The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-09-18
GOLDEN VOICE is
NEEDED IN RADIO
Opens Up New Field for Those
Who Can Speak PIeasingly.
PERSONALITY IS TRANSMITTED


With radio being developed, and
with all sorts of entertainment and in
formation broadcast over the country,
the profession Of talking appears to
have q brighter future than ever be-
fore. 1t may even be imagined that
in a few years the movie-struck ele-
ment Of our population will be re-
placed by a few million individuals all
eager to send their golden voices out
to breathlessly waiting world.
Perhaps this is an exaggerated fore
cast. The fact remains that radio Is
bringing the human voice into greater
prominence than it has enjoyed for
some time.
If you listen in often, you are aware
that all kinds of voices are sent
through the air. Some are far more
distinct than others. A few have that
indefinable atmosphere that we call
personality, while many seem flat and
toneless, says the Chicago Daily News.
Miss Dagmar Perkins, president of
the National Association for American
Speech, says that radio demands
speech technique of its own. The
speaker who faces broadcasting out
fit is often painfully aware Of the
great and unseen audience he Is to
address. He realizes that he must
speak clearly in order to be heard in
Arkansas And he is only too con-
scious of the fact that he must depend
on his voice alone to get the message
across. The result of this state of
mind is apt to be an artificial Grafton
of the old fashioned type. The speech
comes out at the end of the apparatus,
somewhere in the United States, in the
Impressive but doleful tones of man
making an announcement through
megaphone.
Miss Perkins has been talking over
the radio lately, and while she could
not hear herself talk she made some
experiments with voice production and |
persons listening in reported results.
Personality Is Transmitted.
She found that personality can be
transmitted by radio no less than by
telephone. The best effect was OBJ
tanned when she talked clearly but in
normal tones as if she were convers-
ing with friends. When she told a
humorous story she laughed little
When she made a serious statement
she tried to put seriousness into her
voice. The listeners reported that the
speakers individuality was carried
over the air waves in such small de
tails as these
1t is not an easy proposition to
inf ~, ri
IL front of such an impersonal audi
ance as a broadcasting machine. The
speaker faces the machine and starts
)ut with a clever story which ordi-
laily would put his audience into a
responsive attitude. He tells it as eX-
Jressivcly as possible, and then auto
he pauSes for the response.
n the thick silence which follows he
,ets new conception of what it
means to deliver a speech straight
through to the end without any help
II stimulation from the people ad-
lressed. His brain understands the
perfectly, but the funny story
GEMS as fiat in his ears as If the
udience had really been on the spot
nd had greeted it with cold disap-
roval.
Moving picture stars have told of the
of acting without the help of
Il audience. 1t is equally wearying
} make speech to an unseen world
nd to be just as animated and force
III as though the crowd were there.
loving picture actors have learned
lie difficult art of pantomime. The
lccessful brOadcaster will learn to
xpress his personality as well as his
essage by radio. The art of speech
ay be developed in interesting and
lbtle ways.
Interest in Voice Increasing.
Whether listening to radio voices,
,od and bad, is going to make US
ore sensitive to defects in our speech
another question. The telephone
'es not seem to have accomplished
UGH in that direction. Miss Perkins
VS., however, that interest In the {
eaking voice is certainly increasing
hen the Association for American
'eech was organized less than three n
ars ago, few people gave thought O
the technique of talking. Scarcely c
article written on the subject could II
found in current literature Now,
= association says that speech is b
e subject. Speech clubs are formed, a
lures given. Schools, welfare CEN O.
s and women's clubs are arranging N
lrses in speaking. g,
The association is trying to show m
It language is most useful when 1t tc
used correctly. A person may be
e to get through life with slipshop
,ech and nasal twang. He car
make himself understood w
bout bothering to modulate his PC
&c and pronounce words distinctly. m
in encounters with other human m
ngs a pleasing voice Is an asset so
ing dollars and cents valuation. sv
.ctors and public speakers have al
rs studied to make their voices flex-
and resonant because they could
help seeing the direct connection tx
ween their voices and the effective of