The Voice
When I was in college, I was one of a
handful of people who put together that particular season, the annual
yearbook. Now what made this particular year unique was that the
original staff quit in droves because they were in disagreement with
the yearbook editor. To be honest, I do not know if it was a
legitimate reason but I do recall that there was a budget and it was
perhaps nowhere near where it needed to be to put together a
collegiate yearbook. We were a state funded university and a minority
university at that and funding yearbooks weren't up there in
priorities to say the least. The other thing that I do recall is that
the yearbook editor had a voice that was just gratingly annoying.
He would speak in such a manner that it
would irritate your inner ear canal to the point where you felt like
ripping off your ear. I don't think he ever knew that. I bring this up because there are presidential
candidates that meet these same qualifications that you just don't
want them to speak at all. For 2016 on the Democratic side, we have
Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie
Sanders. On the Republican side we have Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and
John Kasich. Let's analyze their voices for a moment, shall we.
Bernie Sanders: Here is a
voice that is regional to the upper east coast region. His New York
based accent and Jewish heritage makes his tonal range in the alto
spectrum of voices. In this range, it is not too high nor too low
that you won't mind him giving a lecture for no more than twenty
minutes. After that, he begins to drone on as the range begins to
fall into the monotone region. It would be advisable for him to make
his point early and then get out or at least start taking questions
to reset the listeners ears for another round but then when he
restarts, his answers should be no longer than two minutes. Grade -
B
Hillary Clinton: Hillary
has the unfortunate path of being in politics for far too long. We
have heard her speak on a variety of topics ever since she made the
national scene when she and Bill Clinton went to the White House in
1992. That's 24 years of being in the national public eye. We first
heard more of her during the Whitewater investigation where she spoke
of her and Bill's alleged involvement in the scandal. Her response of
“would of, should of could of” was a touch of her being flippant
with the questioners but it also established her tone for the
duration of her being in the public eye. She too is in the alto
spectrum. But here is a voice that is also irritating. A British
study came out last year that stated that women's voices are
irritating to the male ear drum after a few minutes. It went on to
say that the males somehow stop listening and zone out for a period
of time. Hillary's voice is why we reach for the remote control to
hit the mute button. What dies it say for her candidacy if she wins?
Would she just fill up her cabinet with women because of what the
study revealed? Should she keep executive orders and press
conferences to a minimum because men biologically will stop listening
to her? It's not like it's the guy's fault, it's self-preservation.
Grade - D
Ted Cruz: Cruz has this
decidedly southern twang to his dialect. He is in the low tenor
range. And here is the reason why the mute button on your remote
control was invented in the first place. He has this grating voice
that is so unpleasant that it's like he's chewing on broken glass
while gargling sand. His voice is so grating that it's like he's
turned the starter ignition switch to a car too far and he's
stripping the gears to the transmission when he shifts gears. His
voice is so grating that is sounds like a microphone feedback mixed
in with nails scraping on a chalkboard. You just don't want to see
this guy even attempt to parse his lips as you press the mute button.
Grade – F
Donald Trump: His voice
is a mid alto range voice with a New York pitch. Overall, Donald's
voice, taking as a whole, is a pleasant voice. The downside is that
what comes out of it is always froth with controversy. When he is
not sporting controversy, the voice is pleasant and calming to a
certain degree. You listen to that range with full intensity. It
changes however, when he shifts into a blowhard spouting off about
pole numbers, his business interest, his book deals, etc. On voice
alone, his numbers would be fine but the content that comes from it
places it lower. If only the messenger wasn't so steadfastly
stubborn with substance. Grade – C
John Kasich: His voice is
also in the alto spectrum. His has more of an even tempo cadence to
his speaking. You could almost march along to it, if need be. You
could listen to Kasich speak well past the twenty minute mark because
he takes his time is speaking and it appears as if he's listening to
what he is saying and is choreographing every word that comes out of
his mouth for the most effective punch for the ears. He has a
confidence with his voice. You could hear it if he choose to do
voice over work if he opted for a career in doing commercials or
documentaries. If we were electing on voices, the winner would be
John Kasich. Grade - A
