Insecure about my voice...

[Hurricane]

The cause of my social anxiety is my voice...
let's start around age of 10, I often had to read in church because people said I had such a powerfull clear voice, I didn't even need a microphone while others did...
But around the age of 13 someone started bullying me, saying I speak so slow and that I have such an ugly voice...I started to have more problems with my voice...I started pronouncing g as h in every word (don't know how that happend but I'm over that now luckely)
everything went downhill from there on...I couldn't speak up anymore, I couldn't read in class without hyperventilating
I'm 19 years old now...I don't dare talking to people because of my voice...also I forgot how to act around people (except that I have a gf, wich I sometimes still find difficult) I sometimes record my voice to know what I sound like and it really sounds terrible to me, it's so slow...even when I try to speak fast...and my pronounciation isn't very good either...this is the biggest thing that is holding me back...

is there some way I can train my voice to be different?
how important do you people think the sound of a voice is in conversation?
is there a way I can delete the thoughts I have about my voice?

 

[lostboi]

Fisrt of all there is nothing wrong with speaking slow. In fact speaking slow and deliberately would to me appear like you have less anxiety. As long as you can cary your words through I think your fine. When you speak try not to speak from your head but instead direct your energy tword you diaphraghm this will make you voce deep and it should be more even when you speak if you have to take a few few slow breaths before making a sentence that's fine. just focus on making your voice com from your chest. you'll see that you start to have more controll over whats comming out. I'm sorry those kids had bullied you about your voice. But if it was powerfull and strong at one point it's definately probably still there. Just stand up streight and project foreword when you speaking. You may need to stand in front of a mirror to practice..don't feel weird about it because vocal musicians do it all the time!
Aslo.. what you here when your speaking is slight different because of the bones resonating in your head as you speak..if your not used to hearing your recorded voice a lot.. it will usually sound weird to you. But don't sweat it. just practice like I said and you'll get better :wink:

 

[Hurricane]

thx for the tips lostboi, I'll try...but it's stuck so deep inside my head

chavette

 

[2QuietForThem]

If someone were speaking slowly to me, it would appear that they are picking their words carefully. I would love to do that instead of my usual stumbling. Please don’t be ashamed of your voice. Like Lostboi said, you should practice. Also, a recording of your voice isn’t the way to analyze how you sound. You’ll always find something wrong. Practice in front of a mirror or something. Now, I need to take my words and do the same. lol

 

[Hurricane]

thx 2QuietForThem, you really made me feel a bit better

 

[young]

I sometimes record my voice to know what I sound like and it really sounds terrible to me,

don't base your opinion of your voice on what it sounds like recorded. when i listen to a recording on my voice. it sounds completely different than what i sould like in person. sometimes i feel like that. where it sounds weird. or whatnot. especially when i'm reading in front of people. when i was younger i used to get people saying that they thought i was a girl on the other end of the phone. luckily it's deeper now. so i sound like a deep throated girl. :lol:

i had a point a min ago. damn... short attentio

anyway. your gonna sound the way your gonna sound. not really much you can do with it. if someone says you sound funny. punch them in the face. this works best if you are either bigger then they are, or can out run them.

if you took my advice and got hurt, my lawyer says i'm not legally responsible.

 

[LittleMissScareAll]

I hate my voice...and my accent. I wish I could change my accent at least. I just hate everything about the way I talk...and everything else about myself, in general.

 

[shy_miss_fly]

I recommend not recording yourself, just because everyone hates the way they sound when they hear themseves on a recording. I hate leaving messages on peoples answering machines because I hate my voice. But everyone tells me I have a nice voice, so I dunno. Instead of think thinking that your voice and weird, try and think of it as unique and thats what makes you different from everyone else.

 

[Hurricane]

thx guys, really uplifting posts