How Your Voice Learned to Survive

What does your voice sound like? You're listening to me right now. You hear my voice, but I wonder what your voice sounds like. Can you just say, let's say, uh, hi. How are you doing? In your regular voice. Good. Very good. Did you hear? Let's do it one more time so you can hear your voice. I I know it feels funny. You're speaking to a screen. I want you to hear your and actually say it out loud in your normal voice. Hi, how are you doing? So, you just heard your voice. Do you know that what you're listening to in some ways is a nice little snapshot of your childhood? Your voice in many ways is revealing not entirely the whole picture, a lot about the environment that you grew up in. Have you ever met people who have like a very high voice? They speak in a a high pitch. You've ever encountered that? And it's not their natural voice actually because if they were completely relaxed, they would be speaking much lower. I'm not speaking about an exaggerated low voice, but I mean your regular relaxed larynx. There are people who speak like this. Now, you may know, you may notice that even if you have a lower voice, there are situations where you speak in a higher voice. Now, when might you speak in a higher voice? If you're speaking to children, hello Kinder, can you put away your toys? But also, you might notice when do you speak in a higher voice? when you're speaking to someone you're nervous about. Uh very often when we're trying to appease somebody who we are a little bit intimidated about what their reactions may be, how this we're not feeling 100% safe. Hi, how are you doing? There's that tenuous sound there. That is a very instinctive natural appeasement strategy. I'm not a threat. Don't hurt me. I'm not going to hurt you. Okay. So, what do you think this tells you? I'm not saying this is a general rule across the board in every single case. I am saying that many people who develop high voices that was a trauma response.