Why are some people softly spoken...

[sleuthiness]

It has a lot to do with control of the vocal cords. Imagine a balloon filled with air, but you're pinching it closed. If you just open end a very little bit, it generates a huge amount of noise with very little air passing through. If you open it more, such that the air passes more freely, the sounds gets quieter. Quiet people tend to have more "breathy" voices and use more air to speak.

Another factor is frequency. Higher frequencies are usually more audible than lower ones. E.g., raising pitch can often make one more easily heard than raising volume, especially if one is in a loud environment.

Interesting points.

Metaphor, though I think you mean indoor/outdoor, inside/outside as pertaining to percentage of physical expressiveness v. internal thought speech could also be a valid explanation, one I'd also personally vouch for.

 

[miss fortune]

my sis is an introvert who has a voice that carries like no other... I'm an extrovert who's always getting told to speak up

I remember one time when we were on vacation my sis and I stayed upstairs in a townhouse and my parents were downstairs... we were chatting quietly in our room upstairs and our parents kept telling my sis to be quiet... she really wasn't talking loudly at all, it's just that her voice carries really, really well

on an interesting note, I've noticed that by speaking quietly I can control a conversation much better than by speaking loudly... people have to be quiet and listen to me when I speak, therefore I'm in control of things

 

[rav3n]

candylandjoe, using indoor and outdoor would be the more explicit terms of what I had intended so there was nothing deeper than what most mothers say to their loud and boisterous children. It's more polite than saying "shut up".

 

[sleuthiness]

If we're going to assume that the majority of mothers use "inside/outside" to some degree, isn't it also fair to assume that most people assign "indoors/outdoors" exclusively to the state of being in or out of a building, in this case a house, presumably all or most of which have doors? Where do you want this thread to go?

 

[rav3n]

In the direction that shiraz will take me which isn't very far.

 

[OrangeAppled]

I tend to be soft spoken, and I relate it to shyness. In classrooms & in public places I tend to be too quiet, so I have to repeat myself & then everyone gets quiet to hear me. However, if I am not feeling shy & am somewhat excited, then I can be a little loud, but still within the realm of normal.

Most of my female family members are LOUD, but the men have quiet voices. My ISFJ mom is the kind who screams in your ear......I hate when she's next to me in a car; we're in an enclosed space - no need to shout!

 

[Lady_X]

While others are loud as f@#k!

Eg. When I worked at a mail center once you could hear this freak of nature of a man from the other side of the room, what I thought was screaming, talking. It was so annoying I wanted to stick a rifle up his ass. Work people said, oh that's just normal, he's always like that. I would understand if he had hearing aid, you know half deaf. But no's this guy you could practically hear everything he said a mile away.

Is it medical or just learned behavior to be softly or loudly spoken?

Because quite frankly I used to be softly spoken too, ah well, I still am by particle degrees. Especially when I get that stoned look on my face and I just haven't got the energy to say diddly.

Experiences.

your posts are hilarious!

um...i think i'm pretty soft spoken most of the time. i think i'm just a lazy speaker or think out loud too much that i don't really care if the other person hears me or maybe i just hate it when people talk loud so i made sure never to be "that person" idk wtf it is sometimes i talk normal style but very often with people close to me i talk in some weird muted rambly mumbly style and i really have no idea why and don't even realize it till they point it out.

 

[Beorn]

While others are loud as f@#k!

HOW DARE YOU!

SOME OF US HAVE VOICE IMMODULATION SYNDROME.

IMAGINE BEING AT A HIGH SCHOOL DANCE AND SINGING ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE:

"AND A LITTLE BIT SOFTER NOW, AND A LITTLE BIT SOFTER NOW, AND A LITTLE BIT SOFTER NOW!"

http://vimeo.com/1913104

 

[skylights]

^ i see your immodulation issues carry over into your typing

i'm a fairly soft-spoken person, usually. sometimes i get a little loud when i'm with people i know very well, or after alcohol. lol!

 

[ScorpioINTP]

I am naturally soft-spoken. I always were rather quiet, and sometimes people tell me to speak up which I find annoying for some reason (though I at least know then that they try to listen to what I say). I don't know why some people are more loud and some more quiet.

Maybe I am drifting away a bit from what you mean, but I also noticed when it comes to phone conversations that some people suddenly speak unreasonable loud when they are on phone. Especially my father starts to nearly yell at the phone which is annoying. I just speak normal and people don't have a problem to understand me on phone, so what for yelling into it, as if they had to yell to the person adequately to the "real" distance?

I couldn't have described myself (or my father) any better.

 

[Amethyst]

For the most part, I'm soft spoken. I try not to be (and usually am not when it comes to greeting people, or there's a reward involved, like a group interview where you do need to stand out, and speeches) and I'm not when I'm comfortable around others, but for the most part, I'm not. I would say a lot of my soft-spokenness came from attempting to spark conversation with others while I was at a time comfortable doing so, and then being shut down entirely because they thought I was weird or they were antisocial or whatever. It never made sense to me when I tried to create ice-breakers before a class would start, like 'Oh, that weather' or whatever, and people would just ignore or look away or sneer, like you're not supposed to talk or something. I notice now in my classes this semester it's not like that as much, but people say that when they meet me or barely know me, I'm the most quiet and shy soft spoken person they have ever met.

 

[Synapse]

I just learned something when I focus I talk better, like when reading a passage. When I am out of focus I start speaking strongly then end in a fizz with the pronunciation. Also want to know how different accents affect the level of voice speaking and how much. You know when you have that lilt to your voice its interesting. As soon as I am interested in a topic my voice does change to a more legible tone. I mean yes I can talk softly and I do but I should be able to talk reasonably audibly with the way the intonation goes and there is something that is definitely holding, like a clinching. I've always had sinus issues though so that would add to it. Yes being softly spoken may be learned but I also have to say its a combination of factors that might be there that aren't considered and I want to explore that. I mean its too unnatural that clarity goes the way it does sometimes.

Speaking of which how different do people sound on the phone and in person, there I find that intonations are remarkably different as well. I sound more heavier and in person more lighter speaking.

Also when I am out of my depth my voice turns into a mouse too.

 

[wildcat]

While others are loud as f@#k!

Eg. When I worked at a mail center once you could hear this freak of nature of a man from the other side of the room, what I thought was screaming, talking. It was so annoying I wanted to stick a rifle up his ass. Work people said, oh that's just normal, he's always like that. I would understand if he had hearing aid, you know half deaf. But no's this guy you could practically hear everything he said a mile away.

Is it medical or just learned behavior to be softly or loudly spoken?

Because quite frankly I used to be softly spoken too, ah well, I still am by particle degrees. Especially when I get that stoned look on my face and I just haven't got the energy to say diddly.

Experiences.

Of energy.

Extraversion: High input.
Introversion: Low input.
J: Conservation.
P: Consumption.

 

[nolla]

I just learned something when I focus I talk better, like when reading a passage.

This is interesting. It's like, when I am actually reading something out loud, I must not focus too much, or I will start to mess up the words that I am saying and the words I am reading. It's like I am reading a bit ahead of what I am saying, and if I focus too much I start to jump over some words (saying what I am reading instead of what I should be saying)

But I know what you mean. I start to use really fancy words when I focus on what I am saying... but yeah, I speak very clearly then (If people understand the words).

I should be able to talk reasonably audibly with the way the intonation goes and there is something that is definitely holding, like a clinching. I've always had sinus issues though so that would add to it.

You know, I had this short course in throat singing some years ago, and the thing I realized there was that it is really very hard for anyone to just let their voice do what it is meant to do. The teacher (funny japanese guru-type) told us "You need to throw out your voice!" And I kinda understood what he meant, but it was extremely difficult. I think it is learned behavior to restrict the voice. I think this comes from the idea that shouting is bad manners. When was the last time you shouted as loud as you could?

 

[Synapse]

When was the last time you shouted as loud as you could?

Middle of the night sometime in a car when I was working a late night shift where none could hear. I tried to yell and scream as much as I could out of frustration. And my voice constricted, dried up and I could taste a bit of blood. I did yell but it wasn't at full booming capacity. Its strange its a bit like long distance running, afterwords I am out of breath and can taste blood and phlegm.

 

[nolla]

What kind of posture you have? You stand/sit straight or somehow a little collapsed? Or is it very rigid?

 

[Synapse]

What kind of posture you have? You stand/sit straight or somehow a little collapsed? Or is it very rigid?

I slouch when I sit. I stand loose when I stand, a bit fidgety. Tries to sit straight but more collapsed.

 

[nolla]

Yeah, I slouch too... been trying to stretch in order to at least sometimes get the spine in the correct position. I think it has a lot to do with the lungs functioning. I can notice it having an effect. Have you ever tried Chi Kung? I should be doing them, they are real good exercises for this...

 

[uumlau]

Or just try dancing.

 

[Dali]

I read Tallulah's comment and remembered something else. In classical singing, voices are split into various categories based on vocal range, vocal weight, colour and tessitura (comfortable singing range) (amongst other parameters). One prime parameter is vocal weight; namely, the 'heaviness' or 'lightness' of a particular voice. Lyric voices (lyric tenors, lyric sopranos, lyrics basses... et al) typically have a smoother, more mellow and 'lighter' voices than dramatic voices which tend to be richer, more powerful and all around 'bigger' voices. Singers are cast in roles based on their vocal types. Hence, a lyric-soprano trying to sing the role of Salome will be just about inaudible in the massive orchestration which that opera requires and, conversely, a dramatic-soprano trying to sing the role of Adina will pretty much be akin to a bull in a china shop and not gel with the delicate aural textures of that particular opera. I digress, dramatic-voiced singers have naturally thicker vocal cords which are necessary to produce the more powerful sound. I suspect that many of these people that are soft-spoken have 'lyric' voices with thinner-vocal cords and the uber-loud folks are some of these 'dramatic' voiced types who may be not entirely cognisant of just how bloody loud they are. lol

Of course, projection and tessitura (when speaking) play a part too.

I just don't have a naturally loud voice. I learned to project when I was doing theatre, and I speak decently loudly in the classroom. I wish my voice was naturally louder, especially for singing purposes. I sing in a band, and our other singer is as loud as an electric guitar. I get drowned out very easily. It's annoying.