Find out
where your voice lies when it is left to
itself, under favorable conditions, by reading
something aloud or by listening to yourself
as you talk to an intimate friend. Then
practise keeping it in that general range,
unless it prove to have a distinct fault, such
as a nervous sharpness, or hoarseness. A
quiet voice is good; a hushed voice is
abnormal. A clear tone is restful, but a loud
one is wearying.
Perhaps the common-sense way of setting
a standard for one's own voice is to
remember that the purpose of a speaking
voice is to communicate with others; their
ears and minds are the receivers of our
tones. For this purpose, evidently, a voice
should be, first of all, easy to hear; next,
pleasant to hear; next, susceptible of
sufficient variation to express a wide range of
meaning; and finally, indicative of personality.
Is it too quixotic to urge teachers who
tell stories to little children to bear these
thoughts, and better ones of their own,
in mind? Not, I think, if it be fully
accepted that the story hour, as a play hour,
is a time peculiarly open to influences
affecting the imitative faculty; that this
faculty is especially valuable in forming
fine habits of speech; and that an increasingly
high and general standard of English
speech is one of our greatest needs
and our most instant opportunities in the
American schools of to-day.
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