I cringe at the sound of my own recorded voice. Is this a common experience? It sounds so much better in my head and I am horrified about how other people must hear me.
I think that’s very common.
I hate the sound of my voice, I don’t like hearing people say my name (my full name,) you name it.
I don’t even recognise my own voice, so I can’t spot it quickly enough to cringe.
Very common.
It’s extremely common, but you might actually have a horrible voice.
Here’s the incident that prompted the thread. I called in to a local radio show yesterday and listened the the podcast this morning. I come on at 40:00.
http://www.wypr.org/podcast/midday-dan-rodricks-5-18-11-hour-1-energy-efficiency
Give me some brutal honesty. If my voice is nearly as bad as I think it is I should work on it.
You sound perfectly normal to me. No impediments, no annoying qualities.
For what it’s worth, I too hate the sound of my voice, both in my head and on a recording, but I’ve had three people at different times in my life approach me and say I should do voice-over work because my voice is apparently so nice. Maybe we all hate the sounds of our voices because we have to hear them all the time.
I don’t dislike your voice at all. It’s not bad or even especially noteworthy at all. The caller after you seemed a little unpleasantly nasally, however. 
FWIW, I also hate the sound of my voice and cringe whenever I hear it on recordings. I think its because it sounds so foreign to the voice we normally hear by virtue of the acoustics of our own head.
The sound reverberates through the bones and sounds different. Nobody’s voice sounds the way it sounds in their head.
And it is likely the disparity that makes you think the other voice sounds wrong. Heck, to me, I sound like I have a lisp, but everyone tells me I don’t.
Your voice sounds fine, BTW. It’s only the phone that makes it sound weird.
I have this problem too. Oddly, though, I was a radio DJ in college, and when I could hear my voice through the headphones, I could make it sound really good.
I used to make fun of the goofy, hickish way one of my wife’s friends (a male) talks. One day, listening to our phone messages I suddenly realized that the goofy voice I was hearing wasn’t her friend but a message I had left earlier in the day and had forgotten about. Oops. Apparently I sound exactly like the just like the guy I think sounds funny. Now, I wonder what it sounded like when I mocked his silly voice?
Perfectly fine voice (assuming you are a man.) I know plenty of people with similar voices. There is some distortion from the phone/podcast recording. I’m guessing you don’t normally have an electronic warble to your voice.
No, don’t feel bad, I hate mine too, I sound fine to myself, but when I hear a recording, I sound about 50 IQ points dumber. You sound fine!
Well thanks for the validations. It’s just shocking how much more nasal I sound. In my head my voice is a lot more even and a bit deeper.
You may also be altering your voice unconsciously just because you’re on the phone. I’ve noticed that I pitch my voice higher or lower depending on the situation, but it’s not something I do deliberately. You may very well speak more evenly and deeply in face-to-face conversation.
To the world I sound like Snagglepus. In fact, every now and then someone comments on it. But from my point of view it’s a great voice. How can I correct something I can’t hear?
I have a horrible voice and a lisp. I hate talking.
Heavens to murgatroid!
I was interviewed by the local news last night at the dog park. When I saw myself I thought I looked and sounded absolutely horrible. But everyone said I sounded good. I think it’s common to hate our own voices.