Today we acknowledge World Speech Day, celebrating the transformative power of speech-making to shape change, unite communities and build world citizenship.
From birthday toasts to graduation days; weddings to funerals; leaving parties to welcoming addresses, speeches are a ritual to mark momentous occasions. They bring audience and speaker together in thought and laughter, commemoration and motivation.
Voice is our primary means of communication (Zhang, 2016) and language is ‘the medium in and through which social life is talked into existence (Humă, Stokoe, and Sikveland, 2020).
We feel voice in the womb (Jauniaux, et al., 2022) and sound carries beyond the breath that made it, passing from particle to particle (Villaneuva-Rivera et al., 2011) and through memory across time as we recognise voices even without other cues (Kreiman and Sidtis, 2011).
Listening to the human voice creates stronger bonds than any artificially created acoustic (Kumar and Epley, 2021).
Here at the Voice Study Centre, we encourage our community to craft and present their thoughts, find their voice and help to shape the world. From kitchen table to theatre stage, research presentation to political rally, your voice matters.
What speech might you make today?
Henriques, J., Jauniaux, E., de Maisieres, A. T., Gelat, P. (2022). ‘Sound Before Birth: Foetal Hearing and the Auditory Environment of the Womb’, in Aural Diversity, Routledge. 1:27-41.
Humăa, B., Stokoe, E., and Sikveland, R. O. (2020). Putting persuasion (back) in its interactional context. Research in Psychology 2020, Vol. 17, No. 3, 357–371 https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1725947© 2020 Taylor & Francis.
Kreiman, J., & Sidtis, D. (2011). Foundations of voice studies: An interdisciplinary approach to voice production and perception. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Kumar, E and Epley, N. (2021). It’s surprisingly nice to hear you: Misunderstanding the impact of communication media can lead to suboptimal choices of how to connect with others. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 150(3), 595–607.
Viallanueva-Rivera, Luis J., Pijanowski, Bryan C., Doucette, Jarrod, Pekin, Burak. (2011). A Primer of acoustic analysis for landscape ecologistsLandscape Ecol 26:1233–1246.
Zhang, Z. (2016) ‘Mechanics of human voice production and control’. Journal of Acoustical Society of America. 140(4), 2614.
Recent Posts
Student Interviews
Could a Harmonica Have a Place in the Voice Studio?
Voice Study Centre
Tuesday 8th September 2026What does a harmonica have to do with the human voice? For harmonica performer and music educator Shima Melvin, this question became the starting point for her postgraduate research with the Voice Study Centre. While developing her approach to teaching harmonica, Shima found herself struggling to explain exactly what was happening inside the instrument when she played. The mechanics of the harmonica were, in a sense, invisible.
Read More...
After The Session
After the Session: Common Medical Diagnoses and Treatments in Voice Patients
Voice Study Centre
Friday 4th September 2026Voice care extends far beyond opera stars! A voice professional includes anyone whose livelihood depends on an effective and pleasing voice - teachers, solicitors, sports coaches, secretaries, and sales personnel. Yesterday, we welcomed back Dr. Robert Sataloff MD, DMA, FACS, for a short course into the diagnosis, medical care, and surgical management of voice patients. Robert is the Director of Otolaryngology at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Voice, professional singer, and a conductor.. Read on for the key insights and takeaways every vocal professional, pedagogue, and performer should know!
Read More...
After The Session
After the Session: Acoustic Physics, Resonance and the Vocal Tract!
Voice Study Centre
Thursday 27th August 2026Last night, the Voice Study Centre had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Brad Story (University of Arizona) for a fascinating short course entitled "The Vocal Tract and Singing: A Research Overview". Drawing from his unique background in physics, mathematics, and computational acoustics - including early engineering work on vehicle exhaust systems(!) - Dr. Story provided a deep dive on how the geometry of the human vocal tract shapes source sound into voice, speech, and song. Read on to find our what we learned!
Read More...