A new colleague at work has the loudest speaking voice (and laugh) any of us have ever heard.
I too can get pretty loud, especially in animated discussions – our co-workers often need to tell us, “Guys, guys – we can hear you just fine.”
This all got me wondering: what exactly makes for a loud voice? Is it strong lungs? “Strong” vocal chords? A certain body type? For the record, I’m 5’9", 175 pounds. The loud colleague is about 5’11", with a few more pounds around the middle.
Facts and opinions welcomed.
FU Shakespeare
I’ve been playing the trombone for 20 years. When I want a louder, fuller sound, I push from the diaphragm. Good lung capacity is important as well. Singers do the same thing. When I was first learning to debate, I practiced pushing fom the diaphragm to enhance my voice and project to the back of the auditorium. In short, 1) good lung capacity 2) strong diaphragm muscles 3) Deeper voices voices project better and that depends on the size and shape of the vocal cords.
You can improve the first two, but not the third without surgery.
Oh btw, If you’re doing any google searches, I believe singers call this “chest voice”.
I doubt loud voices have anything at all to do with being “stronger” in some way, especially since I’ve never met a naturally loud person who trains or works on develloping strengths in these areas for recreational purposes - anyone can be loud if they use their voice properly, but only a select few speak in this mode consistently. Sometimes they don’t realize how loud they sound… if opinions are welcome I would wonder about how well some people can hear, and whether they don’t boom things out because they consider that to be a normal volume.
I know that my parents don’t hear very well anymore, and sometimes get me to repeat things. I have to talk loud enough that I feel like I’m almost shouting at them, and if a person with normal hearing stands nearby, it might sound like we’re having an argument due to the volume level. So someone who doesn’t hear very well may just be talking at what they feel is an appropriate volume even though it’s uncomfortable for others; this is especially apparent when the boomer always complains that everyone else mumbles or talks too quietly… far more likely they just don’t hear quite as well as the rest of the “mumbling” population.
There must also be a component to do with the type of sound or wave pattern the person makes - we all know at least one person with a “peircing” voice, or one that carries well even when the person talks quietly. I know a few women with voices like this, who can be sitting across the room and actually talking quietly but you can hear every word. There’s another guy I don’t actually know but who I can detect from inside my house in a good half-block radius when he’s outside and opens his mouth. Not a shouter, but one with a voice that carries far beyond what he realizes. I’ve noticed that the loudest (aka most peircing and annoying) voices tend to be middle to upper range as far as pitch goes.