说话声音比说的内容还重要

It is hard to hear the sound of your own voice. But that sound may affect other people's impressions of you even more than what you say.
要听到自己说话的声音是非常难的。但说话声音给他人对你的印象造成的影响，可能比你所说的内容还要大。

A strong, smooth voice can enhance your chances of rising to CEO. And a nasal whine, a raspy tone or strident volume can drive colleagues to distraction. 'People may be tempted to say, 'Would you shut up?' But they dance around the issue because they don't want to hurt somebody's feelings,' says Phyllis Hartman, an Ingomar, Pa., human-resources consultant.
一个人的说话声音强烈地影响着他或她留给别人的印象，其重要性甚至超过说话内容。但不少人说话时有不良发声习惯，本图以名人为例进行了说明。

New research shows the sound of a person's voice strongly influences how he or she is seen. The sound of a speaker's voice matters twice as much as the content of the message, according to a study last year of 120 executives' speeches by Quantified Impressions, an Austin, Texas, communications analytics company. Researchers used computer software to analyze speakers' voices, then collected feedback from a panel of 10 experts and 1,000 listeners. The speakers' voice quality accounted for 23% of listeners' evaluations; the content of the message accounted for 11%. Other factors were the speakers' passion, knowledge and presence.
洪亮而流畅的说话声可以增加你当上CEO的机会。而带鼻音的咕哝、刺耳的音调或尖厉的嗓门可能会让同事无法集中注意力。宾夕法尼亚州英戈马市(Ingomar)的人力资源咨询师菲莉丝•哈特曼(Phyllis Hartman)说：“人们可能很想说‘你闭上嘴巴行不行啊？’但他们不想伤人，所以不谈这个问题。”

People who hear recordings of rough, weak, strained or breathy voices tend to label the speakers as negative, weak, passive or tense. People with normal voices are seen as successful, sexy, sociable and smart, according to a study of 74 adults published recently in the Journal of voice. 'We are hard-wired to judge people. You hear somebody speak, and the first thing you do is to form an opinion about them,' says Lynda Stucky, president of ClearlySpeaking, a Pittsburgh coaching company.
新的研究表明，一个人的说话声音强烈地影响着他或她留给别人的印象。得克萨斯州奥斯汀市(Austin)的沟通分析顾问公司Quantified Impressions去年研究了120名管理者的讲话，发现说话声音的重要性是所传达内容的两倍。研究人员采用计算机软件来分析说话人的声音，然后从一个10人专家组和1,000名听者那里搜集反馈信息。在听者评价声音时考虑的因素中，说话声音的质量占了23%的权重，所传达内容占11%。其他因素是说话人的激情、学识和仪态。

Other common vocal irritants include 'uptalk' -- pronouncing statements as if they were questions -- and 'vocal fry' -- ending words in a raspy growl. Such quirks 'make the listener think the person who is speaking is either uncomfortable or in pain,' says Brian Petty, a speech pathologist at the Emory voice Center in Atlanta.
如果声音沙哑、微弱、不自然，或者是带有气息声，听录音的人往往会给说话人贴上消极、虚弱、消沉或紧张的标签。根据《声音杂志》(Journal of voice)前不久发表的一篇论文，对74名成人的调查显示，说话声音正常者会给人留下成功、性感、友好、聪慧的印象。匹兹堡辅导公司ClearlySpeaking总裁琳达•斯塔基(Lynda Stucky)说：“评价人是我们的本能。你听别人说话，第一件事就是对他们形成看法。”

Annoyed listeners often assume nothing can be done to change an irritating voice, and the speakers are often unaware of the problem. But in most cases, people's voices can be strengthened or improved through therapy, coaching or feedback.
其他常见的、让人不爽的说话声音还包括“升调”（uptalk，像说疑问句一样说陈述句）和“煎噪子”（vocal fry，词尾带上刺耳的低吼声）。亚特兰大埃默里大学(Emory University)埃默里语音中心(Emory voice Center)的言语治疗师布莱恩•佩蒂(Brian Petty)说，这些毛病“让听者觉得说话的人要么是不自在，要么是很痛苦。”

Some voice problems have a medical cause, such as nodules on the vocal folds, or cords. A hearing impairment can cause people to talk too loudly, says Edie Hapner, director of speech-language pathology at the Emory voice Center at Emory University. Also, advanced age can cause a person's voice to lose volume, she says.
心烦的听者常常觉得说话者那恼人的说话声音是根本无法改变的，而说话的人常常又认识不到问题的存在。但在大多数情况下，人们的说话声音可以通过治疗、训练或参考别人的反馈得到加强或改善。

But many voice problems can be eased through therapy, including exercises to support the voice through improved breathing, or to strengthen laryngeal muscles or change the way they work.
有些声音问题有医学上的原因，比如声襞或声带上有小瘤子。埃默里语音中心言语病理学主任埃迪•哈浦纳(Edie Hapner)说，听觉障碍可能会导致说话声音太大。她还说，年老可能会导致说话音量太小。

Speech pathologist Jayne Latz says she often receives requests for voice coaching after performance reviews in which a boss raises the issue as a problem for co-workers or customers. She uses sound-level equipment and audio recordings to make clients more aware of how they sound. She also teaches vocal exercises and helps clients replace filler words such as 'you know' with a pause for emphasis, says Ms. Latz, president of Corporate Speech Solutions, New York City.
差不多人人都遇到过说话声音让人抓狂的人。本音频集示范了一些令人不悦的说话发声方式。但很多声音问题都可以通过治疗得到缓减，如通过练习改善呼吸来让声音变得有力，或者是强化喉部肌肉或改变喉部肌肉的工作方式。