“Voice stress analysis (VSA) is a technique that attempts to detect deception by measuring purported stress-induced changes in voice production, such as micro-tremors or frequency modulations in the vocal tract, using software to analyze audio recordings during questioning. Marketed as a non-invasive alternative to polygraph testing, VSA systems like the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA) claim to identify truthful versus deceptive responses through algorithms processing parameters including pitch (F0) and jitter, ostensibly linked to autonomic nervous system arousal”.
VSA has been used by thousands of law enforcement agencies as a lie detector, but with mixed results (good liars can temporarily relax their voices to evade stress-detection).
Even so, VSA proves what I’ve been teaching for decades: Your voice reveals your state. As a success-coach of more than 35-years I’ve learned to pay attention to voice, often more than to the words being spoken, to tell truth from falsehood.
They say “actions speak louder than words” and I agree with that. But the voice the words travel also speak louder than the words. Voice carries intention.
Some researchers, such as 1980s sound-pioneer Sharry Edwards, claim to be able to diagnose illnesses based on a person’s voice and then respond to the disharmony with certain sound frequencies that correct the problem.
I use this knowledge to adjust my own state or even the things I’m saying. If my voice is not resonant and clear, either my state is out-of-tune with reality or the things I’m saying are not the highest-truth I could be speaking. Then I make adjustments until my voice is once again strong.
Of course deliberately changing your voice can also correct your inner state as well as modify the state or interest-level of a listener.
I do this with other things too, unrelated to voice. A few weeks ago I was spilling things all the time. Spilling coffee while pouring it, spilling water on my shirt, spilling water beside a plant, etc. It was my clue that my energy is slightly out of sync, so I reclaimed my calm.
Everything is a clue. Get a clue and use it to your benefit.
