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[freeformschooler]

So lately I've been googling a lot on changing my voice. I tend to speak semi-confidently but either fall over my words or take too long to say them, and - the WORST part - simply don't have the kind of "oomph" it takes to be a powerful narrator and speaker. My voice is so gravely and slow that, no matter how many tutorials I read on speaking more confidently or more quickly, I still cannot stand to hear the sound of it played back. The tone, the speed and the clarity is just too awful.

Tl;dr I hate my voice and want to tweak it to capture people's hearts and attention. I'm willing to devote whatever time is necessary to this, but does anyone have any experience with it?

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Do weird stuff with your voice, like read a book at a yelling volume, or sing it (will probably sound horrible but it works) and practice saying "epic things" with your "epic voice". As for actual advice, I have none, but maybe the afore mentioned will help you slightly! Good Luck

EDIT: be sure to take breaks from the stuff or you'll ruin your voice. If feel like you have a sore throat from doing these things also stop.

[freeformschooler]

Do weird stuff with your voice, like read a book at a yelling volume, or sing it (will probably sound horrible but it works) and practice saying "epic things" with your "epic voice". As for actual advice, I have none, but maybe the afore mentioned will help you slightly! Good Luck

EDIT: be sure to take breaks from the stuff or you'll ruin your voice. If feel like you have a sore throat from doing these things also stop.

Thank you for your advice. I tried that just now. Well, maybe not "epic," but it was the first thing I could think of:

NOT SO FAST, MIIIISTER BLONDE

I can tell the obvious things (like how my voice breaks off near the end of the Evil Speech and I'm still tripping over myself), but if someone could help tell me other things about this to improve on or if you need more reference, I would be very grateful.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Not to shabby meh lad, of course to orate any speech proficiently you must have memorized it or be inspired so much as to KNOW what to say before you say it. Keep that in mind. Your speech is good, minimal slurring, (a problem I have) good tone, etc.

EDIT: also try just coming up with a story and play all the parts in it. You'll end up yelling, whispering, and crying to yourself. People will think your crazy, but you'll be able to say anything. If you have trouble with that look up words and say them, pronounce them in different ways, etc. Just practice in general, the more you speak the better you'll be at it.

EDITEDIT: also forgot to mention, that shit was funny as hell.

EDITEDITEDIT: (I know, too many edits) I listened to it again, you might want to actually say sentences slowly; keenly accentuating all the sounds, and enunciating in general, and then pick up speed.

[GlyphGryph]

Much like learning to play the guitar, work on speed last. Get the sound of each individual piece right first.

Make sure to actually listen to people speaking the way you want! That's incredibly important. Try to sound just like them - humans are good at mimicry with a bit of effort put into it, and lifting components from others is a lot easier than trying to create your own whatever from whole cloth, especially if the one you've already developed (mostly lifted from others) is one that has flaws.

[DJ]

Try speaking from the diaphragm rather than the throat.

[freeformschooler]

Try speaking from the diaphragm rather than the throat.

I have no idea how to do that  I'll look it up. Good advice.

Much like learning to play the guitar, work on speed last. Get the sound of each individual piece right first.

Make sure to actually listen to people speaking the way you want! That's incredibly important. Try to sound just like them - humans are good at mimicry with a bit of effort put into it, and lifting components from others is a lot easier than trying to create your own whatever from whole cloth, especially if the one you've already developed (mostly lifted from others) is one that has flaws.

Thank you. Most of the "authoritative voices" I want to mimic come from cartoons and over-the-top movies, but I'm sure there's other sources I could pay attention to for improvement.

Not to shabby meh lad, of course to orate any speech proficiently you must have memorized it or be inspired so much as to KNOW what to say before you say it. Keep that in mind. Your speech is good, minimal slurring, (a problem I have) good tone, etc.

EDIT: also try just coming up with a story and play all the parts in it. You'll end up yelling, whispering, and crying to yourself. People will think your crazy, but you'll be able to say anything. If you have trouble with that look up words and say them, pronounce them in different ways, etc. Just practice in general, the more you speak the better you'll be at it.

EDITEDIT: also forgot to mention, that shit was funny as hell.

EDITEDITEDIT: (I know, too many edits) I listened to it again, you might want to actually say sentences slowly; keenly accentuating all the sounds, and enunciating in general, and then pick up speed.

That's true - I came up with that one on the spot, so a memorized speech would be easier. Nice ideas about slowing down the sentences and reading a whole story! I think I'll write something out or find some other short piece to record and then upload it here for more critique. Thank you again.

[DJ]

You know how when you try to make your voice deep it feels like you're pulling it from the bottom of your lungs? Do that, except at normal pitch.

[Bdthemag]

I suggest initially trying to overact whatever your trying to say, sounding as dramatic as possible. I know for some people, it can be hard to do "normal" voices when acting, and it tends to be much easier to ham it up a bit. Just try to mimic narrators you see in videos and whatnot and practice, you'll eventually get it. It really helps if you have some kind of singing background, it helps you with acting more than you'd think.

[freeformschooler]

Oh, I can't sing worth shit. Do it all the time, had training, instructors at church gave up on me.

DJ's advice is pretty awesome, but I have to turn the mic volume down or it sounds like I'm yelling (which I am). Putting something together ATM.

[XXSockXX]

Oh, I can't sing worth shit. Do it all the time, had training, instructors at church gave up on me.

Try vocal exercises.

[freeformschooler]

That's what I mean by quote unquote "training" when I was also learning piano at the same time. Got my piano skills, but I was never able to produce a tone that I wanted on-command, even after preparation.

I ended up running out of voice before the second take of my thing. Maybe tomorrow.

[Vector]

Take theater classes.

[freeformschooler]

Take theater classes.

I wouldn't be here if that was an option right now

[Vector]

I have lots of experience with this, unfortunately.

Best bet is that you try to teach yourself to do impressions.  Watch a show, do your best to mimic the voice.  I suspect your problem is that no one taught you how to practice: find the smallest possible change you could make that would seem like an improvement, and try to figure out how to get there, and then practice that until you have it down.

So, don't go "blah my voice is slow and full of gravel and horrible and augh," pick one distinct quality you'd like to hear in your voice, find a bunch of voices that exhibit that quality (not necessarily the ideal!  Just ideal in that one respect) and work on listening to and imitating them.