Grow taller visually
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Lower your voice pitch

Lower your voice pitch

Voice depends on body size.

Tall men have long and thick vocal folds, as well as large vocal tracts. Their folds vibrate at a lower rate, and large tracts generate lower frequencies. Therefore, they have a low, deep voice.

Differences in vocal tract of men and women

Women, as well as shorter men, have shorter vocal folds and tracts, which is why their voices are higher.

taller men are perceived to be taller because of their lower voice pitch, and shorter people are perceived to be shorter because of their higher voice pitch.1

People are unique in that even with a short height, they can successfully produce a low voice pitch to exaggerate their perceived body size.

human vocal folds are relatively unconstrained by body size, and pitch can be modulated considerably

This is particularly used by leaders. They speak with a low voice to subordinates, while subordinates, at the same time, maintain hierarchy and raise their pitch.2

Control pitch and resonance

In one experiment, participants expanded vocal range by performing following exercises:3

  1. Sustain sound “i” as long as possible.
  2. Glide from the lowest to the highest note, using sound “O”.
  3. Glide from the highest to the lowest note, using sound “O”.
  4. Sustain musical notes DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) for as long as possible, maintaining stability and control over voice.

To resonate sound of vocal folds like tall people do, you need to physically expand throat and mouth.

  • During speech, relax lower jaw and open mouth a little bit wider.
  • Maintain good posture.
  • Yawn before speaking. This lowers larynx.

In many cases, taking public speaking courses would be best solution.

Perform breathing exercises

Sports training and breathing exercises improve ventilatory strength and breath control. Try endurance training such as running, as well as pranayama from yoga.

Increase testosterone levels

There are androgen receptors in throat.

Increased testosterone levels during puberty activate receptors, leading to growth of vocal folds and lowering of larynx in males.

After puberty, voice changes slightly, but with increased testosterone, it becomes lower. For example, this can occur through the administration of exogenous testosterone or in women after menopause.4 Sports, supplements, and other natural methods are also effective.

  1. Aung, Toe; Rosenfield, Kevin A.; Puts, David (2020). Male voice pitch mediates the relationship between objective and perceived formidability. Evolution and Human Behavior, (), S109051382030101X–. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.08.007 ↩

  2. Sarah E. Wolff; David A. Puts (2010). Vocal masculinity is a robust dominance signal in men. , 64(10), 1673–1683. doi:10.1007/s00265-010-0981-5 ↩

  3. Stemple, Joseph C.; Lee, Linda; D’Amico, Beth; Pickup, Betsy (1994). Efficacy of vocal function exercises as a method of improving voice production. , 8(3), 271–278. doi:10.1016/S0892-1997(05)80299-1 ↩

  4. Re, D. E., O’Connor, J. J. M., Bennett, P. J., & Feinberg, D. R. (2012). Preferences for Very Low and Very High Voice Pitch in Humans. PLoS ONE, 7(3), e32719. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032719 ↩

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