SUBTEXTMark was able to project a subtext of dependability and success.
It is this subtext that makes us trust certain television personalities.
Walter Cronkite is the best example: The low pitch and resonance
of his voice signal honesty and believability.
In the motion picture Broadcast News, the plot hinged on a
contradiction between subtext and ability. William Hurt played
a newscaster whose intelligence and understanding of events was
limited, but whose resonant, authoritative voice and empathetic
manner came across very successfully on the screen. Teamed up
with a reporter who was both intelligent and capable, he managed
to rise to prominence as an anchorman. His success was due to
his instinctive ability to effectively harness the subtext of his voice
and manner.
In television newscasting, a lower pitch and a deep resonance
are most desirable. High-pitched voices present a subtext of ineffec-
tiveness no matter how capable and able the person is.
Women like Mariette Hartley are blessed by nature with the
low pitch and register that come across so well. However, Hartley's
failure on a morning news show makes it clear that a strong voice
alone cannot guarantee success in that field.
Pitch, resonance, and register are three of the most impor-
tant elements in conveying subtext through the voice. To define
them briefly: Pitch is the highness or lowness of a sound; reso-
nance is the vibration given the voice by the vocal chambers
such as the mouth or pharynx; and register is the range of the
voice.
Many of us can, to an extent, control these elements. We can
resonate through the chest to signal strength, dependability, firm-
ness, solidity. An authoritative voice resonates from the chest.
The extent to which you control your register depends upon your
vocal cords. If they are thin and tight, and you resonate through