I am tired of being asked, can I speak to your Mom!!

[Kaleigh]

So here I am in FLA, having contractors calling with quotes. I answer the phone, they say can I speak to your Mom. I say I am the Mom!!

The last one was talking to hubby, he said, OMG that was your wife, she sounds like a teenager...

Hubby thinks it''s cute. It''s not in my delivery, I am very articulate and business like. But is it that I sound like Mini mouse?? I swear the last thing I remember about my voice was at camp ages ago. Kids said my voice was a dead ringer for Georgette on the Mary Tyler moore show. OMG, that was not a compliment... I don''t sound anything like her. Ugghhhhh,

So anyone have the same problem as me???

This is silly to complain about with all that is going on in the world. Just wondering if any of you have had a similar problem...

 

[LaraOnline]

I''m not sure I like my voice. I feel I have a strongish Australian accent, having been brought up in outback north Queensland, which is as ''Strine (Australian) as it comes...
There is a tendency to talk through the nose...
I try, on occasion, to get into the habit of breathing more deeply, trying to relax my diaphragm and throat, and enunciate.
Breathing deeply, which helps your diaphragm relax, is an important part of of getting a richer, deeper tone.

 

[niccia]

Lol that''s cute actually, but I can understand why it would frustrate you...I am not sure if I sound young or not, but people seem to think I am a teenager all the time (I am 30)...I took my dad out for lunch the other day and while arguing over the bill the waitress said "Oh let her pay! Pretty soon she''ll be all grown up and won''t want to spend her money on her dad anymore!" Now, if they combined the way you talk and I look, that really would be funny!

 

[sevens one]

Your voice sure is music to my ears Lisa! haha

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/6/2009 8:30:48 PM
Author: sevens one
Your voice sure is music to my ears Lisa! haha

Haha, indeed. Ok thanks,,,

 

[zoebartlett]

Oh Kaleigh -- you''re not alone.

I must sound really young on the phone because whenever someone I don''t know calls and I''m speaking to him/her, the person is always surprised that I''m not a child. I''m 35. Oh, and it doesn''t help that I''m a shortie. When teachers come looking for me in my classroom and I''m on the floor with the kids, I tend to blend in with my students. I always get comments like "oh, THERE you are! I couldn''t find you." Yeah, rub it in that some of my kids are my height or taller, and I teach SECOND grade.

It''s mildly annoying.

 

[AGBF]

Well, first, I''ve spoken to you on the phone, Lisa (albeit years ago), and I do not remember you sounding like Minnie Mouse!

Second, my voice causes the opposite reaction. I have noticed over time that although I usually do not dress well and am often overlooked in a crowd, that if I speak, I command respect. That has happened in many settings. In the classroom, where I taught teenagers, my voice seemed-at times-to work magic. It cannot always tame the savage breast, of course, but it has often stopped teenage boys in their tracks. I think it is unexpected. I have been told that my speech is refined or cultivated or a synonym for those words...but I think it is my voice itself that makes a difference. It is just pleasant. And I take no credit for it. It is a genetic fluke. Like my eye color. [My hair color is quite another matter .]


AGBF

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 4/6/2009 10:33:58 PM
Author: AGBF


Well, first, I've spoken to you on the phone, Lisa (albeit years ago), and I do not remember you sounding like Minnie Mouse!

Me either; you sound normal to me (you have a sweet voice). boo to those guys. ha!

eta: You do Not sound like Georgette.

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/6/2009 9:25:28 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett
Oh Kaleigh -- you''re not alone.

I must sound really young on the phone because whenever someone I don''t know calls and I''m speaking to him/her, the person is always surprised that I''m not a child. I''m 35. Oh, and it doesn''t help that I''m a shortie. When teachers come looking for me in my classroom and I''m on the floor with the kids, I tend to blend in with my students. I always get comments like ''oh, THERE you are! I couldn''t find you.'' Yeah, rub it in that some of my kids are my height or taller, and I teach SECOND grade.

It''s mildly annoying.

I have the same problem with *looking* like my students, but at least they''re teenagers! I''ve been yelled at by our security guards and other teachers for walking through the hallways without an ID. Nice.

AGBF--I get the same reactions to my voice. It''s as if it naturally commands attention, which is really useful as a high school teacher.

Kaleigh--Okay, I don''t have this problem but I have a friend who does. She really does sound like a small child, though, and she also happens to be very short and tiny, too. She''s an engineer, and she works with mostly men, and it does bother her at times.

Do you sound like the other women in your family? You should ask someone who knows you and another woman in your family, maybe that will give you an idea of how you really sound. People cannot tell the women in my family apart on the phone, and when I substituted for my sister''s Hebrew class a few weeks ago one of the kids blurted out "You sound just like Allie! Do you know her?" It was very strange, because they didn''t know that Allie was my sister.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I get this all the time, Kaleigh. I''m very short, and I have a "young" face - so to add the baby voice to it just takes the cake. I suppose in about ten years I will love that people think I''m younger than I am, but usually it''s a nuisance

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/6/2009 10:57:58 PM
Author: MonkeyPie
I get this all the time, Kaleigh. I''m very short, and I have a ''young'' face - so to add the baby voice to it just takes the cake. I suppose in about ten years I will love that people think I''m younger than I am, but usually it''s a nuisance

Trust me you''ll like it down the road.

I was with my DD recently who is about to be 21, we were looking at a house near by. We came out, and someone said, look at those cute sisters. Then the guy recognized me, and said hello. I introduced Ash to him, he said he was telling his wife how we looked like sisters. Ash said, yeah we get that a lot.....

But what does that have to do with my voice??? I am going to talk deeply when I answer the phone... LOL!!!

 

[FrekeChild]

Awwww that sucks!!!! Whenever I used to answer the phone at my parents house, the person on the other end would start talking to me like I was my mom. What is up with these people?!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 4/6/2009 11:55:59 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Awwww that sucks!!!! Whenever I used to answer the phone at my parents house, the person on the other end would start talking to me like I was my mom. What is up with these people?!

too funny. That reminds me of a time when I was 13 and babysitting and I answered the door and the guy thought I was the mom!!!

Lisa, I like your voice, don't change it. lol

 

[TravelingGal]

LOL Kaleigh. Maybe it''s just that you sound really sweet. Would match the image I have of you anyway.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/6/2009 8:21:56 PM
Author:Kaleigh
So here I am in FLA, having contractors calling with quotes. I answer the phone, they say can I speak to your Mom. I say I am the Mom!!

The last one was talking to hubby, he said, OMG that was your wife, she sounds like a teenager...

Hubby thinks it''s cute. It''s not in my delivery, I am very articulate and business like. But is it that I sound like Mini mouse?? I swear the last thing I remember about my voice was at camp ages ago. Kids said my voice was a dead ringer for Georgette on the Mary Tyler moore show. OMG, that was not a compliment... I don''t sound anything like her. Ugghhhhh,

So anyone have the same problem as me???

This is silly to complain about with all that is going on in the world. Just wondering if any of you have had a similar problem...

let us be the judge

record your voice on U tube and link it to this thread.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 4/7/2009 12:06:08 AM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/6/2009 8:21:56 PM
Author:Kaleigh
So here I am in FLA, having contractors calling with quotes. I answer the phone, they say can I speak to your Mom. I say I am the Mom!!

The last one was talking to hubby, he said, OMG that was your wife, she sounds like a teenager...

Hubby thinks it''s cute. It''s not in my delivery, I am very articulate and business like. But is it that I sound like Mini mouse?? I swear the last thing I remember about my voice was at camp ages ago. Kids said my voice was a dead ringer for Georgette on the Mary Tyler moore show. OMG, that was not a compliment... I don''t sound anything like her. Ugghhhhh,

So anyone have the same problem as me???

This is silly to complain about with all that is going on in the world. Just wondering if any of you have had a similar problem...

let us be the judge

record your voice on U tube and link it to this thread.

That would be against forum rules DF.

 

[mia1181]

Date: 4/6/2009 8:27:16 PM
Author: LaraOnline
I''m not sure I like my voice. I feel I have a strongish Australian accent, having been brought up in outback north Queensland, which is as ''Strine (Australian) as it comes...
There is a tendency to talk through the nose...
I try, on occasion, to get into the habit of breathing more deeply, trying to relax my diaphragm and throat, and enunciate.
Breathing deeply, which helps your diaphragm relax, is an important part of of getting a richer, deeper tone.

He he! I always read your posts with the thickest Australian accent!

It''s because I know you are from there and sometimes you use slang expressions that I have never heard before! I am a nasal talker too, I think I might practice using deeper breaths.

Kaliegh- UGH! I get that all the time! And Haven- I used to get stopped in the hall during student teaching all the time. I really was afraid of students walking all over me, so I dyed my hair brown (instead of my usual blonde) and I wore extremely boring and unstylish clothing. The students treated me like I was an old fart, but not the faculty!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/7/2009 12:01:36 AM
Author: TravelingGal
LOL Kaleigh. Maybe it's just that you sound really sweet. Would match the image I have of you anyway.

I am NOT NICE!!!

Ok maybe I am.....

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 4/7/2009 12:20:18 AM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 4/7/2009 12:01:36 AM
Author: TravelingGal
LOL Kaleigh. Maybe it''s just that you sound really sweet. Would match the image I have of you anyway.

I am NOT NICE!!!

Ok maybe I am.....

SEE. It''s not NICE to call people NICE, IS IT?

 

[asscherisme]

YES I have this problem. And I''m the only adult in the house of 4 kids! And even people who know me now confuse my 9 year old daughter with me on the phone, and her friends think I''m her when I answer. That adds another whole level of weirdness to me of sounding young on the phone.

My daughter thinks its funny, but then she is 9 and she thinks its cool people think its me when she answers.

Even my oldest son can''t tell us apart when he calls home! He will go to a friends house on his bike, call from his cell and I''ll answer and he will say to me when I answer, "Put mom on the phone", I say, sweetie, it IS mom. He laughs and says "Oh I thought it was (fill in DD ''s name).

And her friends will start chatting away when I answer the phone and I need to interupt and say, No its her mom, hang on a second.

I wonder if her voice will mature and eventually SHE will sound like the mom. Or my youngest daughter will. That would be funny. Having my daughter call to order a pizza!

When I was a kid, my mother had the same issue with me. Her firiends would always think I was her when I answerd the phone and vice versa.

History repeating itself I suppose.

So apparently either I sound like a 9 year old or my 9 year old sounds like a 39 year old. Or we both sound somewhere in between.

 

[LaraOnline]

Date: 4/7/2009 12:07:23 AM
Author: mia1181
LaraOnlineHe he! I always read your posts with the thickest Australian accent!

It''s because I know you are from there and sometimes you use slang expressions that I have never heard before! I am a nasal talker too, I think I might practice using deeper breaths.

Oh! *shakes fist at sky* curse the gods! Now I even ''write'' in Strine???!!!
Not cool!!!!!!

Well, maybe a bit cool.
As I used to say (to be cheeky and smart-ass, really), ''Hop on a plane, and your sex appeal goes waaaay up! It''s the novelty factor!"

 

[strmrdr]

lol you so don't sound like a kid...
ummmm hope that isn't an insult....
Is saying someone sounds like a 9 year old a compliment like saying someone who is 40 looks 20?
If so then ya sound like a 9 year old lol

 

[Ellen]

Date: 4/6/2009 8:21:56 PM
Author:Kaleigh
So here I am in FLA, having contractors calling with quotes. I answer the phone, they say can I speak to your Mom. I say I am the Mom!!

The last one was talking to hubby, he said, OMG that was your wife, she sounds like a teenager...

Hubby thinks it''s cute. It''s not in my delivery, I am very articulate and business like. But is it that I sound like Mini mouse?? I swear the last thing I remember about my voice was at camp ages ago. Kids said my voice was a dead ringer for Georgette on the Mary Tyler moore show. OMG, that was not a compliment... I don''t sound anything like her. Ugghhhhh,

So anyone have the same problem as me???

This is silly to complain about with all that is going on in the world. Just wondering if any of you have had a similar problem...

Yes, all the time. And I say I''m the mom too.

I choose to find it flattering, in a "youthful" kind of way....

 

[April20]

When I was growing up, people always got my mom and I confused on the phone. I don''t think we sound that much alike, but I guess we do over the phone. I''m half convinced people do things like assume you''re way younger over the phone because they have no point of reference and figure it''s better to assume you''re much younger than much older.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Well, there are definitely people with the same problem! For example, I interned in a Senator''s office one summer and when I spoke with someone on the phone that just spoke with one of the ladies working in the office...the person of the phone would sometimes say things like, "Good, I''m glad I''m not talking to some kid anymore." I had to struggle to keep from laughing considering that I was about 20+ years younger than the woman they just spoke with.

So no worries, it''s common! But I''m sure your voice is beautiful!

 

[girlie-girl]

When I still had a land line in the house I used to get this all the time. Most of the time I'd just laugh inside and play stupid as I knew it was a sales call or someone who obviously didn't know me.

Me: "Hello?"
Caller: "Is your Mom there?"
Me: "No she's not..." (all politely, voice raising at end of sentence)
Caller: "Do you know when she will be there?"
Me: "No, I'm sorry I don't..." (which I don't as she doesn't live here, so I have no idea when she might come by LOL)
Caller: "I'll try another time, thank you." *click*
Me:

I figure it serves them right if they think I'm a little kid and therefore don't give me their schpill because of it. Score one for me against the telemarketers.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

I know how aggravating it is for you because I have a slow, deliberate way of speaking combined with a bit of an accent that often gets on peoples'' nerves and puts people off. I decided a long time ago not to let it bother me. Our time is better spent thinking about diamonds rather than peoples'' reactions to our voices

 

[Ellen]

lol girlie, I''ve done that a couple times myself.

 

[lliang_chi]

A friend of mine (a lawyer) said he has this problem, speaking with a nasal voice. If it really bothers you, you can take voice lessons, or maybe get a book and practice. It is about the breath and diaphragm. If it a minor nuisance that you can put up with from time to time, I hope it becomes less frequent.

 

[tlh]

Kaleigh, I actually had some speach lessons to learn how to talk DEEPER.. but when I get excited or nervous... it''s up 2 octaves.

But yes... and it doesnt'' help that I get asked what High School I go to either...