Vitality of your voice

Vitality¹ of your voice

 

Do you remember the most boring thing about a boring teacher? Wasn’t it the voice that ¹⁾droned on and on with little evidence of interest much less ²⁾enthusiasm. Think about the teacher you loved. You probably don’t remember any specific material from that class, but I’ll bet you remember the interest and energy of that teacher.

This aspect of speech “vocal^{2 3)}vitality” makes all the difference in how much people are going to be attracted to the sound of your voice.

Teachers and ⁴⁾announcers, lawyers, salespersons, they’re all keenly aware of the importance of vocal vitality. But I think everybody wants to sound lively and interesting. This vocal vitality is related to energy level. If a person has too much energy in their speech, it may be spoken very rapidly. There will be an ⁵⁾explosive quality to their speech, as if SOME WORDS were ⁶⁾PUNCHED OUT. I’d like you to hear a woman who’s a radio ⁷⁾personality: 

“They ⁸⁾consulted, especially because I almost died this last time. I mean it was so, and to have someone that... doctors can’t stand it because they can’t stand it to have somebody who’s clearly that ill...”

All right, did you notice how rapidly her words poured out? Certain words were over emphasized. This is what gives it a punchy quality. And did you notice the many false starts in her sentences? As if she’s starting to talk before she knows what it is she wants to say. This makes her speech sound ⁹⁾choppy. So while we all agree that liveliness and warmth are good things, it’s also possible to have too much of these good things and end up with an ¹⁰⁾aggressive kind of speaking style. Now compare that voice with this one:

“My mother ... is ... very ... typical mother ... She worked ... For after I got into say junior high school...”

Here is a ¹¹⁾constricted³ measured voice, not musical, no variety, no expression. He sounds depressed⁴. While the first speaker ¹²⁾assaulted you with too much energy, the second sounds as if he might be sick, but it ain’t necessarily so. It can be a speaking habit that a person can learn to change.

Both of the people you’ve just listened to are very successful and ¹³⁾accomplished⁵ in their ¹⁴⁾respective fields. You may have made other judgements about their personalities⁶ based on their vocal vitality. Energy is one of the most vivid features of your voice image, and you should be concerned about this sense of vitality because it adds markedly to your image as a ¹⁵⁾responsive healthy and interested person. And while too much energy can be ¹⁶⁾overwhelming to some people, too little bores everybody.

 

让你的声音生动起来

 

记不记得闷人的老师最让人觉得闷的是什么？是不是那把单调低沉又毫无生气、缺乏热情的声音呢？想想你喜爱的老师。你很可能一点也记不起他讲课的具体内容了，但我猜你一定记得那个老师的风趣和活力。

说话时的这一特点——声音的生动性，会不同地影响到别人是否喜欢你的声音。

教师、播音员、律师、销售人员，他们异常清楚声音生动性的重要。但我觉得，每个人都想让自己的声音听起来生动有趣。这种声音的生动性是与精力充沛程度相关的。如果一个人说话时精力充沛，就可能会说得飞快。这种人说起话来就会出现爆发式效果，有些词就好像是下班打卡那样“啪啪啪”地打出来的。我想请大家听听一段电台女声：

“他们展开讨论，特别是因为上次我差点就死了。我说真的是那样的，有人那样子……医生们可受不了，因为他们受不了看到有人那么明显地病成那样子……”

好了，你有没有注意到她的话一古脑儿地倒出来有多快呢？有些词还被过分强调了。这就是造成爆发式效果的原因。你又有没有留意到她说的许多句子是胡乱开头的？就好像还没想好要说什么，她就开始发话了。这样就使得她的话听起来断断续续、起伏不定了。所以当我们都说生动和热情是好东西时，同时也有可能好东西太多，却导致最后以一种盛气凌人的语言风格收场。现在将这个声音与刚才的作个对比：

“我的母亲……是……非常……典型的母亲……；她干活……因为我上，呃，就是高中的时候……”

这是一把内敛又迟疑的声音，没有音乐感，没有变化，没腔没调的。他显得很沮丧。如果第一个说话人的力气太多使你吃惊，那么后者就让人觉得他好像病了——但那倒不一定。那可能只是一个语言习惯，完全可以通过学习来改变。

你刚才听过的两个人在各自的领域中都成就不小，非常成功。你可能已根据他们声音的生动性对他们的性格特征做出别的评价了。精神与否是你声音形象的最鲜明特点之一，你应该关注这份生动感，因为它对让你塑造一个让人感觉健康、有吸引力的形象十分有利。不过太声若洪钟，有些人会受不了；太柔声细气了，又会把人闷倒。

 

注释:

1) drone [drEun] v. 单调低沉地说

2) enthusiasm [in5Wju:ziAzEm] n. 热情，热心

3) vitality [vai5tAliti] n. 活力，生动性

4) announcer [E5naunsE] n. 电（视）台播音员

5) explosive [iks5plEusiv] a. 爆发的，爆炸性的

6) punch [pQntF] v. 用力推进

7) personality [7pE:sE5nAliti] n. 人物，名人，个性

8) consult [kEn5sQlt] v. 交换意见，商讨

9) choppy [5tFCpi] a. 不连贯的，猛地一动一停的

10) aggressive [E5^resiv] a. 挑衅的，进攻性的

11) constricted [kEn5striktid] a. 受约束的，抑制的

12) assault [E5sC:lt] v. 攻击，袭击

13) accomplished [E5kCmpliFt] a. 有造诣的，有才艺的

14) respective [ris5pektiv] a. 分别的，各自的

15) responsive [ris5pCnsiv] a. 响应的，作出回应的

16) overwhelming [7EuvE5welmiN] a. 压倒性的，无法抵挡的

1 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

2 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

3 constricted   

adj.抑制的，约束的

参考例句：

• Her throat constricted and she swallowed hard. 她喉咙发紧，使劲地咽了一下唾沫。
• The tight collar constricted his neck. 紧领子勒着他的脖子。

4 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

5 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

6 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。