I regularly go about 2 ½ days without making a single audible sound with my voice. Friday through Monday.
I used to talk to myself a bit or sing/hum along while listening to music but I kinda stopped doing that.
The funny thing is, I’ve recently realizied that the last and first thing I say throughout the weekend are usually the same. I say “Goodbye” to my coworkers on a Friday evening, and then I say “Goodbye” to the cashier near the self checkout at the grocery store where I grab my lunch for the day on a Monday morning. It’s sort of ironic that the first thing I say after a long period of time, is something that usually ends a conversation.
If it weren’t for my cat, it would honestly be weeks without any speech. But she needs to be told she’s sweet and perfect.
Duh.
Same. Mine need to be told not to steal food or do other tomfoolery.
That and reciting lyrics of random songs that get stuck in my head every minute or so.
They mustn’t be allowed to forget. It simply wouldn’t do for them to pass more than a few minutes without being reassured of their absolutely perfection.
Yeah, I guess pets force you to communicate.
Not sure, but it was during covid. I remember the first few hangouts with my buddies left my throat sore as shit the next day. And not because of that, you wish.
Sure bud
I was stuck on an empty cruise ship (as crew) for 9 months at sea during covid. I normally went days at a time without ever seeing anyone. I don’t think i talked once during my three 2 week quarantine periods.
Dann that’s crazy, never thought about what was going on on cruise ships during Covid.
I talk to myself pretty often, so no more than a couple of hours.
I used to too. I don’t even know why I stopped. Maybe at first it was a challenge of how long I could avoid talking to myself. But then it just became the new normal.
The longest would probably be something like three months. During CoVID I got tasked with keeping the IT infrastructure running in one of our satellite buildings. I was the only person in my shop assigned to this building and one of two total people in the building on any given day. The other being the janitor who did his rounds at night and then locked up the building.
I also live alone and tend to use the self-checkout at the grocery store. The only person I would have even had any real opportunity to speak to would have been the attendant at the self-checkout and they would have at most gotten the customary head-nod of greeting.
It was the second happiest time of my life, second only to the three weeks immediately following that where I did all the same stuff, but from home.
I spend decent stretches of time alone but I usually talk to myself or something. I totally get why crazy hermits who live alone in the woods do it, it’s awesome
No better conversation partner for me than myself.
I’ll talk to myself at least once a day, so not very long.
So I’m not pathologizing you specifically but from my entry level knowledge in psychiatry I feel like that’s gotta do something real weird to a human’s neurotransmitters. Not even necessarily bad even I’d just be fascinated to know.
yea, about 2 and half for me too over a weekend. Couldn’t get the whole 3 days even on long weekends because I would go out with friends over that weekend.
Sorry I’m over 30, what is this “go out with friends” thing your talking about. /s
Ive had a lot of jobs where i worked alone. Ive also had a few stints of prolonged unemployment and other random things that kept me isolated. I started talking to myself, just kinda about whatever i was doing. Sure i look crazy but it helps. Now i have co workers and stuff i bs with so its better.
I can go a week, easily, if I am on staycation.
“Staycation”, I’m so stealing that.
I could probably go for quite some time if I was all alone, but eventually I would speak out loud while thinking about a conversation I’ll probably never have.
Yes, but I have this sentiment that even if I’m all alone in an empty apartment, nobody wants to hear me talk. So I resort to whispering, which technically isn’t using your voice.
I feel like your voice is sort of a use-it-or-lose it type of thing. Even by “nobody likes the sound of their own voice” standards, my voice is objectively very unpleasant. But since I started using it less and less, it became even more nasal, more hoarse and even more high-pitched.
I just really don’t have a lot reasons to speak, neither do I really want them. I think everything I say throughout the entire week fits on a single sheets of paper. Which sucks when I inevitable do have to hold a meeting or presentation, and I permanently sound like I got a lump in my throat. I have a coworker who’s voice literally sounds like nails on a chalkboard, it’s unbearable and I feel like mine is not far removed from that.
I really envy people that have a nice crispy deep voice or a beautiful singing voice. I feel like your voice carries way more power and attractiveness than your physical appearance despite being the hardest to significantly influence.
Yes its partially genetic and your health, but good voices come from training. All those celebs and ted talk people? They had years of voice training. Its very rare someone naturally has a perfect speaking or singing voice with zero training. this stupid Internet age makes everyone think everyone else is better than them with zero effort.
I doubt your voice is as bad as you think. And actually, not using your voice gives it a rest. Many vocalists actually dont talk at all on show days to preserve their voice for the show.
Even if your voice is annoying, your cadence and delivery can be changed with training. If youre likeable, your voice can be annoying as fuck and it wont matter.
I disagree. It is definetly survivorship bias. Yes training can give you a bit of an edge, but the ones with unpleasant voices simply never make it to stardom, or any speaking roles in fact. The only ones I can think of are Kristen Schaal and Zack Hadel (probably the closest example to my own voice) who are essentially reserved for voicing weird cartoon characters and don’t exactly have the stage presence of Shohreh Aghdashloo or Christopher Judge.
You get the range you’re born with, that’s it. Otherwise everybody could train to be Freddie Mercury.
Look at David Hayter, he’s one the most famous voices in video game history and even he can’t bring himself to do his iconic Solid Snake voice for long periods of time despite being professionally trained. One of the reasons why Joji retired his Filthy Frank persona was because it was to taxing to do his voice and had an negative effect on his music career.
Your voice is directly proportional to your likeability and cadence for the same reason they don’t make shit brown or piss yellow Ferraris.
I agree with this person’s suggestion but want to put another spin on it. The goal doesn’t have to be giving you a brand new voice, just use it to exercise. At the very least, the muscles will be “ready” to speak when you have to so you’ll have more confidence about it.
Do you like music? Try singing or even just humming. Play around with your mouth, throat, and posture to hear how it changes the timbre. I won’t over promise here but people have WAY more control than they realize. Say “aaahhh” and move your head forward and back, it’s crazy what a big change it makes.
I don’t think the character voices you gave are fair, though. Filthy Frank and Solid Snake both sound like they’ve smoked two packs a day since birth. Mimicking that damage is kind of damaging in itself. A similar thing happens with singers who only use falsetto - that is ROUGH on your body.
Point taken about Kristen Schaal. She does have a cute voice that works well with cartoons. But I would absolutely take her seriously in a serious role, too! She’s just really funny so she mostly does comedy
May I suggest trying one of those voice training apps? I hated my voice too… so I changed it lol. It took a while but I spent an hour every day for a few weeks practicing and then it became habit
I thought about this, I think its impossible for me. Especially because I’d be talking to my dogs or cat, or I’d be singing. The longest, not including sleeping, is probably like 3 hours.
My cats would miss our talks.
