Le Mot Juste Linguistics Blog

Before we leave the topic of the clear voice a word must be said about pitch. Perhaps you wonder what pitch is good and what is bad. It all depends on you. Every individual has a pitch which is best suited to his speaking voice so that no rule can be laid down for all speakers. Only this should guide you in all speaking: Don’t stay on one pitch level in your speaking or develop a sing-song pattern; let your pattern be natural, up and down as needed; use a general pitch level which serves you with the least strain.

Voice quality is a very complicated physical problem in speech, but, to be brief, it is that factor, the presence or absence of which in a speaker’s voice, makes his listeners say, “That’s a good voice” or “That’s a poor voice!” The voice, to have a good and agreeable quality, must not be muffled, strident, nasal, or harsh.