What Men Actually Hear: The Science Behind Judging

Low, smoky voices fog up the Silver Screen year after year. But can a woman’s low voice pitch reel in a man in real life? 

Hi, I’m Roger Love, celebrity voice coach, top-selling author, and founder of The Voice of Success Live. I’m working to make the world a better place, one speaking voice at a time, starting with yours.

Thanks to a scientific publication in The Royal Society, we can stop wondering if most men actually prefer low-pitched female voices. There is a guide to effective vocal techniques for men.

The scientific report “Integrating Cues Of Social Interest And Voice Pitch In Men’s Preferences For Women’s Voices” by first author Benedict C Jones, says that higher female voice pitches were preferred by the men in their study, with one caveat.

“Men showed stronger preferences for raised pitch when judging the voices of women who appeared interested in the listener than when judging the voices of women who appeared relatively disinterested in the listener,” says the study. This means that in addition to voice pitch, men also take into consideration, “the degree of social interest expressed by women when forming voice preferences.”

Want the translation from Science-ese?

Men like female voices with higher pitch when

the woman is showing interest in them, the study claims.

When the woman appeared uninterested, the men didn’t like the higher pitch as much. Unlike the men’s responses, women in the study preferred a raised pitch in other women’s voices regardless of whether or not the woman appeared interested in her listener.

If women judge the attractiveness of a female voice solely based on sound, why would men integrate sound and content? According to the scientists in this study, both inputs are combined in order to, “promote efficient allocation of men’s mating effort.” Translation: So men don’t waste their drink money and dating hours on women who are not going to become their children’s mother.

Here’s how to apply these finding to your vocal life today.

Most women focus all their time on perfecting their words and delivering exactly the right line when You Know Who comes over to chat. After reading this finding, woman can toss the flashcards and “perfect ice breakers” out. When vying for a man’s attention, this study shows that a woman’s words are not enough.

Ladies, you need to communicate with your voice and your words if you want his evolutionary wiring to spark during your chitchat.

The study also shows us that when communicating woman-to-woman, your voice speaks much louder than your words. So the next time you’re invited to speak, say, at a Mom and Daughter Tea or need to address issues with a female employee, remember to keep a relatively higher pitch to increase the listeners’ attraction and hence attention. By adding more melody to the sentences as well, you’ll be able to grasp your female audience by the ears and get your ideal outcome.

If you’re ready to take your voice—and your dating life—to the next level, check out The Perfect Voice for Love and Relationships training course at ThePerfectVoice.com I’ll see you there!