How to Sound Human: Finding a 'Real' Voice in Public Speaking
Podcast: listen to me (poor sound quality, sorry - I wasn’t in a pro recording booth)
Is there such a thing as sounding TOO professional? Too polished?
When I work with people on effective speaking and improving public speaking skills, in our initial conversations they often say things like 'I want to sound more professional' or 'I want to sound more polished'.
I had a fascinating discussion about this the other day when I had the privilege of being invited on the popular podcast for voiceover artists, 'How Do You Say That?' with voiceover maestros Mark Ryes and Samantha Boffin, produced by britishvoiceover.co.uk.
Mark and Samantha are both vastly experienced voiceover artists who know a thing or two about what it means to sound 'professional'.
If there’s one thing that has shaken up the world of voiceover and public speaking in recent years, it’s the rise of 'authenticity': what I’ll call the “'Gramateur style” of speaking.
Scroll through TikTok or Instagram, and you’ll see content creators with no background in acting, voiceover, or performance—but millions of views - delivering voiceovers on everything from how-to tutorials to recipes to adverts.
Their voices, and their speaking skills, are rarely what earned them their huge followings. They are often breaking every so-called “rule” of good delivery. And yet audiences connect with them.
Why? Because they sound like real people. 'Real' people - non-professionals - are generally not especially good at voiceover.
For professionals in voiceover, this can feel frustrating. Mark, in particular, comments in the podcast about how much he hates the flat, offhand vocal delivery you get on many social media accounts!
I'm always deeply interested in how to avoid sounding boring and robotic - or at the other extreme, how to avoid sounding 'interesting' and robotic, like a cheesy radio announcer or infomercial —and instead develop communication skills that make you sound authentic, interested, AND clear and confident, whether you’re on a conference stage, recording a podcast, or presenting at work.
Social Media voices: bad voices, great content
One of my favourite examples of the 'Gramateur' style of speaking is the YouTube food channel DevourPower.
Click the link below (I can’t paste YouTube shorts into my articles)
We could watch (and DEVOUR) this Chicken Shawarma Plate from Duzan in NYC all day. 🤤 #DEVOURPOWER
The host always sounds bored out of his mind, like he's reading out the most boring shopping list ever - even when you can see from his face in the videos that he's absolutely LOVING everything about the latest belly-busting pizza or mouthwatering cheeseburger he's featuring.
His voice doesn't seem to dent his channel's popularity, with over 2 million subscribers.
And he's nowhere near as hard to listen to as the notorious Canadian creator Chills, whose repetitive and monotone delivery has because a running joke on YouTube.
Has it put viewers off watching his compilations of creepy video clips though? Not many. He's at 6.21m subscribers and counting.
Ok, many voice artists find it maddening that people are consuming this stuff quite happily, and that creators are making serious money turning out voiceovers that show little or no polish.
Voice professionals train and practise for years to avoid vocal fry, to sharpen up their diction, to project their voices with clarity and colour and depth.
But look how much our tastes are changing, according to how much 'amateur' voiceover we hear on social media.
Online audiences don’t always want polish. They want authenticity.
And I, dear readers, believe that, for people looking to improve their public speaking skills and effective communication, this is liberating.
Authenticity Matters More Than Perfection
TV adverts: traditional adverts had to grab your attention from across the room
Think of the difference between a traditional TV advert (ask your parents, anyone under 30) and a quick Instagram reel.
Traditional TV advertising demanded voices that could grab attention from the corner of a living room. Big, bright, and persuasive. Radio adverts had to compete with whatever other noise was going on in the background, so the ads tended to be LOUD and ANNOYING.
Social media is different. The screen is inches away from the listener’s face—literally in their hand.
The voice is right in their ear - they're probably listening on headphones. A slick, polished tone can feel distant, even fake.
That’s why many brands using online influencers for their marketing want something more “authentic.” They don’t want a booming announcer voice; that's not how most people talk. They want someone who sounds like a trusted friend, casually sharing a recommendation. The audience isn’t craving perfection—they’re craving connection.
If you’d like to go deeper into this idea of authenticity, read more in my earlier post: How to Sound Authentic in Public Speaking and Voiceover.
AI-proofing the Voiceover Industry
AI voices: the future of voiceover?
In fact, as I discussed with Mark and Samantha, this idea of vocal 'professionalism' also has implications for the future of the human voice in digital media.
Sounding slick and polished are qualities it's possible to get from AI voices—perfectly clear but emotionally flat.
Instead, the push for 'authenticity' may mean professional artists needing to do what an AI can't do - sounding human, by sounding IM-perfect.
That means allowing natural human quirks— clunky mannerisms, vocal fry, upspeak, 'shopping list' intonation—to come through. Now and again, at least.
The Trap of the “Professional Voice”
Sounding professional: standing up here with everyone looking at me is not intimidating at all
Where this is relevant for speakers outside the voiceover industry, is that one of the challenges I see with my typical clients for public speaking training, is the tendency to slip into a “professional voice.”
It’s that slightly artificial mode where we think, “I’m performing now, so I’d better sound professional.”
Listeners often want the opposite. When the person presenting looks and sounds stiff and awkward, listeners FEEL awkward, and distanced.
The truth is, the most effective communication comes from focusing on the NEEDS of the listener, and your intention—this is how we convey VALUE. Not from trying to manufacture a style, or copy the kind of 'professional' voice that we think people are expecting.
Boring vs. Engaging: What Makes the Difference?
The most common worries people have is that there is something inherently wrong with their voices. “I sound boring.”
The problem is rarely anything to do with the physical length of your vocal cords.
'Boring' voices lack energy, so the speaker sounds bored: like she doesn't care enough about her topic to invest any energy in it.
'Engaging' voices express energy, which listeners experience as a form of physical commitment to the thoughts and ideas the speaker is articulating. Speakers who are 'engaging' explore their pitch range, use pace deliberately, and speak with the sense that the words matter.
How to 'Do' Authentic, Confident Speaking
If you’re looking to improve your vocal delivery or communication skills, here are a couple of ideas I explore with clients:
1. Think about pace: your listener's pace
On social media, speed matters. Reels and Tiktoks are short, so speakers are super quick, but think about it - the clip is on a loop. You can watch it again if you need to. And if you want more info, you just click the link in the ad, right?
But with IRL speaking - with a patient, a client, an investor, a boardroom full of execs - you probably won't get a second chance to explain it all again. And there's no link to click; they have to wait til you're finished if they have questions!
You need to pause in between each thought, so that you find a pace that suits the needs of the listeners right in front of you.
2. Focus on Connection, Not Performance
When you concentrate on sounding 'professional', you stop paying attention to your listener, because you're really focused on how YOU want to sound. So the listener starts to feel forgotten about.
Shift your mindset: you’re not here to perform at people, you’re here to connect with them.
I expand on this in another article on this topic : How to Sound Authentic, Part 2.
Final Thoughts
The “authentic style” that has emerged from social media isn’t just a passing fad—it reflects what people value: real connection.
In your speaking - whether it's 'public speaking' like presentations, or one-to-one chats with your manager, it's not that we want to forget about skills and give no thought to how we speak, but we do need to stay flexible.
Sometimes that means embracing imperfection. I
Want to develop your confident speaking and communication skills? Explore my other thoughts on authenticity here:
Book a free 1-hour online taster session with me, or Sophie, or Nathalie, and we'll see how we can apply this stuff to your own speaking
Thanks for reading :)