Say What!?

Faites attention, le ton de votre voix en dit long sur vos origines et vos états d'âme du moment.

Say What!?

Bye. Bye-bye. Bye! Bye or BYE! . Now imagine imy tone of voice if I said it.

It’s not always what you say that matters, but it’s how you say it. Don’t laugh. Tone of voice is a very serious matter.
Companies have undergone tone of voice training sessions in order to better serve customers, and a recent study by University of California even suggested that women’s changes in their tone of voice to a higher pitch when they are the most fertile.
Within your own cultural context, the rules of tone of voice typically stay the same—whatever those rules may be. However, when you cross cultures and language barriers, that’s when tones of voice can be mistakes for different things.
According to Alfons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner in their book Riding the Waves of Culture, tone of voice waves in Anglo Saxon cultures are typically smooth with a little up and down fluctuation in the sound waves to express emphasis. This is in contrast to Latin cultures that typically find sharp and frequent up and down in their tone of voice waves, indicating far more usage of emphasis in their overall speech. “Exaggerated” speech is an indication of being passionate and serious about a matter. The latin voice tons are the exact opposite of those from Oriental languages and cultures, where their waves prove to be nearly flat with little to no fluctuation, regardless of situation.
Tone of voice also changes across gender. Girls have their “boyfriend voices” which sounds always much sweeter when talking to their significant others— and some men get their voices to an octave so high when talking to their girlfriends over the phone, that those who overhear the one sided conversation could easily mistake the speaker for a woman.

But having a change of ton in your voice while talking to your darling isn’t surprising. Various studies have proved over the years that ending conversations on a positive up-swing is more friendly and inviting to the listener. Those who consistently speak in a tone of voice that is warm, upbeat, clear, and under control typically come across as approachable and more attractive.

However, obviously it wouldn’t be a good idea to give your boss your boyfriend or girlfriend voice. So watch yourself and watch your tone! You never know when you might offend someone, or attract another since it’s all in the tone of voice.

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