"I'm running for president to tear down all the barriers
that stand in the way of every American."
She is really, really pushing from the throat.
Voice is about finessing the air,
not about brute force.
People sometimes say
that they would like Hillary Clinton more
if her voice was a little bit less annoying.
Why does she sound so irritating to some people?
Amee Shah, who researches hearing and perception
at Cleveland State University, ran an analysis
of Hillary's voice for us.
According to Shah, Hillary's voice is actually average
in pitch and loudness for her age and gender.
But, Shah did find that some people might perceive
Hillary's voice as louder because of the mic effect.
Hillary tends to use to much force
when she talks into a microphone during big speeches.
The other thing is that her voice lacks the typical things
society expects from a woman's voice
like softness and breathiness and a slight nasality.
Like in this Marilyn Monroe clip.
"He was kind of scary looking
but he wasn't really all bad."
As Shah explored Hillary's past speeches,
she noticed an interesting change.
Over time, her voice has become more polished.
Maybe even too cleaned up.
She has very careful annunciation and few pauses.
Hillary now has to appeal to people all over the country.
So, she's done away with some of the folksy character
in her speech.
"That's what we're betting on, and we're just
going to roll the dice and see what happens."
Hillary's voice is so neutral, so polished
that it may actually make her less relatable.
According to Shah,
people want their leaders to sound distinctive.
But the truth is,
it's really hard for any woman to pull of this balance
between sounding persuasive
and sounding like a crazy, emotional harpy.
In fact, many powerful women
see actual coaches in order to help them sound
more pleasing when they give talks.
Laura Verdun is a vocal coach who trains people
in leadership positions in Washington DC.
I asked her about some of the criticisms
of Clinton's pitch and tone.
You can be loud, you can have a strong voice
without coming across as aggressive or angry.
If I was to have the pleasure to work with her,
I would address two things:
one is, don't use loudness
solely as your means to create emphasis
because when everything is loud,
then people start to tune out.
Because they can't interpret what's your point.
The second is to rely on the other tools,
in regards to varying pitch or pausing.
I'm going to ask you to help me say,
"I urge you to vote for me in November."
as Hillary Clinton in the most effective way possible.
Okay, so here's me just trying it without your help.
I urge you to vote for me in November.
It sounds more directive and more aggressive,
where as how would you rather come off?
I would think you'd rather come off as
more enthusiastic and energized.
Okay, so try it one more time.
I urge you to vote for me in November.
I think those pauses where too long.
So, there are some things Hillary can do to sound better
like take more breaths,
speak from lower down in her belly
and emphasize different words.
Voice is fixable, to an extent.
But the bigger question is,
should Hillary's voice really matter this much?
We might be paying too much attention to her voice
just because she's female and the first
female candidate for President
Studies show, people judge female leaders more harshly
than they do male leaders.
Why don't we complain about how male candidates sound?
Throughout the democratic primaries
it wasn't as if Bernie Sanders had a strong, clear voice.
His voice was actually very hoarse and raspy and rough
and weak as the primaries went on.
Yet that was just sort of pushed aside.
Hillary has quirks to her speech.
Just like any other politician.
"We have to be the only major country
that does not guarantee paid family leave
to all of our people."
"It's really gonna be a big debate, but I'm always ready.
It's not just big, it huge."