What is your speech style like? Talkative, quiet, soft, loud, etc.

I speak at the average tone. I hardly EVER yell--mainly because I can't think when I'm yelling. However, when it comes to dealing with children, I found this to be ideal. Children tend to respect you when you are able to control a room full of loud ones without yelling--to be able to be stern and protective to let them know you mean business.

Also, I'm not very talkative unless I'm in a situation where it would behoove me to be talkative--as in when I'm at work.

However, when it comes to talking, I tend to stick with the jokes more than anything. When someone asks for my opinion, or I finally decide to get it, I usually have it perfectly planned out in my head--beautiful--but then I spit it out as if it were unwanted spinach. I do this because deep down I feel like no one really wants to hear what I want to say, so I don't want to spend 7 hours saying it, which results in a half-ass-structured idea. :/

So I stick with the charming humor.

I'm loud to those who need me to be (usually older people (no offense)), soft spoken when I'm severely pissed off, normal when I'm normal, and loud when I'm being incredibly ridiculous trying to get people to laugh and smile over something stupid.

As for when I talk I rarely do when I'm angry, but otherwise it depends on the situation. If I'm trying to be funny (and I usually am) I talk quite a bit, if I need to do something I usually only say one liners or ask questions about what I'm doing, and if people give me signs they don't want to talk to me or hear me speak I don't.

I have the same problem with being too soft spoken, especially if I'm not feeling especially talkative and just want to be left alone in my head. Most of the time when that happens, I'm not even aware of speaking too softly until the person indicates they hadn't heard a word *abashed*

As for intonation, my voice is usually somewhat animated (I asked a friend what she thought as I was forming my answer and she answered "non-abrasive")

I have my moments when I start talking away with people I'm comfortable with, but then I get paranoid that they may feel annoyed.

Saki said:

Personally I'm insanely soft spoken to the point people can't hear me half the time, and I'm either barely saying a word or going off on some tangent that is incredibly difficult to follow. Little if any in-between.

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Going off on tangents is a specialty of mine! :3

soft, loud, fluid, halting, serious, silly, long pauses, no pauses

I search for words a lot, but sometimes I get talking and I feel like I can't stop. My mother says the ends of my sentences drift off a lot. I'm usually never too loud, except for when I'm with roommates in my apartment at 1am and we're laughing like hyenas. But that's laughing, not talking xD. I always attempt to speak loud enough to be heard by whoever I'm talking to.

I get really toneless when I talk about things I feel really bad about. Low and pointed when I'm very angry. Abruptly aggressive when I'm annoyed. High pitched when happy/content or cuteness is around. monotone when giving answers to "where did mom go?" type questions.

I think most people have a full range. What do I hover around though? Higher, lilting, with either great enthusiasm or lots of STOP__GOs because i still put enthusiasm in, but must break now and again to finish processing. Lots of filler tones. I have a habit of humming or just making noises in general to fill the space as I think.

I'm soft spoken to a fault, and I talk fast so explaining things can be a challenge sometimes. I think the fast talking is because it able to think infinitely more quickly than I'm able to speak, so by the time I've said one thing, my minds already seven steps ahead. So in order to not lose my spot on my train of thought, I'll start speaking faster in a vain attempt to catch up. Unfortunately, that only exacerbates it, and I have to fall back on my oft used "never mind...".

FindNoEnemy said:

I'm soft spoken to a fault, and I talk fast so explaining things can be a challenge sometimes. I think the fast talking is because it able to think infinitely more quickly than I'm able to speak, so by the time I've said one thing, my minds already seven steps ahead. So in order to not lose my spot on my train of thought, I'll start speaking faster in a vain attempt to catch up. Unfortunately, that only exacerbates it, and I have to fall back on my oft used "never mind...".

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Sounds familiar, although at I do at times wonder if this is the empathic paternal side at work or the highly sensitive personality trait in play (Susan Cain notes how HSP retreats are filled with soft spoken individuals).

I have this weird thing where I hate other people overhearing my conversations. It's as if everyone I talk to is meant to be the only person to hear it. So, I'm generally a lot more soft spoken.

With that said, I know how to project, showboat, or make it so I'm intentionally overheard (works great on getting noticed by that cute girl), without just simply raising the volume on my voice.

With people I know: Very animated. Big dynamic range from soft to loud. Rambling, jumping from A to B, and back to A half an hour later.
I talk a lot with my hands as well (and there are studies this is innate, and exceptionally common in bilinguals like myself), and I'm generally expressive (body, face).

With people I don't know:
More listening than talking, but I often have to overcome that because of my job, and it's not a problem these days.

My (speaking & singing) voice is professionally trained though, so I'm probably not a good example...

Saki said:

What is your speech style like? I know that this is an INFJ forum but ".............." is not an answer =P

I mean, are you soft spoken? Are you loud? Do you seldom speak? Do you talk constantly? that kind of thing.

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In different contexts, I tend to use different styles:

1. Deep in my comfort zone - Here I can be quite chatty but this is because of various relationships and wanting to welcome people into these circles that I have. I do talk somewhat quickly but this tends to be more out of excitement than anything else. This may not always be easy to see as some of my circles here are rather small, but I suspect those that have seen me here know me best.

2. New territory - Here I tend to be quiet and watch what others do. I tend to mimic others rather than use my own style of speech, mostly as a defense mechanism. I still talk fast and if more than a little nervous, I talk faster.

3. Other areas - Generally somewhere between these extremes. Depending on my energy levels, how recent events have gone, this determines how much of myself I will show or how much I hide.

I am soft-spoken definitely, but to top it off my voice is naturally that husky "I just lost my voice" kind of voice because of medical reasons. Therefore, I can always tell when someone is genuinely interested in what I have to say when I do talk because they really have to shut up and listen. I like that part about it. But otherwise it does have drawbacks because I can't really be heard in loud environments, so I just don't talk that much there. However, I am very talkative and animated with my close friends and will go off on long random tangents. I get insanely irritated at people who talk way too loudly for the environment they are in (yes, everybody in this coffee shop can hear that you are planning on attending all the music festivals in the northwest and know all the lineups!)

My mother says that when I enter 'advice-giving mode' I sound soothing and tempered, evenly speaking (she calls it the 'prophetic' voice, lol)
At work I tend to be strong if in a public discussion and fairly quiet if not. I've done a lot of corporate speaking in the past, so I don't use fillers at all (no ums, errs, ahs). I either stop what I'm saying to let my mouth catch up with my brain, or simply pause for effect.
With my very close friends I am very highly animated and nearly non-stop talking, as I know someone on the other end is listening to me and 'gets' me.
When I'm nervous (like dating) I am either too quiet or too talkative, rarely am I able to find a comfort level there at all.

I have a strong, definitive voice for a woman, so rarely does anyone ever say they cannot hear me I'm often asked to record things for voice mail and such as my diction tends to be very clear.

I'm soft spoken. I almost never yell, only if it really is necessary.

Sometimes even if I have planned what I'm about to say, I might find it difficult to find the right words to get the message to them presicely how it was in my head. The difference can be huge, if I get my point out there just right, people will be "oh wow, how did you come up with that?" or if I get my message out there but tangle with the words *...silence...* *everyone continues talking about something else*.

Saki said:

Oh wow, I'm reading these just going "Yep... yep... That was me in high school... That's normal?! ... yep."

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Yes, pretty much.

I have to apologize a lot when I'm with my friends because I can just go on and on and on and on and sometimes (less frequently, lately) I interrupt people when I know where they're going with a particular thought and it sparks a series of thoughts in my head. I feel bad because this is incredibly rude but my friends understand.