[theme music] [Narrator] Your telephone. Available to you 24 hours a day Michigan Bell telephone invites you to take a look behind the scenes and see how the telephone works and what Bell technicians are doing to improve communication. Here to take you behind the scenes and tell us why your voice is you are Miss Jo Benson and Oz White [Jo Benson] Hello I'm Jo Benson, and today we're going to talk about something that we feel can very easily qualify as one of the most outstanding social or business attributes a woman may have, her voice. Your telephone company has long recognized the importance of a pleasant friendly voice. And for many years we've trained our people to have the voice with a smile. And I hope you'll agree that pretty generally our employees do succeed in conveying a warm, friendly, helpful attitude; merely by the impressions they create with their voice. But I'm wondering how many people get a false impression of the type of person you really are merely by hearing the sound of your voice? So many times you know we talk with people over the telephone before we ever have the opportunity of meeting them face to face. Has anyone ever said to you: "you know you're not at all as I thought you'd be" or perhaps "you sound so different over the telephone." For some reason you know people do expect us to be exactly as we sound and so the question that I think we should all ask ourselves and really be very honest in our answers; am I putting my best voice forward? Many women that I've talked with admit that they look quite differently a few years ago that of course was before they tried that new hairstyle or before they learned which makeup best suited them. Now they've altered their appearance and they've changed the way they look but let's be real honest now with ourselves and face facts. Don't we all just exploit our best features? And isn't that a natural thing for us to do? Well now look if we can change the natural appearance of our hair or our natural complexion, then why can't we change our voice? If it needs changing. At the telephone company, we emphasize the natural speaking voice, the natural amount of modulation. And you know, we do try real hard to help all of our people to have a pleasant, natural voice. And isn't it just as easy to have a pleasant, natural voice as it is to speak either harshly or even indistinctly? But let's go back now to this idea of how people associate the sound of your voice with the way you look. I want you to listen to some actual voices on this tape recorder that we have here and see what you think they look like! And if you're ready let's try voice number one [presses tape recorder]. [Female Voice 1] Why hello there! [indistinguishable] Yes! Well, I just called to inform y'all that I can't be at our next meeting. Yes. Well, you're just going to have to be minus little old me that's all. [tape recording stopped] [Jo Benson] Well, now that wasn't too difficult, was it? [in Southern accent] Sure enough, now y'all can recognize Miss Dixie Belle, whom you all just ain't going to meet at the next meeting. [in regular voice] Well our cartoonist saw her and he sketched her like this: Miss Dixie Bell is, we'll admit, a rather extreme type. Actually you know accents don't present too much of a problem. Speech experts have told us that the residents of the Midwest speak just about the finest English in the United States. Well let's try another voice now and perhaps this one will be a bit more typical. [starts tape recording] [Female voice 2 (very breathy)] Mrs. Johnson? Oh, hi, I'm Miss Jones, and I'm the new chairman, the social chairman. Yes, and I want to tell you that our next meeting is, oh, we're having our next meeting with Mrs. Perkins. You know Mrs. Perkins. [stops tape recording] [Jo Benson] Well, now, we call her Miss Breathless and our cartoonist sees her like this [drawing displayed]. And the question for her is, is she going to live long enough to get out what she's trying to say? Well, you see her voice simply lacks carrying power. But by using voice drills with words ending in "N," "N-G," or "M" like "ringing," "singing," "some," "run," she'll find that her voice will become clearer, more powerful, and more resonant. And she can also profit from a real simple breathing exercise. You walk and take a breath for two steps keeping the mouth closed and then you exhale for two steps. Now it's real simple and if you practice that exercise until you can inhale for two steps and exhale for 10 steps then you're going to be using your diaphragm. Right here [points to sternum] - where true voice quality comes from. and our Miss Breathless becomes Miss Vivacious. Well now we have another gal for you but on this one I'd sort of suggest that you um hang on to the top of the head... [starts tape recording] [Female Voice 3 (screaming)] Hi Agatha! You can't come Agatha! Oohh how terrible! Simply terrible! I was counting on you to help me! Well I guess if you have Chicken Pox you really can't but... Honestly I'm sorry dear, because we're having that handsome young man here from the telephone company! You know! The one with all of those curls! [recording stopped] [Jo Benson] Well, if Agatha was stone deaf she could probably hear Miss Shrill some five blocks away and uh incidentally here's Miss Shrill [cartoon on screen]. Miss Shrill should speak from her diaphragm too. Thus lowering her pitch an octave or two while restricting her lung power just enough to make those shrill tones mellow. In a little booklet that we have then you can secure you'll find some very simple exercises for voices that tend to become just the least little bit shrill. Let's see what kind of a picture you form of this next gal. [starts tape recording] [Female Voice 4] Hello caterer? Well you certainly take long enough to answer don't you want our business? Well you don't act like it. This is Mrs. Bossman. My clubs meeting next Friday at my house. We want some sandwiches, but not those slabs of fat you gave us last time. And don't order the peanut butter. [stops recording] [Jo Benson] Mm-hmm can't you just see her? Oh Miss Full Charge herself. And she might look like this [cartoon on screen]. Now some of Miss Full Charge's voice problems are purely emotional. We suggest that she use a rising inflection at the end of her sentences. But let's go back to our recorder now and see what you think of this gal. [starts tape recording] [Female Voice 5 (high pitched and shy)] Hello? Miss Jones? This is Mrs. Meekman. I'm so sorry I won't be able to come to the bingo game next Saturday. You see its my husband... he's coming home again... [voice gets really quiet] [stops recording] [Jo Benson] That's Miss Mousy and our cartoonist who really had a lot of fun doing these sees her like this [cartoon on screen]. Miss Mousy you know, works twice as hard physically in speaking as she has to. Mostly though, her voice lacks the ringing quality which comes from what we call, head tones. Now by that we mean using words or syllables that originate from the nose. Frankly, I imagine you're all sitting out there thinking "well that sounds just wonderful but what sort of words or sounds or so on are these?" Well if you would place your fingers over your nose just like so and then say: "the moaning and the groaning began again." You'd feel the vibration that comes from head tones. Why don't you try it with me. Now the sentence is: "the moaning and the groaning began again." So you say it with me, "the moaning and the groaning began again." Did you feel the vibrations that come from head tones? Words like this will change your voice and lend enough inflection to it to avoid monotony. Enough head tone exercises and Miss Mousy is no longer mousie. Well, now we have still another extreme type for you. [starts tape recorder] [Female Voice 6 (speaking very slowly)] Ladies, as you know, I am treasurer this year, and I am now going to give my complete and final report of our spending as of this meeting. Also, we'll give the minutes for the six executive meetings, which I know you are all interested and eager to hear. Also, our fiscal spending for the past seven months. [stops recording] [Jo Benson] (speaking slowly) Well, here's Miss Dreary [cartoon on screen], and I know that you're all so eager and anxious to hear Miss Dreary's report that you'll probably catch all of three sentences before you're sound asleep. (back to regularly speaking) Miss Dreary needs voice exercises that will make her use her tongue and lips properly. She simply has a lazy jaw and lazy lips. For instance, she needs to practice syllables like "luh," "tuh," "nuh," "din," and "nil." Did you notice how you'd have to use your tongue to form those sounds? Now take words like, oh, "lope," "nope," "leer," "seer," "lit," "writ," "bid", and "kid." You notice how you had to use your jaw to form them? You might think this odd, but we have found that the people who most frequently practice such voice exercises are generally not the ones who need them the most. They're usually the professional speakers who are constantly brushing up. Let's see what kind of a picture you form of this next voice. [starts tape recording] [Female Voice 7 mumbles] [Female Voice 7] Yes, I'm the book reviewer. [Female Voice 7 mumbles] By the way Lucy are you... [mumbling] Says he's free Monday, Thursdays, Tuesday; every other week, but not last week. You can call him at... seven seven six nine four seven three ten now did you get that? [stops recording] [Jo Benson] Did you get that? Did you get any part of it? Well you know if you did I think your chances of hearing the book reviewer are rather dismal for if you got his name then you probably didn't get his address. And if you got his address then you probably didn't get his name. And you know if you were real lucky and managed to get both his name and address, when is he available? Well I think you'll agree with me that Miss Mumbo Jumbo is not exactly a fountain of information. Well here she is. [Cartoon on screen] This next voice we've thrown in solely for your amusement but you know something? The first time that I heard it I really got a shock because it does sound like someone that I know. I wonder if she sounds like anyone that you might know. [starts tape recording] [Female Voice 8 (in an aristocratic tone)] Cynthia darling about the door prizes. Oh no sweet they just won't do. I mean well really it just isn't done you know after all dear we're not peasants. And granted you don't care for those precious little snack boxes I picked up. But darling who eats popcorn balls? [stops recording] [Jo Benson] We call her Miss Affected, and I think on this one our cartoonist really let himself go [cartoon pictured]. These eight recordings are, we'll admit, all extreme types, but I think they do give you an idea of the impressions that people form merely by hearing a voice. This I'm sure will be a surprise to you but all of these eight recordings were made by the same person using a well-trained voice. Many times though complicated voice drills are really unnecessary. For instance in this little booklet that I mentioned and which is entitled "Your Voice is You" - and incidentally you may get copies of this booklet by calling your nearest local business office - you'll learn that your voice is similar to a musical instrument. You'll also find some very helpful but very simple voice exercises and then just a few hints towards good telephone usage. But now we'd like you to listen to some recordings of just two words, "thank you," which are used in training our operators. [starts tape recording] [Male Voice 1] Through the nose. [Female Voice 10] Thank you. [Male Voice 1] Sing song. [Female Voice 10] Thank you. [Male Voice 1] Mechanically. [Female Voice 10] Thank you. [Male Voice 1] Sarcastically. [Female Voice 10] Thank you. [Male Voice 1] Naturally. [Female Voice 10] Thank you. [stops recording] [Jo Benson] You see how many different ways there are of saying just those two words? And how some of them while they actually say the words just don't seem to have any meaning or sincerity behind them? Next we have for you the young lady that well for some unknown reason we sort of consider her type just a bit too helpful. Let's see how you react. [starts tape recording] [Female Voice 11 (suggestive tone)] Operator? [Female Voice 12] Say operator how about my call to Meriden would you try it again? [Female Voice 11] Why sure I'll be thrilled to do it. Gee thanks. It's Meriden (357-5W3) [Female Voice 11] Okie doke. Anything for you. [Female Voice 12] Woo woo! Thats what you call the operator courteous but good! [stops recording] [Jo Benson] Well you know that young lady just happened to saunter by the watchful eye of that cartoonist of ours and um...[cartoon on screen] Last week when I addressed a group one woman really became very annoyed with me. She said "You know you're not being at all fair I'm sure that at times many of us sound like the voices that you played for us. Why when I get angry or excited I probably do sound like one of those characters." Well you know she probably does. But I suspect that I might too; but then so might you. But we don't have to. If we get angry, or if we get excited, or if we do have the kind of voice that tends to get shrill at times, here's all we have to do. Just whisper. Mm-hmm. That's right. If you find yourself on the verge of really letting loose after a day when everything has gone wrong, (shakes head), uh-uh, whisper. It's the funniest thing about whispering, but you'll find that if you whisper just a few words, you absolutely cannot resume talking in a shrill tone. For some reason whispering immediately returns your voice to its normal level. And it's bound to shock the person at whom you were really just about to shout. But then again you know it's not always our speaking voice that causes us to sound like any of these recordings I played for you. Do you know that the way that you hold your telephone has a lot to do with how you sound? Now how can you be certain that you are holding your telephone correctly well? Now look just keep it up so that you're always talking directly into the mouthpiece. Just like this and then make certain that your lips are no farther away than one half inch up and into the mouthpiece and if you do that you'll find that your voice will come through clearly and distinctly. This telephone of yours is one of the most sensitive and complex instruments that's in common use in your home today. Do you know that there are almost 500 parts in this? And it does have astonishing fidelity. You can easily recognize a friend's voice no matter from what point in the world she's calling, and she can recognize yours. But what does she hear? How do you sound over the telephone? [Oz White] Well Jo, that was certainly an interesting demonstration, but don't you think you're a little bit hard on the ladies? [Jo Benson] Would you think I was too hard, Oz? [Oz White] Well, maybe not, but now it's your turn to have some fun. We men are just as guilty as the women, perhaps more so in not putting our best voice forward. With that in mind, I'm going to let you listen to some examples of men's voices that I have run across. Now, here's the first one. [starts tape recording] [Jim Fisher] Oh, this is Jim Fisher. I want to talk to you. Huh? No, lady, I didn't say anything about going fishing. I said, this is Jim Fisher, and I want to talk to someone about their [indistinguishable]. Huh? No, I didn't say shut up. Now, look, that shutter is loose when the wind blows it. No, not window. When the wind blows it, it's over [trails off]... What? Whos swearing? What's the matter with everyone I talk to on the phone anyway? Nobody seems to understand... [stops tape recording] [Oz White] That wasn't one of the clearest voices in the world, was it? As you probably guessed, my friend Mr. Muffles' problem is not so much with his voice as in his cigar smoking. You know, you just can't possibly hold a cigar, pipe, or a cigarette in your mouth and expect to talk clearly over the telephone. That is, unless you're a ventriloquist. Now, every once in a while, I meet this type of voice on my telephone. [starts tape recording] [Male Voice 3] I thought the whole thing through, and I believe that unless inflationary period, we must raise our prices and improve our earnings, that we expect to attract capital we need to keep this business expanding. Despite increased revenues, our rate of earnings has steadily declined until today we face some sort of risk. [stops recording] [Oz White] Well, here is Mr. Mechanical. What a spokesman he is for his business. Now, his problem is simply one of monotony. What he says makes sense, but the way he says it, He should give attention to syllables that will make him use his tongue and lips properly. He simply has a lazy jaw and lazy lips. Now here's another one. I ran across this one pretty close to home. [starts tape recording] [telephone ringing] [Male Voice 4] Hello? Oh yes ma'am, this is Browns Drug Store. Oh now, let's see. Let's take a look [coughing]. Yeah, I think we got some of that kind of cough syrup. Deliver it? Oh now [coughs] Let me think, I wonder where our delivery boy went? Oh fella? [muttering] I'll try to get it for you sometime today. Lets see... whats the potential? Oh? Hello? Hello? Huh? He hung up. Guess I lost another one. [stops recording] He is what we call the efficient type. He's slow with all his answers. Especially in answering his telephone and we all know how irritating that can be particularly when we're offering someone our business. Now here's a prize character from my collection. [starts tape recording] [phone rings] [Mr. Jones] Hello? [Female Voice 11] Is this Jones TV and Radio Shop? [Mr. Jones] Yup. [Female Voice 11] Is this Mr. Jones? [Mr. Jones] Why yeah. [Female Voice 11] Oh how am I to know? So Mr. Jones, My tv set doesn't work and my husband sure would like to see that fight tonight. Could you drop over and have a look at it? [Mr. Jones] Nope. Too busy. [Female Voice 11] Oh, well maybe you can test some tubes for me by bringing it over. [Mr. Jones] Well, I'm too busy so you can bring it out here if you wanna. [Female Voice 11] Well, I gotta tell ya,... [muttering] [Mr. Jones] and I don't know much about [mumbling]. Why don't you buy a good set? [Female Voice 11] I don't want to buy a new set, I just want mine fixed... Oh never mind, I'll just try some other place. Goodbye. [stops recording] [Oz White] Now there's a super a salesman for you. We call him Mr. Curt. In addition to bad manners, he just didn't say enough. He answered the questions that were put to him. But he didn't do too good of a job at that. His main idea seemed to be, now, how can I get rid of this customer? Brevity in speech has its place. But it can be overdone Now of course if you've talked to thousands of people over the telephone as I have, you inevitably sometime or other run across this kind of character. [starts tape recording] [telephone ringing] [Male Voice 5] Good morning, [Name of real estate company]. [Female Voice 12] Hello, see I wanted to inquire about that building you have... [Male Voice 5] Ah yes, ma'am! What a wonderful, I say wonderful house that is. Yes, just like you. Six rooms, bath and a bath and a half, I said. And ma'am used to see that game room. Why, it's all mighty fine. Regularly imported nuts, too. And the kids... [Female Voice 12] Now, wait a minute. How do you know that I'm...? [Male Voice 5] Well, I know a beautiful shade. It's lots, too. Just two blocks from the school state. A natural fireplace. Just think of that. A natural fireplace. What a heating system ma'am. Why I was in that house last... Remember last winter, all that snow and cold weather? [continues to ramble on] [Female Voice 12] Now, look here, I don't want to buy. [Male Voice 5] Why don't make up your mind yet. Just run on out and get an old money and I'll show you, I say, just let me show you this bargain. Now say, you gotta get out here. Just take Route 83 to 47th Street. Then when you get to that banana stand... [Female Voice 12] Oh for goodness sakes! No, wait. Listen to me a minute. Now I don't want to buy... Goodnight. All I wanted to ask was the selling price of that old chicken coop he's got in his backyard. [stops recording] [Oz White] Sound familiar? We call him Mr. Yak. He has a voice trouble which is just the opposite of that of Mr. Curt. He talks too much. He is so interested in hearing the sound of his own voice that he doesn't give the other fellow a chance to say a word. It's all right to be a good talker, but it pays to be a good listener, too. Now, here's the voice that all of us are bound to run across from time to time. He's the kind of a fellow who, for some reason or other, seems to think that you're always about a block away, and he doesn't have a telephone. Let's listen. Here he is. [starts tape recording] [telephone rings] [Male Voice 6] Hello? This is Nose Hardware. How can I... Hey Sam, shut that that door! What's that again? No we don't have any of them tags. Huh? I don't know if we ever will have any. I wasn't going to call for them, they never were much good, nobody ever uses them anymore. Yeah, yeah. Ok, bye! [stops recording] [Oz White] Well, here he is, Shouting Dan, the hardware man. He has one painfully obvious voice problem. He talks too loud. He has the idea that because he's talking over the telephone and not to somebody in person, he has to shout. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Your telephone is a scientific instrument, especially designed to faithfully reproduce any normal speaking voice. There's no need to raise your voice or shout when you use the telephone. Now I'm going to let you listen to a voice that we men never hear, but one that the girls have to suffer with once in a while. [starts recording] [Female Voice 13] Good morning. Jones, Beacon, Bridges, and Tremaine. [Male Voice 7] Well, never mind all those guys, honey. I'd just like to talk with you. [Female Voice 13] Whom do you wish to speak to, sir? [Male Voice 7] Oh, sweetheart, don't be that way. Don't you recognize my voice? I'd know yours anywhere. Well, I can just speak to you now. Just a beautiful dream straight out of heaven. [Female Voice 13] Please, Mr. Whoever you are, do you or do you not wish to talk to someone? My husband works here, too. He'll be very glad to talk to you. [Male Voice 7] Oh, yes, of course. Connect me with Mr. Beacon, please. [Female Voice 13] Thank you. [stops recording] [Oz White] Good old Mr. Telewolf himself. The working girl's invisible dream boy, he thinks. You know, as in the case of the women's voices, all of these male voices were recorded by one person. Now, you and I may not have the vocals of a professional, but it just makes good sense and good business to use our natural voices to our best possible advantage. Now, this program concludes our series of talks on your telephone. These and many other demonstrations are available and if you would like to have a speaker get it through your local business office. Thank you and goodbye. [instrumental outro music] [Narrator] Your Telephone was presented in cooperation with Michigan Bell telephone company your director Les Harcus. This is the last program in the series Your Telephone. [instrumental outro music]