Do you like your voice?

For a long time, esp. growing up, I hated the sound of my voice: distinct, deep, somewhat hoarse & gravelly though no more now than when I was a kid. Coulda been a good soul screamer, in fact a musician I interviewed told me I spoke like David Johansen of NY Dolls fame. Sans NY accent I might've added, but mercifully I never acquired the harsh nasal inflection of my native midwest, either.

I remember my mother telling me when I rang her up three quarters through my first term at Bristol Uni that my accent had got noticeably more cultured. It was never Cockney but more generic south-east when I was a kid. I suspect that this process may have reversed somewhat in the years since I graduated, but, as I mentioned before, the poshness or otherwise of my voice is not something which concerns me.

Nathalie, does this mean that there is an equivalent of Received Pronunciation, or the Queen's English, in Belgium?

But, other people seem to like it. And sometimes I get paid for using it, so it can't be all bad.

I have a horrible feeling that Louis's description works for me too, except SW instead of SE London. I don't like it much - there's no substance to my voice.

(The reverse has only ever worked for Jeff Buckley. And maybe the Puppini Sisters.)

my singing voice, on the other hand, is pretty damn good, with great range.

I can't sing unless I am imitating (a) Lou Reed, (b) Bob Dylan or (c) Tom Waits.

Interesting. I remember it was deeper than I expected, at least.

also, a slight lisp. or maybe it's not that slight, it tends to vary a lot.

i suppose it'd be nice if it was a bit deeper, though i do a spot-on lou reed circa '68 or so when i sing. can't really do anything but that. i slur and mumble, and have a tendency to talk way too loudly in public. when i'm drunk, i'm a shouter. been likened to craig finn, actually. so, yeah, incredibly annoying. now i hate my voice, thanks a lot. ;_;

However, when I've been on mic in front of crowds (eg doing quizzes) I have got compliments that it is pleasant in such situations -- clearly enunciated without being nagging or intrusive :)

Smoking, yes -- it doesn't make mine raspy, but I think it gives it a silly congested-nose quality.

I don't know exactly what you mean. In the media here it's extremely important you have good diction and you should also be *accent-less*. People should be unable to guess from which region you are. I made the silly mistake of auditioning for a popular radio station. I thought it was more for radio programming, but they made me do a voice test. The pain we (I and the guy from the station) had to go through, listening to my voice.... :-)

Looking forward to hearing Mandee's deep, scratchy vox again soon...

You should hear Ailsa when she talks to me. It's like talking to the Queen.

However, when I've been on mic in front of crowds (eg doing quizzes) I have got compliments that it is pleasant in such situations -- clearly enunciated without being nagging or intrusive :)

It is the one saving feature of my voice, which is otherwise quite nagging and intrusive - annoying if you, like me, have plenty to say for yourself and then eventually get sick of the sound of your own voice because you suspect you sound like Barbara Woodhouse - is that it is very clear and well-enunciated. Therefore speakers of other languages find me easy to understand. My voice is also useful for hailing people far away, and controlling dogs.

Mark, I think I do make an effort when talking to the likes of you and Madchen and Alba - I feel quite scuzzy in comparison with my real voice, which is silly of me, I know. I think I generally think I sound stupider because I don't enunciate terribly clearly. Then when I come across people who do, I feel somewhat inferior, like I haven't quite got the hang of this speaking thing yet.

My mum once told me I adopt totally different voices when talking about different things - I talk about sport in a rougher voice than I talk about what I've eaten in a restaurant, for example. I also find the first few times I meet a new person, I tend to sound quite hoity-toity and "posh" until I suss whether they're OK with me being a scummy old gonk.

Onimo, Grimly and I get the rough as a badger's arse version, obviously.

Mister Monkey talks faster and less distinctly when he is nervous, which of course is really when you need your clear annunciation most. It's great when we go to Paris, because he has excellent French, but loses his nerve and mumbles and no-one can understand him, whereas my French is rubbish, but what little I have I can put out there. So he tells me what to say and I say it, as if I were interpreting for him, although he is clearly speaking French. People in shops there kind of laugh at us a bit.

What do YOU think?

that was supposed to say, if you go to one hour, twenty minutes in this week's show, you can hear my dumb sonic youth story in my dumb southern accent.

My accent is all over the place, I blame all the moving growing up. It changes to suit the person I'm talking to. Like that psychology thing where you mimic the person's movements you are with to make them more comfortable.

I don't think I've ever noticed any trace of Liverpudliness in Mike's voice.

whereas I used to get "I hope your cold gets better soon" when talking to ppl I didn't know on the phone! When I didn't have a cold.