I was surprised to learn that he actually developed his acting voice. The video is a Conan O’Brien interview of Morgan Freeman. In it he talks about his vocal transformation (the discussion begins at 1:06).

Volume refers to the perceived loudness or softness of the voice and significantly impacts the message you are trying to send. The volume of our voice communicates our emotions, intentions, and can even provide social cues for others. It can also indicate conflict styles. Moderate volume is associated with assertive conflict styles, whereas increased volume is associated with aggressive communication styles and softer volume with passive conflict styles. The use of these often determines whether conflict will increase or de-escalate. Winer et al. (2023) studied the impact of vocalics (including volume) to determine perceptions and relational outcomes. They had male and female actors portray a conversation between students, in which conflict was escalating. They then had participants identify the vocalics of the speaker (passive, assertive, or aggressive cues) their impressions of the speaker, and their reactions. They found that the assertive style (moderate volume, moderate pitch, even inflection and rate) was perceived as more positive and appropriate. Likewise, better relational outcomes were associated with the assertive voice. 

Rate is the speed at which someone speaks. We typically speak between 140 – 180 words per minute; however, we think at about 400 -500 words per minute. This thought speech deferential affects the way that we listen. Novice speakers are taught to vary their rate when they speak, but to slow down some when covering complex material and increase their speaking rate at various moments to improve credibility with their audience. Rate was also variable in Winer et al.’s study above. Faster rates were associated with aggression, moderate rates of speaking associated with assertion, slower speaking rates were associated with passiveness. Liu et al. (2020) studied physician speech rates and patient satisfaction in online health visits. They found that faster (but not too fast) speech rates resulted in greater patient satisfaction. However, speech rates that were too fast were rated very negatively.

Vocal Cues and Personality

Extroverts, compared to introverts, tend to speak more fluently. They use shorter pauses during speaker transitions and they also speak faster and louder. Extroverts will talk more and take up more speaking time when talking.

Anxiety also impacts our voice. Pitch increases during times of stress or anxiety. Voice science reports that the vibratory pattern of the vocal folds respond differently in the presence of physiological and emotional changes, or during times of stress and arousal, when making the “ah” sound (Kreiman & Sidtis, 2011). This knowledge has led scientists to use the “ah” as an independent variable when studying stress in the voice. There are two types of anxiety we may have: state or trait. State anxiety is a result of the situation. For example, being called on to speak during class. Trait anxiety is a more general, long-standing, predisposition to be anxious. Research studying state/ trait anxiety, trauma, and adult participant’s uttering the “ah” sound, strongly suggests a relationship between childhood trauma and the voice (Monti et al., 2021). Other work is being done on voice and trauma. For further study on state/ trait anxiety, trauma and the voice, see Vocal Manifestations of Reported Past Trauma, by Diana Rose Becker (2019).

Culture and co-culture

Gender

Women’s voices are generally higher than men’s because their vocal cords are smaller and thinner. Hormones also impact the vocal cords: testosterone during puberty in males cause the vocal cords to lengthen and thicken, resulting in a deeper pitch. The physiological differences are not the only factors between men and women’s voices. Tian et al. (2024) studied the impact that higher pitched female voices had on heterosexual men’s risk taking behavior. They had participants wear a VR and complete the “Stoplight Task” – a task that simulates driving in a realistic, albeit virtual environment. There were pre-recorded female voices that guided the participants along their driving route. Participants were told that their goal was to reach the end as quickly as possible; they would encounter a series of stoplights along their way. They could choose to stop or proceed through the yellow light. In some instances, proceeding through a yellow light resulted in a crash, which delayed them further. They were guided by either a lower or higher pitched female voice; the guidance included “Approaching the intersection” at 100m away; “Proceed” when the light turned green; “An accident has occurred, please wait” when an accident occurred; and “You may proceed” 6 seconds after the crash. They found that male risk taking behavior increased when guidance was given by a higher-pitched female voice. Higher pitched voices impact risk taking behaviors, but what about our leaders? Research has clearly shown over the years that voters tend to support candidates with lower-pitched voices and a preference has been shown for leaders with lower voices (Tigue et al., 2012).

Foreign and regional accents

In a survey of 1,000 Americans, and their perceptions on accents, individuals indicated a preference for classic British accents more than any other accent (Zajechowski, 2024). There are several British accents, but classic Queen’s English is spoken in cities such as Oxford or Cambridge. They so on to state that the top three foreign accents are British, Australian, and Irish. There are more than 30 dialects in the United States that affect the accents in those areas. The three most preferred American accents within the United States are, ranked in order of preference, classic Southern, New York, and Midwestern. There are several southern accents, but classic southern is what you hear spoken in states like Mississippi or Louisiana. Other interesting findings emerged from the survey. For example, the sexiest American accent is, once again, southern. However, the southern accent is also rated among the most annoying, tied with a Boston accent. And the smartest? Nope, not a southern accent this time – a Northeastern accent. The most attractive celebrity accents (in ranked order): Idris Elba, Sean Connery, Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie, and Emma Watson.

Summary

It is clear to see that our voice plays a pivotal role in the meaning we communicate with others. Vocal and verbal congruency is an important part of effective communication. Incongruencies between the two can result in great misunderstanding and mistrust in relationships. It is a fact that we don’t often think about how we sound, although we should pay more attention to the way we encode information through our voice. Paying attention to the pitch, volume, rate, and emphasis we place on syllables and words can help us improve our communication with others. Anxiety, stress, and trauma affect our vocal cords and the way we produce sound – often resulting a higher pitch. There are also physiological differences between men and women’s voices, as well as behavioral influences (higher risk taking) of men exposed to high-pitched women’s voices and we prefer our leaders to have lower-pitched voices. Last, accents have an impact on perceived credibility and trustworthiness, with Americans preferring a classic British accent more than any other.

Works Cited

Adam, C. (Aug. 7, 2021). How to make your Voice more resonant. Voice What Matters.   YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=173Jdo57_qo&t=281s.

Becker, D. R. (2019). Vocal Manifestations of Reported Past Trauma. University of Pittsburgh, Open Dissertations.  ddu.oai.d.scholarship.pitt.edu.36599.

Dobson, R. (2002). Dulcet tones of a surgeon’s voice may have a hidden meaning. British Journal of Medicine. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7359.297/a

Elba, I. (April 25, 2024). Idris Elba Answers the Web’s Most Searched Questions. Wired. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjO1MNfZkDo

Fesharaki, F. (2019). Nonverbal communication of pharmacists during counseling leading to patient satisfaction: evidence from Iranian retail market. Atlantic Journal of           Communication, 27, 1, pp. 62-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2019.1540241.

Hemsworth, C. (Sept. 5, 2020). The Chris Hemsworth Video You Need. Netflix. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfySIkxdBDw

Kreiman, J. & Sidtis, D. (2011). Perception of emotion and personality from voice. Wiley Blackwell, UK.

Liptscutz, N. (2024, December 1). The Subtle Ways Culture Affects the Way We Communicate.  Natsuyo Lipschutz.  https://natsuyolipschutz.us/the-subtle-ways-culture-affects-the   waywecommunicate

Louisville Story Program. (October 12, 2023). Excerpt: “A smile in someone’s voice.” https://www.louisvillestoryprogram.org/news/excerpt-a-smile-in-someones-voice

Liu, S., Zhang, M. Gao, B. & Jiang, G. (2020). Physician voice characteristics and patient satisfaction in online health consultation. Information & Management, 57, 5.    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2019.103233.

Medicine Man. (1992). Clip from Medicine Man. Moviesoundclips.net. https://www.moviesoundclips.net/sound-clip.php?id=3182

Monti, E., D’Andrea, W., Freed, S., Kidd, D. C., Feuer, S., Carroll, L. M., & Castano, E. (2021).  Does Self-Reported Childhood Trauma Relate to Vocal Acoustic Measures? Preliminary Findings at Trauma Recall. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 45(3), 389–408.      https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-020-00355-x

O’Brien, C. (2007, September 17). Interview with Morgan Freeman. Late Night with Conan O’Brien. National Broadcasting Corporation.

Robbie, M. (Dec. 5, 2023). Margot Robbie on Barbie. Variety Magazine. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@varietymagazine/video/7308888302424296746?lang=en

Thompson, T. (March 21, 2022). Couples, Your Tone May be Ruining Your Communication! Tips to Stop the Confusion! Your Life. Your Story. Your Journey. https://tthompsontherapy.blog/tag/when-tone-of-voice-and-words-dont-match/

Tian, Q., Ding, J., & Guo, J. (2024). The siren’s call: Exploring the impact of female voice pitch  on male risk-taking behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 230.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112808

Tigue, C.C., Borak, D.J., O’Connor, J.M., Schandl, C. & Feinberg, D.R. (2011). Voice pitch influences voting behavior. Evolution and Human Behavior. 33, p. 210-216.    doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2011.09.004

Watson, D. (June 14, 2021). 60-Second Science: Duane Watson on Prosody and Language Comprehension. Beckman Institute at University of Illinois. YouTube.            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Fc6xH-Mg8

Watson, E. (June 22, 2017). English Speech/ Emma Watson: Gender Equality. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIwU-9ZTTJc

What is Prosody? (August 2, 2024). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spemPRr3IYM

Winer, S., Dunbar, N. E., Jordan, J., & Summary, J. J. (2023). Understanding the Effect of Vocal Behaviors in High-Conflict Situations in Personal Relationships. Professional     Psychology: Research and Practice, 54(6), 470–478. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000533.supp

Zajechowski, M. (2024, Oct. 22). Ranked: British accents are the sexiest foreign accent. Preply.