What's so wrong with monotone?

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Almost every vet program or zoo program I can find has "Excellent oral communication skills " as a requirement. Does that mean they want someone who dosen't speak in a monotone? My mum says I don't sound so much like a robot as I did as a kid but I figure in a vet program I would just memorise what they wanted me to say and when I recite things from memory it comes out as monotone. When I do become a vet, if people complain about my "lack of inflection", I'm going to ask if they came for me to treat their pet or judge my vocal skills.

BTW, I'm watching Invader Zim right now and Gazz just said "But his voice fills me terrible rage". That's how I feel about people who talk with too much "pep" but it seems as if ALL people who work in zoos talk like that. But that's acceptable and someone who speaks rather "netural" is veiwed as having poor oral communication skills. What's so wrong with a monotone voice anyway?

Well it's like a song where the singer sings the same note over and over. It doesn't excite the human mind. You don't have to go overpeppy, but a little tonal variation goes a long way. Ever notice people start yawning, scratching, doing other things while you talk?

Excellent oral communication skills to me sounds like you need to be good with people (as in every job) and speak clearly. That rules me out.
Can you speak in a monotone voice but seem upbeat?

Nothing.

For example, my mother told me she'd prefer a person in authority (that's an expert on a subject) to speak like I do, as it's calming in its matter of fact and direct appearance. Whereas some people will prefer an emotional voice, as that's what they like.

It's subjective.

I don't think they mean monotone though, rather, the ability to communicate information clearly and that can be readily understood.

I don't see anything wrong with a monotone voice.

What they are looking for in vets is someone who can explain medical concepts to pet owners. You have to be able to explain to a dog owner what is making their dog sick in non-medical terms and answer any questions they may have. Some people are brilliant at doing that whilst others simply can not. I don't think they would be really worried if you spoke in monotone or not as long as you could get your point across in a way non-vets could understand.

There is a special pejorative made just for describing things like a monotone voice: monotonous.

Absolute monotone is pretty rare, not that easy; I operate with a pretty small distance between my highs and lows and my louds and softs. It has been callded soothing, is not by itself a barrier to communication. But combined with my other great social skills, it helps people tune out so they don't hear what I say.

I have known communicators who muttered, who shouted, who almost whispered, and in one case who sprayed saliva on all within range. You can't be much worse. I would say give it a whirl, don't worry about it. Let the people in the back office devide itf you are what they need.

no, it means you need to listen closely to what people are saying and you need to respond in an appropriate fashion.

I guess it means that you must be good at communicating with people: understanding what they're saying, being able to give clear and accurate responses, being able to express sympathy with people who are sad or upset because their pet is ill. Doesn't matter if your tone of voice is monotone. My cat's vet is the best there is, and I'm sure she's an Aspie. She's a leading expert on cats, her face and voice doesn't register emotion much, she's to the point and I know that some people think she may come across as a bit cold, too efficient and unfeeling. But she's not. She's just the best vet you could hope for.
Try to win potential employers over with your excellent skills.

It seems a little strange that written communication doesn't put people off even though it's essentially monotone - I know italics, bold text, underlines and exclamation marks can be used to emphasise bits of it, but compared to speech, text is monotone.

Even stranger, although I have trouble focussing on a monotone voice, and prefer a voice with a bit of "colour," I don't like text that has lots of exclamation marks etc. in it. I guess it's a case of finding a happy medium....too little colour and it tends to go into one ear and out of the other, too much and I start to suspect that somebody's putting on some kind of attention-seeking act, and I switch off.

I prefer "too flat" to "too bouncy" though. Flat is difficult for me but at least it doesn't make me feel suspicious, and now I know that some folks just can't help talking in monotone (including myself if I'm not feeling confident), I try a bit harder to focus on it.

It's just like the general "social strength" of any given person - I have some difficulty relating to people who give me none of the usual social cues, but with a little perseverance and humilty I can get by. But very intense "socialites" leave me cold.

Nothing annoys me more when someone speaks in monotone during a speech. I've heard it time and time again when I was in my high school Oral Communications class.

I don't think speaking in a monotone is an impediment to being a good vet. Certainly a zoo or farm vet doesn't need to be able to express sympathy in the way that a pet vet might.

If you are a regular pet veterinarian you might find it helpful to be able to use more inflection in your voice to better get across the points you need to make. "You need to give fluffy her pills once a day" said in a monotone may not communicate the importance in the way that "You NEED to give fluffy her pills ONCE a day" might.

But this sort of thing can be learned. You might never be as fluent in your use of inflection as an NT might be, but you can learn to do it adequately well.

I have always spoken in a slow monotone although with some effort, I have improved my speaking voice a bit. Not great, but it does help in some communication.

As others have said here, good communication involves getting the information across. A monotone might pose a bit of a challenge, but it is hardly the whole thing. Since you know it's an issue for you, you can work on it, but don't let it stop you from pursuing work you enjoy.

Lars

I gather that some people with Asperger's can be quite animated when they are talking about things that they are passionate about and the monotone thing only kicks in when they are bored.