You've probably heard of resting bitch face, where someone's neutral facial expression looks like they're scoffing or sneering or being mildly or extremely irritated by what's in front of them.
Have you also considered that you (or others) may have a resting bitch voice, where their your speaking voice sounds like you're annoyed, aloof, condescending, whiny, bitchy or some other irritating affectation? Because you might.
The problem with judging this by yourself is that you don't really hear your voice as others hear it, so you can't really judge it "live" and can't really tell. And when you record your voice (when you're singing/podcasting/screwing around, or simply to find out what your voice really sounds like) you employ a different intonation and affectations and generally don't use your natural, neutral conversational tone.
Now, a lot of people know this fact but aren't really fully aware of it. It's like the difference between knowing the Earth is round, and going to space; you "know", but you don't comprehend.
And I became fully aware of it during a recent phone call, that had an unusually clear echo of my end of the line with a one second delay, when I first got to hear my normal voice as others hear it. I had heard my voice recorded before, on a variety of media (I hated it then, too), but weird and unusual as it was to hear, it was nowhere near the nasal, annoyed whine that assaulted me from the speaker, that instantly made me want to punch the person in the face.
Problem being, the person was me.
So I quickly restricted myself to monosyllabic words and grunts, ended the conversation, and then ran to my wife (who had for years been telling me that I answer the phone like I was incredibly pissed off) and asked her to call everyone in my phonebook and apologize in my name to everyone I have ever talked to, swearing I would only communicate in instant messages from that moment forward.
The experience has faded a bit and I have sinceannoyed talked to a few people but my God was that irritating.
So, do you have a resting bitch voice? No? Are you sure?
Have you also considered that you (or others) may have a resting bitch voice, where their your speaking voice sounds like you're annoyed, aloof, condescending, whiny, bitchy or some other irritating affectation? Because you might.
The problem with judging this by yourself is that you don't really hear your voice as others hear it, so you can't really judge it "live" and can't really tell. And when you record your voice (when you're singing/podcasting/screwing around, or simply to find out what your voice really sounds like) you employ a different intonation and affectations and generally don't use your natural, neutral conversational tone.
Now, a lot of people know this fact but aren't really fully aware of it. It's like the difference between knowing the Earth is round, and going to space; you "know", but you don't comprehend.
And I became fully aware of it during a recent phone call, that had an unusually clear echo of my end of the line with a one second delay, when I first got to hear my normal voice as others hear it. I had heard my voice recorded before, on a variety of media (I hated it then, too), but weird and unusual as it was to hear, it was nowhere near the nasal, annoyed whine that assaulted me from the speaker, that instantly made me want to punch the person in the face.
Problem being, the person was me.
So I quickly restricted myself to monosyllabic words and grunts, ended the conversation, and then ran to my wife (who had for years been telling me that I answer the phone like I was incredibly pissed off) and asked her to call everyone in my phonebook and apologize in my name to everyone I have ever talked to, swearing I would only communicate in instant messages from that moment forward.
The experience has faded a bit and I have since
So, do you have a resting bitch voice? No? Are you sure?
