# I can't stand the sound of my own voice **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431 "2011-05-19T11:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/1 "2011-05-19T11:58:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/2 "2011-05-19T12:03:26Z")
I think that’s very common. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/3 "2011-05-19T13:16:42Z")
I hate the sound of my voice, I don’t like hearing people say my name (my full name,) you name it. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/4 "2011-05-19T13:30:52Z")
I don’t even recognise my own voice, so I can’t spot it quickly enough to cringe. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/5 "2011-05-19T13:39:11Z")
Very common. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/6 "2011-05-19T13:40:22Z")
It’s extremely common, but you might actually have a horrible voice. ---
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/7 "2011-05-19T13:51:31Z")
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](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. ---
**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 19, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/8 "2011-05-19T14:26:33Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/9 "2011-05-19T14:43:16Z")
> [@Whiteknight](#): > > 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](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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/10 "2011-05-19T14:45:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/11 "2011-05-19T15:19:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/12 "2011-05-19T15:21:48Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/13 "2011-05-19T15:27:15Z")
> [@Whiteknight](#): > > 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](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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/14 "2011-05-19T15:29:09Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/15 "2011-05-19T15:32:56Z")
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. ---
**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 19, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/16 "2011-05-19T15:44:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/17 "2011-05-19T15:52:23Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Nene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@El\_Nene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Nene)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/18 "2011-05-19T16:02:51Z")
I have a horrible voice and a lisp. I hate talking. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/19 "2011-05-19T16:12:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > 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? Heavens to murgatroid! ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431/20 "2011-05-19T16:20:51Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-stand-the-sound-of-my-own-voice/582431.md?page=2)