Many people know the awkward situation: You meet someone on the street and just want to say hello, and suddenly your voice doesn’t sound relaxed and melodious, but slightly broken. And you think to yourself, “How awkward. That sounded like I wasn’t idiot who can not speak.”

In many ways, our vocal cords are like muscles that need constant exercise. In particular, if we speak little over a long period of time (or speak with incorrect speaking technique over a long period of time), the voice can suffer.

Because of what is called embodied cognition, voice failures can sometimes feel like a personal failure. On the other hand, a relaxed-sounding, deep voice can also have a relaxing effect on the speakern…

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Studies (small sample only):

Foglia, L., & Wilson, R. A. (2013). Embodied cognition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 4(3), 319-325.

Fugate, J. M., Macrine, S. L., & Cipriano, C. (2019). The role of embodied cognition for transforming learning. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 7(4), 274-288.

Gronau, Q. F., Van Erp, S., Heck, D. W., Cesario, J., Jonas, K. J., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2017). A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect with informed and default priors: The case of felt power. Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, 2(1), 123-138.

Marmolejo-Ramos, F., Murata, A., Sasaki, K., Yamada, Y., Ikeda, A., Hinojosa, J. A., … & Ospina, R. (2020). Your face and moves seem happier when I smile. Experimental Psychology.

Röhricht, F., Gallagher, S., Geuter, U., & Hutto, D. D. (2014). Embodied cognition and body psychotherapy: The construction of new therapeutic environments. Sensoria: A Journal of Mind, Brain & Culture, 10(1).

Stel, M., Dijk, E. V., Smith, P. K., Dijk, W. W. V., & Djalal, F. M. (2012). Lowering the pitch of your voice makes you feel more powerful and think more abstractly. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(4), 497-502.