Up the Magic Bean Stalk

Our voice – or rather, our use of it, the way we juggle and choose which tones to use – reflect our personality. 

To illustrate, let`s divide all the classes of all the people ever into two extremely wide categories: introverted and extroverted.

An extrovert is exactly what the name implies: outgoing. From this one word tens of hundreds of different traits van be derived, combination of which are specific to every individual. Friendly, would be one of them, one of the positive ones. Talkative, opinionated, open, communicative, can easily make relationships. Then comes perhaps some of the more negative qualities, such as being obnoxious and blunt, as well as dependency on the outside world. Extroverts are often associated excessive hand gestures when talking.

All these qualities can be present in an extroverted, and these traits are often reflected on their voices. 

Extroverts rarely have a soft, meek voice. Their voice may be naturally low or quiet, but extroverts hardly restrain themselves from loud laughter and animated conversation (it would be a good time to mention we`re looking at the very far end of the spectrum here). They are what would be known as social butterflies. But it`s not just the volume of their speech that reflects the personality. 

First though, extroverts can be further divided into two (still broad) sub-categories: calm and passionate. 

The tones of the subtler extroverts are smoother, lighter, easier. When they speak they speak with confidence. And though we may be able to imagine how a person `speaks with confidence,” it becomes difficult to actually classify “confidence” once it’s analyzed.

Ignoring the facial and body language that is present when one speaks confidently, the voice itself has certain characteristics as well. It’s level, no tremors visible. Confidence should not be mistaken with determination however, especially when writing. Determination implies a harder force behind the words, while confidence is more along the lines of easy, no tension in the vocal cords that might come out in speech. 

In the passionate section, the volume factor is more relevant, as is the speed of the words being spoken. In a lack of a better phrase, passionate extroverts have more feeling in their words. There’s greater pitches and ranges to their literal voices and these ranges are constantly in use. 

Intoverts are the opposite of extroverts. Where extroverts are socialites, introverts are quiet and often on their own. Introverts are associated with positive traits such as insight, ability of observation, ability to work individually, and focus. Negative traits include weakness in communication and unfriendly impression on others. 

Voices of introverts hardly ever draw attention or cause a spectacle. But, once again, we can divide introverts into two, still broad, subcategories which are: shy and anti-social. 

(I should also mention that I’m coming up with these subcategories. There are perhaps scientific terms for them, but even after hours of surfing the net, I couldn’t find them). 

The shy introverts are often the type who don’t wish to be introverted. They have soft voices as opposed to quiet or calm. Often they are on their own, but not by choice. There is a difficulty in communicating. When they speak there is often uncertainty and nervousness in their voice.

But looking at it in a physical sense (show, not tell!), there is shakiness in their voice, and the flow of words aren’t wmooth, interjected with placeholders such as, “um,” or, “er.”

For the next category, anti-social. Usually this word is attached with a negative stigma, but in the context that I will be using this word, anti-social will simply mean a person who prefers to be alone. They are people who enjoy the quiet and often don’t make the first move in any situation, simply because they would rather not. All this is decided with a rationally thinking mind. 

The people who fall under this group don’t have uncertainty in their voices. The voices are steady but quiet, and holds, once again, confidence. To add on in a physical note, there is no hardness or harshness in their voices, the words come out clearly without much hesitation. 

It should be remembered however that no single person fits completely into one category. People are unique, and they are a blend of thousands of traits. 

However, it is because of the fact that humans have thousands of traits that we have to be careful when writing about them, especially dialogue and our description of how the dialogue is said. Inconsistencies in character are some things that readers pick up immediately, even if its subconscious.