How to Get Over the Sound of Your Own Voice: Tips That Work

How relatable is this—you’ve just recorded a 30-minute long interview, transcribed it, and you need to get back to the original audio to clarify something? Or you’ve captured a podcast and you need to listen to it again when editing? Some of us really do cringe when hearing our own recorded voices, but why is that? And is there a way to get used to it or improve it? This is what we’re going to talk about.

Why do people dislike the sound of their own voice?

Listening to your recorded voice can be unsettling due to how it differs from what you hear internally. The discrepancy arises from how sound is transmitted to your brain when you speak versus when you hear a recording.

One of the reasons why we hate it so much is that the recorded voice sounds higher-pitched than what we're used to hearing in our everyday lives. When we speak, we hear our voice through both air conduction and bone conduction, which makes it sound lower and richer. But recordings only capture the air-conducted sound, so it seems higher. That’s why hearing our voice objectively makes us scrutinise it the way we would someone else's. We're surprised by the personality traits and emotions our voice reveals that we weren't fully aware of expressing.

Besides, from a psychological point of view, the recorded voice is disembodied from our body language and behaviour. Without the visual context, we automatically evaluate our voice the same way we do others', and the impressions formed may not match the social traits we want to project.

Another thing that we care about is how other people hear it—the way we hear ourselves in our everyday lives or the way when it’s recorded? Others are unlikely to be as critical of your voice as you are. Most people don't make the same evaluations about others' voices that we make about our own.

How to get over the sound of your own voice

Luckily, even if you can’t change the way we sound when recorded, there are ways to at least get used to it. Here they are:

1. Listen, listen, and then listen to your voice recordings again! Actively listen to and analyse your voice recordings to become more familiar with how you sound. The mere-exposure effect can help you get used to your voice over time.
2. Speak naturally using everyday language in your recordings to sound more authentic and relatable, reducing the likelihood of cringing at your voice.
3. Avoid rushing through your speech, as speaking at your normal pace helps you get accustomed to your true voice.
4. Instead of fixating on how your voice sounds, concentrate on delivering a powerful message that engages your audience, shifting the focus away from self-criticism.
5. If listening to your voice is challenging, consider outsourcing transcription work to professionals like Rev to minimise discomfort.

The last advice is for those who absolutely, by no means can’t get used to the sound of their recorded voice. To be honest, I’m one of those people, and I always rely on transcription when I record interviews. For me, it’s easier to read what I say than hear it. The only case when I need to get back to audio is when the transcription fails to capture my words properly.

This is why I always use services that can do all: Both record my voice and transcribe my speech. Waveroom is one of them.

How to transcribe your voice to text with Waveroom

If you want to create a transcript or summary of your interview, podcast, call, or video meeting, you can do that with Waveroom. This online recording studio powered by AI will accurately capture everything you say and create an SRT file with the transcription. Just follow these steps:

1. Log in or sign up to Waveroom.
2. Create a recording room by pressing +.
3. Select your microphone, camera, and headphones in the Devices tab under the video preview.

4. In the AI tab, toggle on Remove Noise and Transcribe Speech. The transcription feature doesn't work unless noise removal is applied. If you want to summarise your call, also select Create Summary.

5. Click Start Meeting to begin recording your podcast or interview. If you want to test it first, opt forStart Test Record.

6. Click the Record button when you’re ready to start recording.

7. When you finish, click the Stop button to end the recording.

8. Wait a few seconds until the recording is saved.

9. Once you see the Upload Completed notification at the bottom right corner, click the X sign to leave the meeting.

10. Press the downward arrow icon and select Transcription to download the transcript. It will be saved in SRT.

11. Now open the file in any text editor of your choice.

The transcribed recording will be marked with a notebook icon that says “transcription applied” so you can download it by pressing the downward arrow icon. Your transcription will be saved in .srt and will have time stamps along with your speech.

Additional tips that help getting used to your recorded voice

Getting used to the sound of your own voice when it's recorded can be indeed a challenging task for many people. Here are some tips to help you overcome this discomfort:

1. Practice diaphragmatic breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing can help you gain more control over your voice's cadence and depth, making it sound richer and more natural in recordings.

2. Record videos of yourself

Recording videos of yourself speaking can help you get more comfortable with the sound of your voice by contextualising it within your facial expressions and gestures.

3. Jus slow it down

I believe it's the most vital advice. Speaking at a natural pace can help you get used to your true voice, rather than rushing through a script and feeling uncomfortable with the sound of your voice.

4. Warm up your voice

Warming up your voice before recording can help you sound more natural and prepared, reducing the likelihood of discomfort with the sound of your voice.

5. Practice your timing

Practicing your timing, including adding pauses between ideas, can help you sound more natural and confident in your recordings.

Bonus: How to improve your recorded voice

If you make podcasts, you still need to listen to your voice because it’s vital for quality improvement: the more you listen to how you sound, the more adjustments you can make during upcoming sessions to enhance the way you sound.

Speaking of the adjustments, by the way:

1. Before you start recording, find the right recording space and ensure a quiet environment.
2. Quality mic is a must! Invest in a good microphone for clear sound.
3. Set the microphone gain appropriately to avoid distortion.
4. Maintain a steady speaking volume for better editing.
5. Keep a consistent distance from the microphone for uniform sound.
6. Opt for software with live monitoring to adjust settings in real-time.
7. Record audio locally for high-quality feeds and avoid internet-related issues. Again, Waveroom is a perfect choice for local podcast recording and double-enders.
8. Save recordings in uncompressed formats for optimal quality. Waveroom allows you to do exactly that.

That’s it! No matter how much you cringe when hearing your voice, there are still ways to improve it or even get used to it. Hopefully, our tips will help you with this challenging mission. And remember, people don't really hear your voice the way you do, and they don't care that much, either.