This Is Why You Hate The Sound Of Your Own Voice

Many of us can’t STAND the sound of our own voices - especially when we hear them back, as recorded on an answering machine, or in a YouTube video.

There’s a simple reason why - what you hear in a recording sounds VERY different to what you hear as you speak.

Rachel Feltman of the Speaking of Science blog says that there is a sound physical reason for the revulsion some people feel when they hear their own voices as others hear them.

Feltman says, ‘When sound waves from the outside world -- someone else's voice, for example -- hit the outer ear, they're siphoned straight through the ear canal to hit the ear drum, creating vibrations that the brain will translate into sound.

‘When we talk, our ear drums and inner ears vibrate from the sound waves we're putting out into the air. But they also have a another source of vibration -- the movements caused by the production of the sound. Our vocal cords and airways are trembling, too, and those vibrations make their way over to auditory processing as well.

‘Your body is better at carrying low, rich tones than the air is. So when those two sources of sound get combined into one perception of your own voice, it sounds lower and richer. That's why hearing the way your voice sounds without all the body vibes can be off-putting -- it's unfamiliar - or even unpleasant, because of the relative tinniness.