Does anyone have a loud or soft voice?

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I'm just curious. My voice is loud, and it's hard to hear it being loud for me.

Generally, my voice is soft and people have difficulty hearing what I say. Like in restaurants, the waiters/waitresses sometimes don't hear what I say and I have to repeat myself or whomever I am with says what I said for me. My voice is quiet when I'm feeling shy or anxious (in most social situations).
I have the opposite problem sometimes too. My voice gets loud and I don't realize how loud it is until someone tells me. That tends to happen when I am comfortable with the person/people around me. The other day in my chemistry lab, my partner had to remind me to lower my voice a couple times.
I think difficulty with voice modulation is pretty common for people on the spectrum.

I need a 'both' option

Sorry. I didn't think of adding one.

Eh, sorry- just realized my comment didn't really do anything positive. I'm not on my best game today. how about i contribute to the thread instead of just give a one line remark?

I go both and I have trouble regulating between the two. When I was a child I was told to speak up all the time. Then I spoke up but being a woman, was quickly told to hush up again. They never could make up their minds. So when it's me and my Husband I'm quiet and relaxed, until I watch sports or get really excited about something- then my volume goes up fast.

soft, often too soft
but only because it sounds normal to me
others tell me to speak up

Mine is very soft and people often tell me to speak up. But I always hear myself loudly so I don't realize it is soft.

It varies with my energy level, but I do a lot of acting and singing so I have no problem speaking up even when I'm tired

That is really interesting because I sang semi professionally for years and I also did a bit of acting. When I sing and act I do it in a volume necessary for the performance but I still can't manage to speak up in regular every day speech. My husband always asks, "Why don't you project when like when you sing?" And I say, " I don't know." I guess in my brain it's categorized and therefore different. But it is interesting to me that you can use your acting and singing skill to help you speak up in regular speech. And if I am tired, I can just forget it. It's a miracle if anyone can hear me at all when I am tired. But I can sing and act at the required volumes even when very tired.

Although my mom use to tell me my voice really "carried", aka I was loud, in the world people frequently ask me to repeat myself. There are times when it is really difficult to speak loud enough, even though I make an effort. So it might be both, depending on my comfort level.

Strangely(?), I am capable of speaking louder than I am capable of singing (it's as though my brain automatically sets a volume limit on my singing out of fear that other people may actually hear me ). It's a strain for me to sing above piano, but I can speak fairly loudly at times.

My speaking voice tends to vary between the two extremes: when I am nervous, sad, scared, tired, or relaxed, I tend to speak in a soft murmur, but my voice can be booming when I am very excited (and, like others have mentioned, I usually do not realize how loud or soft my voice is in these situations until somebody points it out).

I spoke too loud as a kid, then it changed to low (way more often).

Last edited by Lumi on 03 Oct 2014, 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ditto

I'm surprised by the amount of people with a soft voice. O_O I thought for sure there'd be some with loud ones as well.

I find it hard to consciously regulate the volume of my voice and can get louder when I'm animated about something. This irritates people and I have a hard time explaining to family members that it isn't just bad manners, it is something I can't help. I don't expect them to have to remind themselves of something over and over if it is anything automatic for them, so I don't see why they can't return the favor. There comes a point where your constant the convenience or tolerance of others doesn't trump someone's constantly having to worry about something frivolous.

Most people will say I talk too softly, and I know I have always been uncomfortable with the sound of my own voice, so I used to assume other people were also uncomfortable with the sound of my voice. Weird.

One thing though, my NT SO has a very loud voice, and has often said I talk too quietly, but then when we are in a heated discussion will tell me that I'm yelling at her when I think I'm just matching her volume.

Maybe this is only a function of good hearing/bad hearing.