WHETHER they?re shrill, stentorian, squeaky or soothing, the voices we hear on the radio are interesting sounds to mull over. What is it about those voices that thrill, annoy or arouse us? We?ve always been so interested in the study of the speaking voice that, years ago, we made it the subject of our undergraduate thesis in Broadcasting.
Communication expert, Ken Hadwiger, says that people rely heavily on the speaker?s voice quality because it projects images of sincerity, strength, wickedness and other descriptive personality traits, especially in radio dramas.
Generally, good voices project conviction, while bad voices create doubt. A good voice is easy to listen to. Speech specialist, Raymond Ross, says that a voice is considered defective when it deviates or detracts from a particular message or meaning.
Commentaries
As a child weaned on radio dramas, news, music and commentaries, we found Bong Lapira, Tina Loy, Bingo Lacson, Helen Vela and Orly Punzalan among those who possessed the best and most soothing voices. ?Mga boses pang-radyo,? as old folks would say ? mellow, modulated, cool and resonant.
Different voice types serve a purpose, while some of them play for effect. Remember the late Ben David and his terrifyingly low voice and slow delivery, especially when intoning his ?devilish? spiels? Or, Evelyn Bontogon?s scandalous shrieks when she went in character as Matutina?
Pitch, tone, inflection, articulation, intonation and other factors influence listeners? understanding of a message. So, it?s important for announcers to harness and develop their speaking voices, because although voice is something we?re born with, its quality can be developed or improved on.
This week, as we continually switched stations, we observed that projection wasn?t announcers? only problem. We heard two male hosts? voices accidentally ?croaking? while reading the news. A female announcer even hiccupped, then slurped her iced tea on the air as her companions in the studio cheered her on!
We also heard announcers on the AM band having trouble pronouncing their P?s, F?s, B?s and V?s: ?Fero may froblema ang fobreng artista sa mga utang niya sa VIR,? ?Kafisanan ng mga Vroadcasters sa Filfinas,? and ?Na-prame-uf ho siya.?
Sing-song manner
Another broadcaster didn?t just lisp, she also delivered her spiels in a sing-song manner: ?If I were Pre-thee-dent (President) Noynoy, I would eth-top eth-moking (stop smoking).? For a while, we thought it was simply an attempt to be funny ? until we later heard her talking to a physician about emphysema (or emphy-the-ma, as she pronounced it) ?!
In Stuart Hyde?s book, ?Radio and TV Announcing,? he writes about how broadcasters should sound: ?Most announcers have excellent voices. They tend to have low, resonant voices. They speak at an ideal speed for easy comprehension ? and they articulate words and phrases with clarity and precision.?
Whoever said being a radio broadcaster was easy?
