Picture this, it’s the weekend and you’re waiting in line, with your closest pals, to order food from your favorite brunch spot. As you approach the counter and begin ordering, you can’t help but to hear your friends faintly giggling in dismay.
You’re not quite sure why, but all that echoes from behind you is the sound of your friends innocently mimicking what you had just said. This can only mean one thing; you’ve unintentionally released your customer service voice as you were ordering.
The Voice
We all have it. When our friends are shocked by the change in our tone of voice, they make fun of us for it and we’re guilty of doing the same to them. Yet, nobody can seem to stop it no matter how hard anybody tries. The customer service voice is a non-negotiable in the conversations we share between ourselves and strangers.
If you’re sitting here reading this and saying “I certainly don’t have a customer service voice!” Chances are you do, but you’ve never taken the time to notice or nobody has ever pointed it out to you. Here at VALLEY, we’ve been guilty of this thought process as well, but it turns out that was far from the truth.
What Is It?
The customer service voice consists of your range in vocals reaching a higher octave, then normal and it typically occurs when you begin speaking with unknown individuals. There is no thought process that goes into producing the vocal facade, rather the very nature of it emanates from our human desire to accommodate the feelings of others.
“When we talk to strangers our voices may sound higher and even baby-ish. This happens because when we speak this way, we’re perceived as having a non-threatening attitude and when we make our first contact, we want it to be as friendly as possible.”
Bright Side Blog
A societal norm is to approach fresh faces with a position of kindness and respectability. In order to achieve this task, our mind believes it’s only suitable to place our hearts in our throats. It’s evident the mind aspires to have us come across as highly congenial characters.
According to an article published on Bustle, “To present yourself in the way you see best fit for a circumstance, you might use different pitches, octaves and tones to project different demeanors.” The environment around you is the key determining factor, which sets the stage for what range your voice plans to personify.
As you trek on your next run to your local cafe or go-to dinner joint, perhaps it’ll be interesting to take notice of what your customer service voice sounds like. Tune in to your friends’ conversations and listen to their customer service voice too. After all, it’s a universal experience, but one that, no matter how silly, stems from the goodness of our souls within.
Have you ever witnessed someone speaking in their customer service voice? If so, share with us on X @VALLEYmag!
