# 10 Best and Worst Speaking Voices **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725 "2011-04-17T15:06:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/81 "2011-04-20T19:13:23Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > The guy who narrates Frontline (although he also narrated some idiotic show about Russia’s Roswell, but a guy’s gotta eat…). I like him on Frontline, but I found his narration of the movie [Little Children](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404203/) really distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Tyrannosaurus\_Volcano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@Tyrannosaurus\_Volcano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrannosaurus_Volcano)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/82 "2011-04-21T15:31:31Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > I think I may be alone in that I can’t stand his voice. It sounds like he needs to clear his throat, yet he never does. ☹ Sometimes his voice rubs me the wrong way because it sounds so nasal. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/83 "2011-04-21T17:56:13Z")
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the worst speaking voice I’ve ever heard. Every word he says sounds like he’s on the verge of bursting into tears. Is there something wrong with his vocal chords? Like, did he inhale chlorine gas as a child or something? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/84 "2011-04-21T19:09:49Z")
Best: Genevieve Bujold, Alan Rickman, Peter Coyote, Jeremy Irons, Lauren Bacall Worst: Gloria Allred, Ron Palillo (Horshack), Kathy Ireland and Leslie Abramson ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/85 "2011-04-21T19:58:07Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the worst speaking voice I’ve ever heard. Every word he says sounds like he’s on the verge of bursting into tears. Is there something wrong with his vocal chords? [Yes, there is.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spasmodic_dysphonia) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/86 "2011-04-21T20:09:31Z")
Fran Drescher. /thread ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/87 "2011-04-21T20:32:37Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > [Yes, there is.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spasmodic_dysphonia) Oh. Thank you, I didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![Tyrannosaurus\_Volcano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@Tyrannosaurus\_Volcano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrannosaurus_Volcano)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/88 "2011-05-01T20:00:09Z")
I declare this board is not dead. 😃 Well, it’s been dead for ten days, but I’d like someone to revive it. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/89 "2011-05-02T14:12:49Z")
I was just reminded of someone whose voice I loathe: Shirley Henderson, who played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies. She was exaggerating her voice somewhat there, but she simpers just like that in everything else I’ve seen her in. _I hate that voice._ It makes me want to violence to her, myself, and my neighbors. Horrible hideous heinous. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/90 "2011-05-02T20:53:11Z")
Sarah Vowell. She is witty and insightful. Her voice is awful. [A short story read by her](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03kMyDBdWEM&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/91 "2011-05-03T02:04:01Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > Sarah Vowell. She is witty and insightful. Her voice is awful. > [A short story read by her](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03kMyDBdWEM&feature=related) Oh my god, that _lisp_. She should be barred from speaking in public until her speech therapy is complete. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/92 "2011-05-03T02:12:15Z")
On the same note, David Sedaris. I love the writing that he and Sarah Vowell do, but oh my god, I do not think they are good readers of that work. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/93 "2011-05-03T02:21:43Z")
Cary Grant had a nice voice and killer rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![\_cc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e19b73/32.png) [@\_cc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_cc)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/94 "2011-05-03T03:04:37Z")
I _like_ Fran Drescher’s voice. I couldn’t tell you why, I just do. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/95 "2011-05-03T06:28:32Z")
This thread has gone on for too long without mentioning Stephen Fry for the “best voice” column. [Animated podcast.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/96 "2011-05-03T08:15:33Z")
Who is that irritating Geordie bloke who narrates the UK Big Brother? Whose idea was it to have him do that job? ---
**Author:** ![Tyrannosaurus\_Volcano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@Tyrannosaurus\_Volcano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrannosaurus_Volcano)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/97 "2011-05-03T20:46:54Z")
> [@Tyrannosaurus\_Volcano](#): > > I find Cosell’s voice inherently funny and good-natured, not to mention resonant and sonorous albeit the nasality and borderline grating Dead End accent. And the fact that the things he said were often just annoying (though I always thought it was funny). He just felt the need to mention every single thing an athlete does, and he used an unnecessary vocabulary word whenever possible for him. One thing we can say, however, is that his elocution was impeccable. “Just drop the accent and we’ll forgive you,” some may have said. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/98 "2011-05-03T23:51:57Z")
[Sarah Millican](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HPnVymdLbU). I actually like her, but her voice is uniquely unsettling. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/99 "2011-05-04T02:08:51Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > On the same note, David Sedaris. I’d put David Sedaris and Ira Glass on both the best and the worst male voices list 😃 Both, when I heard them for the first time, were surprising. As in - “this guy is speaking in public? In media?” After becoming devoted followers of both (Sedaris for his writing, Glass for This American Life I can’t imagine anyone else that could fill their roles. They just fit. [David Sedaris](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upXWyZ9Pe3Q). If you haven’t read him, you should. His best, IMO: [Me Talk Pretty One Day](http://www.amazon.com/Me-Talk-Pretty-One-Day/dp/0316776963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304474813&sr=8-1). Hilarious. [Ira Glass](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1TcL0wZ-pM) (This man hosts one of the best radio shows/podcasts in the world :D) ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725/100 "2011-05-04T21:41:59Z")
Best male: Orson Welles George Sanders Herbert Marshall Anton Walbrook Timothy Carey Walter Brennan Henry Fonda Jimmy Stewart Maurice Chevalier Cary Grant ETA: wildcard, Richard Widmark [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-best-and-worst-speaking-voices/578725.md?page=6)