NationStates Jolt Archive

In formal settings, you can count on a consistent and sizable number of people relying on The Voice - a device that I would roughly define as the intentional modulation of one's natural speaking voice based on the perception that some situation calls for it, in the absence of any explicit proscription for or against using it. It's something you probably hear every day at work, and it annoys me, even if I know that it shouldn't.

So, how do you deal with The Voice? Do you use it? Do you find it to be an appropriate sign of professional respect and/or courtesy, or does something about it just ring false in your ear? Maintaining social distance from coworkers is important, but the sort of contrivance involved in using The Voice seems to damage my nerves, given prolonged exposure. I instinctually interpret The Voice as insincere, patronizing or otherwise condescending, and I'm almost certainly wrong, but just because I'm wrong in my reasoning doesn't mean I'm wrong in concluding that The Voice is essentially offensive. So I thought I'd do what I often and increasingly do: seek an outside opinion and, in this case, post a poll, just to make sure I'm not out of my mind (a dismaying necessity, maybe, but it is what it is). So here it goes. Thanks in advance for your input. :)

What the fuck are you on about?

What the fuck are you on about?

Do you use a voice at work or in other formal settings that is significantly different from your normal speaking voice? It varies as much as people vary, but that's The Voice, generally speaking, to me.

Do you use a voice at work or in other formal settings that is significantly different from your normal speaking voice? It varies as much as people vary, but that's The Voice, generally speaking, to me.

Not that I'm aware of, or at least it's not noticably different as to be assigned status as a proper noun.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

Yes! Or... no! Or... three! Or... well, actually I dunno whatcha babbling about... :( :p

It's something you probably hear every day at work, I've only heard it in a few types of establishments. Banks, libraries, and strangely, fabric stores are what come to mind first.

I've made a point of avoiding working in these places (even more than I avoid employment as a whole). Forced-quiet speaking makes me want to run for the doors even as a customer. It's not a shrine, for Pete's sakes!

I did have a manager at a grocery store who used a phony soft voice when giving orders, and it drove me nuts. But I was able to turn the irritation back on her, because I don't hear at 100%. So if she spoke too softly, I wouldn't pick up what she said (or sometimes even know that she had said anything), and then whatever she wanted wouldn't happen.

And yes she was definitely being condescending/showing a superiority-complex. She liked to think everyone was hanging onto her every word as they leaned closer to her (when they were really just trying to hear her at all).

I have found that a fake voice does work well in customer service. I mean the kind of service like at the desk where people take returns. Or if someone barges into the place waving their damaged item in the face of the first employee they run into. Those customers are already angry, and if you don't project a (faked) calm demeanor, they'll yell at you more. But the CS person has to be careful to avoid that condescending attitude, or worse, an attitude of not giving a damn! "Calm but concerned." It can be faker than wings on a pig but it works better than just acting normal. Angry customers do NOT want to see "just normal," because they interpret that as a "meh" reaction.

Not that I'm aware of, or at least it's not noticably different as to be assigned status as a proper noun.

It is for some people. Whether it deserves a name or not, it's there. In some cases it's obvious that someone's using it, and in others it's more subtle, especially if you haven't heard the person speak informally. I've worked with people in the past who sounded almost completely different speaking to me and to other coworkers than they did on the telephone, for example. It's easy to make a direct comparison in those cases.

its also a concept of transactional psychology, where you speak as if a parent to a child rather then equal to equal, usually, hopefully, when it seems like the only way possible to get a point across. again hopefully, only one that is made unarguably necessary by issues of safety and survival. that sort of thing.

Fergi America;14650991']I've only heard it in a few types of establishments. Banks, libraries, and strangely, fabric stores are what come to mind first.

I've made a point of avoiding working in these places (even more than I avoid employment as a whole). Forced-quiet speaking makes me want to run for the doors even as a customer. It's not a shrine, for Pete's sakes!

I did have a manager at a grocery store who used a phony soft voice when giving orders, and it drove me nuts. But I was able to turn the irritation back on her, because I don't hear at 100%. So if she spoke too softly, I wouldn't pick up what she said (or sometimes even know that she had said anything), and then whatever she wanted wouldn't happen.

And yes she was definitely being condescending/showing a superiority-complex. She liked to think everyone was hanging onto her every word as they leaned closer to her (when they were really just trying to hear her at all).

I have found that a fake voice does work well in customer service. I mean the kind of service like at the desk where people take returns. Or if someone barges into the place waving their damaged item in the face of the first employee they run into. Those customers are already angry, and if you don't project a (faked) calm demeanor, they'll yell at you more. But the CS person has to be careful to avoid that condescending attitude, or worse, an attitude of not giving a damn! "Calm but concerned." It can be faker than wings on a pig but it works better than just acting normal. Angry customers do NOT want to see "just normal," because they interpret that as a "meh" reaction.

Aha. Now we're on the same page. :) I did figure that in customer service jobs, the voice might be mandated or otherwise encouraged, as it was when I worked for a butcher as a kid, and in retail, etc. I worked that into my definition of The Voice above, for that reason. What baffles me is how it persists in still-formal but definitely-non-customer service fields, such as at my last job. I constantly wanted to shake the person in front of me and say "please - just use your normal voice." Too strange.

Where I work "The Voice" is necessary since we have 13 radio stations running simultaneously with live DJ's talking on microphones every 5-20 minutes, constant ringing phones, and sometimes literally dozens of visitors every day. I don't mind it...

I think it's fine to deliberately modulate the voice sometimes. It can be self-indulgent, it can be overweening, and yes it can be outright offensive. But it can also be very touching, it can convey love, it can be playful and humorous. The deliberate modulation of the voice, like the wide grin or the extravagant gesture, allows insight into the speaker's real feelings.

We tolerate the deliberate modulation of the speaking voice. Well, most of us do. It's called "singing," and most people find some kind of singing pleasant.

Hooray for lyricism! Hooray for being able to turn it off!

Do you use a voice at work or in other formal settings that is significantly different from your normal speaking voice? It varies as much as people vary, but that's The Voice, generally speaking, to me.

My voice varies significantly from time to time depending on the occasion. Accent too. All of them happen both in formal and informal occasions. I don't have a special voice.

I think it's fine to deliberately modulate the voice sometimes. It can be self-indulgent, it can be overweening, and yes it can be outright offensive. But it can also be very touching, it can convey love, it can be playful and humorous. The deliberate modulation of the voice, like the wide grin or the extravagant gesture, allows insight into the speaker's real feelings.

We tolerate the deliberate modulation of the speaking voice. Well, most of us do. It's called "singing," and most people find some kind of singing pleasant.

Hooray for lyricism! Hooray for being able to turn it off!

That makes sense. The variety I'm not a fan of is the kind designed to mask your actual sentiments at all times, rather than to express them. It's good to be impersonal at work, but you owe your coworkers just a bit of honesty about your intentions, I think. There's a difference between being impersonal and being unresponsive, and I think The Voice pushes people into the second category.

No, because I speak in clipped tones (most of the time) or a pretty bland, posh scottish accent (if I've chatted to someone scottish in the last day or so), both of which are fine for any environment.

You're The Voice, try and understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o!
We're not gonna sit in silence
We're not gonna live with fear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o!

Someone had to...

You're The Voice, try and understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o!
We're not gonna sit in silence
We're not gonna live with fear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o!

Someone had to...

I think I'm either too old or too young to get the reference. Heh. :tongue:

I think I'm either too old or too young to get the reference. Heh. :tongue:

Probably not Australian enough, which is no bad thing.

In terms of the OP, I never adjust my voice, even for children, which I find they appreciate.