Have you ever changed your voice to fit in?

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Elocution lessons to sound less posh appear to be on the rise. When have you wished your voice sounded different?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ssons-posh

I do adapt my accent when I'm in work.

It's because I have a strong Manchester accent, and because I work on the phones I just adapt it a little.

I don't try and make myself sound more posher, I just pronounce my words a bit better.

There's no way I'd pay anyone to make me sound different though.

Whenever I get to spend significant time in a different part of North America I often find that my accent has changed when I get home.

There were times while I was in a prison called high school that I tried to hide my accent in order to fit in. I even stopped listening to The British Invasion when I was in the beginning two months of Grade 10. My dad said something pretty stupid about how able and disabled he thought I was over that summer I was going into that grade. I figured that if being a hippie was the only future I could hope for, I shouldn't have a Cockney accent which sounds posh to Canadians and Americans. I also didn't want any of my female peers saying, "Oh yeah....okay....whatever." every time I'd join into one of their every day conversations, staying on topic....b*****s. Looking back now, it doesn't make sense that I wanted to sound like the b*****s and douche bags who were in my regular classes.

I'm listening to The British Invasion as I type this. Life is good.

Definitely. I used to have a slight Spanish accent. I don't like it because I'm Canadian and I don't associate myself with Latin culture. I usually sound Canadian, but sometimes my accent comes back when I'm nervous or tired. I also try to make my voice more mature and less monotone. It's hard work, but I get super happy when my voice sounds like I want it to.

I am proud of my regional accent and would feel deeply insulted if i was asked to change it to fit in or better myself. (there is no accent better than a Yorkshire accent) .I do how ever respect the fact that people who don't have English as a first language and in some cases Americans will have difficulties in understanding me, i will then talk slower and try and use proper pronunciation of words in such cases.

No .in highschool people used to ask me where im from,would say "from here"as was the case.
Always figured it was because im half french half english and went to french primary and english secondary

My voice never really broke, and I deliberately started speaking from my lower register. I tend to mimic the people with whom I am speaking, but only a little. I can do some accents for comic effect. I tried to adopt a Midwestern accent on a trip to Minnesota, but they still recognized my Southern origins.

I have to all the time... I am 6'9" with a barrel chest... my voice is booming and resonant... so... I have to work at not being loud

Yes. Vocal control is a key component with the animals I work with, in human interactions whether it is interpersonally, as a teacher, or in "writer's voice". I learned much from acting, phone work, sales, and a host of other experiences in which voice is important. I am alto by nature, can imitate and have always been intrigued by sound/rhythm...and while I love to seek pattern in the written word and language, I still find voice a-ma-zing.
Volume timbre cadence resonance qualities that change guttural nasal breathy raspy
Accents energy emphasis...and after all of this still can be monotone and a "low-talker"

I grew up in a small village with a strong accent. After leaving for several years, university, mixing with people from all over the world and living elsewhere my accent evolved and became much less strong. However, I found that when mixing with old school friends in the village I had to switch back to my old accent or I was somewhat "excluded", particularly in social settings. At work or business meetings my accent switched back to my evolved, flatter, less regional accent. There is a curious phenomenon that one isn't taken so seriously by management if one has a strong local accent. Perhaps an evolved accent is more indicative of being less parochial and more travelled / better educated. I don't know. But there is definitely some snobbishness in the workplace regarding accents. There is also reverse snobbery from old school friends if you speak with a different accent to those you grew up with.

When I was younger I used to always roll my R's but when I first started working on the chat lines I had to stop it because for some reason a rolled R doesn't sound like an R down the phone.

I've also had to adapt the way I pronounce my Y's too.

And I've kind of learned how to pronounce my vowels properly.

I still say things like fink instead of think.

I don't fink that'll ever change.

Yes. When I was in high school my family moved from a small Southern USA town to a larger one. I was ridiculed for my strong regional accent, so at that age I subconsciously began lessening it. Fortunately I have a decent ear for such things and the change came easily. But still when I am now around others with a southern accent I fall back into it, which is a good thing because I find it improves those interpersonal relationships.

More recently I have developed an interest in doing audio book narration, which is requiring further speech refinement. It is requiring a lot of dedicated daily time and effort to develop a more purely midwestern American accent, which is generally considered the industry standard.

On a side note, I once had to hire a voice actor to record a voicemail greeting for a rather posh business. I deliberately sought out and choose a voice actor who was formerly an announcer with BBC television and spoke in excellent BBC-style Oxford English. I was very pleased with the result. So yeah, in my book accents are important.