Does Hillary have the right voice to take her to the White House?
TVoters in the US may be put off the Democratic contender not by the things she says but the way she says them, writes onight, Hillary Clinton of the “slightly shrill tone which she Centre in London says: “It seems will be hoping to tends to adopt sometimes in speeches”, we are asking Hillary Clinton to do rekindle her convincing while commentator Julia HartleyBrewer something impossible. To sound both success from the first said: “The prospect of having submissive and yet dominant enough presidential debate to listen to her for the next four years is to be President of the Free World during the second headto-head horrific.” – knowing these states to be mutually – a town hall-style session with Vocal experts have pointed out incompatible. Is concern over the questions from audience members at that though Clinton’s voice is actually voice just the excuse for concern over Washington University, St Louis. average in pitch and loudness for her something else?”
The first debate attracted an age, she has a tendency to shout into Dr Mohring adds: “When a woman estimated 84 million viewers, making it the microphone when giving speeches, is in a senior position, a lot of the focus the most-watched presidential debate which can be off-putting for an goes on the package as well as the in history. Tonight could attract an audience, and makes it harder for them content, especially when no woman even bigger audience, in the wake of to interpret the parts of the sentence has ever been in that position before. the so-called “Trump tapes”, in which she is trying to emphasise. There is no role model for what a the Republican candidate was caught But is the problem really Hillary’s female President should look like, on camera bragging about groping voice or with the fact that America may so we don’t actually know what one women. That won’t guarantee an easy not be ready for a female president? sounds like yet.” ride for Clinton, however. She’ll be Dr Judith Mohring, lead consultant Margaret Thatcher famously took subject to the same scrutiny over her psychiatrist at Priory’s Wellbeing elocution lessons to deepen her arguments, language and poise, but speech, but why does the voice matter Clinton will also have been hard at so much anyway? Dr Gayle Brewer, work on another aspect of her delivery: a senior lecturer at the University of her voice. Central Lancashire, is an expert on
Clinton’s vocals have emerged body language, appearances and the as a turn-off among voters and way we’re perceived by others. commentators. It has been accused of “Voices can tell us a lot about a many crimes: it is too shrill, too deep, person. Specifically, we have sexually too artificial, too enunciated. She is too dimorphic voices, with men’s 50 per Southern, not regional enough, falsely cent lower than women’s. hokum when it suits. The voice is too “When women do have lower voices loud, too irritating and – somewhat they are seen to be less physically inevitably – too female. attractive, but more dominant. So if
Specifically, in the US, Fox News’ Clinton does lower her voice, that could political journalist Brit Hume has be an advantage for someone trying to complained of her “not-so-attractive get in to a position of authority.” voice” and “sharp lecturing tone”. Commentators who have listened Radio host Howard Stern featured to Clinton’s voice over the past three an imaginary app that could make decades have noted that there have her voice more seductive or softer been some changes. She sounds more depending on what you preferred to polished and neutral, and has lost hear. much of the Southern inflection she
Our own James Naughtie has spoken adopted in early speeches when Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas. In fact, her natural voice would have been less mellifluous, having been born in Chicago, and schooled at Wellesley and Yale, both in New England – but accent mimicry, researchers have found, is part of the brain’s in-built urge to “empathise and affiliate” with other people.
Communication coach Robin Kermode, author of
thinks there is still work she might do. “She could learn a lot from Theresa May in terms of where the voice is placed.
“Your voice should come from below the belly button, as the emotional centre is in the gut, which is what May does to be convincing.
“Angela Merkel has a softer voice than Clinton – she speaks from the middle of the chest. But Clinton