Vocal fry on podcasts. Anyone immediately put off by a voice?

[auberginefortea]

I listen to quite a few podcasts, mainly from the UK and US. Is anyone else immediately put off by certain voices? I really struggle with the kind of vocal fry I sometime hear. It seems that it's often US journalists, and it's a real shame as the topic can sound quite interesting ... but the voice, oh my god.

Brilliant explanation @TinderTime :)

I agree.

I use Alexa and immediately changed it to the UK English male voice but the most annoying thing is when I ask it to play BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 6 etc. and you get that babyish, young, female voice shouting "BBC SOUNDS!" Awful.

I dont like the vocal fry but just find it pretentious.

There are also a few men who mumble (Amal Rajan) but generally, they seem to speak clearly. I find the American male voices very comforting.

For me, it's podcasts, YouTube videos, and audio books that I struggle to listen to if I don't like the voice. Vocal fry is off putting, as well as the weird voice presenters use often with true crime videos. Like a pp said, it's the cadence as well as tone.

My other pet hate which has me reaching for the stop button is when they don't enunciate. You are trying to make money by speaking so speak clearly and sound your consonants! (I am now officially a grumpy old woman and have turned into my English teacher from junior school)

I usually hate the nasaly female American voice but I do love to listen to June Diane Raphael. She’s an actress (Grace and Frankie) and also hosts a couple of podcasts; How did this get made (she and her two co-hosts review terrible films) and The Deep Dive with Jessica St Clair. I find her voice so relaxing for some reason. It helps that she’s hilarious too!

@auberginefortea yes! "often US journalists, and it's a real shame as the topic can sound quite interesting"
@Seasaltsquall yes! However I've recently been listening to a couple of audiobook versions of books by Cormac McCarthy and the male southern drawn is actually OK on the ear.
@alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 yes! "nasally baby voice"

Too many unlistenable podcasts on Apple podcasts for this reason.

I'll add to the type of unlistenable podcasts and mention the juvenile double act exemplified by Laura Whitmore (how ironic) and Iain Stirling in their "Murder They Wrote" BBC Sounds podcast. Both me and my wife independently trashed this after only a few minutes.

Goes the other way too Meghan Markle clearly worked hard at her 'podcast' voice. If you get the 'intelligent' deep tone just right, perhaps nobody will notice the vacuous things you say.

Oh yes I hate it too. I filter out a lot of podcasts for this reason. I’m sure I’m developing misophonia in my middle age.

I also hate the upward inflection thing that a lot of teenage girls do; some of my daughter’s friends I simply can’t listen to. They sound like Kylie in the 80s

There’s a presenter/comedian woman often on R4 who always sounds like she’s going to laugh and her voice grates on me (Josie someone?) I like Anita Anand because she sounds pleasant and enunciates clearly. Also Sheila Dylan and Clare Balding. God I sound old!

Lol women can’t do anything right. They’re told that high voices are annoying and won’t gain them authority but making your voice lower is affected.

I always called it lazy voice. There was a girl in my class at school who did it (back in the early 00s) and I couldn't stand it. It's the absolute worst

We can just speak in our normal voices. Putting on false high or low voices or adding vocal fry is just stupid.

Also, vocal fry is used by men and women.

I don't know what vocal fry is, but I immediately have to turn off any British radio/podcast where they say REEsearch instead of r'SEARCH. Also, it goes off if they say 'I'm sat/he was sat', etc. 🤬

I used to be a devoted Radio 4 listener but no longer. So many of the voices are now patronising and sound like they are speaking to a rather slow child. I also have a particular horror of the many female voices who are clearly making a huge effort to smile as they speak. Have to turn it off.

YES! There's a female DJ on Absolute Radio who sounds as though she is constantly grinning while speaking. I'm sure she's lovely but I have to switch stations when she's on

I enjoyed the first few series of You Must Remember This (podcast about Golden Age Hollywood) but Karina Longworth's mannerisms eventually drove me too insane to listen. I bought her book though, so I don't feel too bad although it took a while for me to stop hearing her vocal fry in my head while reading it.

Oh god yes the - female presenter who has been told to smile whilst taking to sound less threatening- we must be lovely and smiley at all times.
NO! Just no! Just talk dammit.
Zero male presenters do the smile talk thing.

Same!

I absolutely cannot stand it and have to turn off so many programs on TV because of it . It ruins so many American TV programs and shows and is absolutely unbearable .I think it is actually creeping into other countries and languages due to Netflix and Instagram .It is truly grating and unbearable.

Not vocal fry but I have just had to turn Radio 4 off as cannot bear the exaggerated simpering campness of Jon Ronson's voice.

There's a very narrow window of voices that I can cope with:
no waffly in-joke podcasts where people are talking over each other
no shouting (why are so many people on the internet bellowing their amazement at such length and volume?)
no wanky vocal fry
no smiley cult voices (looking at you Jo Whiley, Mary Anne Hobbs)

Very happy to listen to Amol Rajan, Mishal Hussain, Nick Robinson, Anita Anand, Lauren Laverne and their ilk.

I struggle with vocal fry and people whose every other word is 'like'. Can't deal with This American Life for those reasons.

A recent episode of 99% Invisible (one of the mini stories ones) explained it in a way that makes sense - it's a filler word in 'improvised' conversation that doesn't really translate to the passive listener. So I try and be a bit more understanding of it now. But still hate it!

Vocal fry doesn’t bother me. I know some men do it, but it does seem to be the younger women who do it who receive the vitriol (listen to the This American Life article on it).

Agree on Jon Ronson - I struggled through his latest series because the content was brilliant but I do struggle with his voice. It sounds very put on - it may not be!

Audiobooks can absolutely be made or broken by the narrator, but for me that’s more about their skills than their voice/accent.

At one time voice overs had lessons to learn how to use their voices, as a tool, like an opera singer. It’s such a shame that the skill has gone and anyone behind a Mike thinks they are a voice over artist. Er, no.

Mishal Hussein is a good example of someone with a lovely voice for radio/podcasts - calm, authoritative but still warm and genuine sounding.

The voice is so important, even more so when you have no visuals. I only listen to (paid) stuff where I know the person reading or speaking has a pleasant voice.

Yes Mishal is great.