Old Hollywood Charm School & Voice Lessons?

[Mae Croft]

I've been lurking here for a bit, benefiting from everyone's knowledge (ty!), but I thought I'd post about this since the searches I've made didn't result in much.

Sorry if this has been covered or if it's in the wrong place, I wouldn't be offended if you moved or removed it!

My regular voice is a bit nasally, I sound pretty obnoxious even though most of the time I don't mean to, lol. But I'm in the process of bringing back a weekly vintage life radio show I had to put on hold back in November, and I can't stand the sound of my own voice in relation to this project.

I'd love to find a place (online, hopefully!) that has information on 1930s to 1950s era(s) charm lessons and possibly voice lessons to help curb the insanity that is my Bart Simpson voice, lol!

If anyone can help, I'd be eternally greatful!

 

[tuppence]

I'm liking your voice

 

[virgi]

alright my dear, your voice isn't as bad as you think it is. But yes, I can hear that it is a bit nasally. I would recommend two things, singing lessons, which can teach you proper breathing, and a digital recorder. You can practice smoothing out your voice by reading this way. At least hun, you do NOT sound like a Kardashian...you just need a bit of fine tuning. I know I had problems with my voice growing up, i went to voice lessons (sometimes available at your local community colleges), but eventually I smoothed my horribly uneven voice, and it dropped. I have even been asked to make recordings, so it just takes time.

 

[Derek WC]

Yes, though your voice may not be music to one's ears, only actors and singers have musical voices as they take classes and such and in the case of singers are just born with it usually. I sing, and according to a few people pretty well, but I have a very plain speaking voice (which I would even call unpleasant). I couldn't hear any nasally tone to it either.

 

[JimWagner]

I don't think there's anything wrong with your voice. But I do think you could benefit from a different microphone and better EQ as well as a less echo-y recording environment than what I heard.

 

[bil_maxx]

You have a great radio voice. Very musical and nice to listen to. Good luck with the the radio show. You're just not used to hearing it. Don't worry you'll be great.

 

[angeljenny]

I have a couple of books that cover the voice and charm - love them!

I have Secrets of Poise, Personality and Model Beauty by John Robert Powers - has a chapter on charm in voice and conversation.

Secrets of Charm by John Robert Powers and Mary Sue Miller also has a little bit on charming conversation. A series called Glorify Yourself is a course of lessons that were posted out to subscribers during the 50's - lesson 5 covers conversation and things like introductions and hand shaking.

The most exciting is "The Ethel Cotton Course in Conversation which was also a series of lessons that were subscribed to. This covers guiding conversation, getting acquainted, humour and colourful descriptions.

I bought my copies from eBay but they are just adorable!

A modern reissue of The Magic Key to Charm also has a chapter on conversation. This was written by Eileen Ascroft.

 

[Mae Croft]

Thanks for the feedback, all! Singing lessons aren't a bad idea, I don't suppose that I care enough to sing anything but I never thought of it as a way to help my breathing!

There's nothing I can do just yet about my environment or my equipment, and so that will be a bit of a hassle (mostly to the listeners, I'm afraid!), but hopefully will get that straightened out sooner or later.

Angeljenny - Thanks so much for those suggestions! That's something I can really use, a title and a place to start!

 

[Talbot]

What's a Kardashian? Can't keep up with all these new breeds...

 

[bil_maxx]

It's a horrible contagious disease. Avoidance of all idiotic reality shows and tabloids will prevent you from catching it and the other strains: Hilton, Trump, Simmons.

 

[DJH]

Your voice is fine, but the quality of the audio could be better. I'd lower the volume of the background music as well.

I've done a lot of podcasts and training videos and use a Zoom H2 recorder. This isn't expensive and you can record to an SD card or use as a mic for your computer. I use Audacity (free software) for recording and editing audio files and have had some pretty good results.

To be honest, I find that for video, I can get away with pretty poor sound quality, but for audio only show, it is more important to get decent sound quality.

I really like the idea of your podcast - getting good results is hard work.

 

[Talbot]

It's a horrible contagious disease. Avoidance of all idiotic reality shows and tabloids will prevent you from catching it and the other strains: Hilton, Trump, Simmons.

Sounds worse than a rash on the privates.

 

[jdbenson]

Both Virgi and JimWagner are correct. A few voice lessons to get you familiar with how your voice works and how to move your sound a little lower into your chest resonance instead of you head will help a great deal. A good microphone with a knowledgeable producer/sound engineer will make you sound even better.

Another possibility is going to a speech pathologist. I'm a singer and was instructed by a college prof to take speech path as a way of gaining knowledge about how speech works and what I could do to improve and preserve my voice. It helped a great deal.

I know, all of this sounds expensive, but if you live near a good sized university, I'll bet you could find some students willing to coach/guide you for a reasonable fee.

Good luck!