Why do some people talk so loud?
Ever noticed that some people are just so much louder than everyone else?
You might just think they’re excitable or outgoing, but there’s often a deeper meaning behind their volume level.
Let’s look at the reasons why they might be speaking so loudly.
1. They’re overcompensating for shyness.
Some people who are very shy try to combat this by going all-out and being the biggest personality in the room.
This is their way of ‘controlling’ how shy they are – if they are loud and appear outgoing, people will never realize how quiet they really are.
2. They want to feel more important.
The loudest voice in the room is the one everyone wants to listen to, right?
Wrong!
Many people who talk loudly are actually just trying to show off about how important they are and get everyone to pay them a lot of attention.
If they’re talking over everyone, they think that people will care more about what they have to say than what others are saying.
This is a classic control technique and is the speaker’s way of getting attention and feeling like people really care about their opinions.
3. They’re trying to prove something.
Similar to overcompensation, some people who talk at a high volume are doing so because they feel they need to get their point across.
This is a step away from having an argument, in some ways, as the person is desperately trying to get people to hear them so that they can prove their point.
4. They’ve never had a voice before.
Some people grow up in a situation where they don’t really get to have a voice or share an opinion.
People’s childhoods really do shape how they turn out as adults, and being louder than normal can be a result of a repressive home life.
As an adult, the loud person in the room might finally feel able to express their thoughts and feelings and they are still learning how to do that appropriately.
If they were always ignored as a child and never got a response to what they were saying, they’ve obviously felt neglected in the past.
To combat that, they become loud adults. They are desperate to get attention, finally having a way to be heard, but they are not confident or sure how to use their voice.
5. It’s down to their biology.
A lot of our behavior comes down to our personality type and our childhood, but some of it is linked to biology.
Depending on how the muscles in our throats have formed, some of us may just speak more loudly than our friends.
It may also be down to a hearing impairment that’s gone undiagnosed and means that the speaker doesn’t know how loud they are talking.
6. It’s how they were raised.
Some people are very loud because of how they were raised.
My close friend grew up in a house where everybody spoke very loudly and she learnt it from them.
I, on the other hand, grew up in a home where quiet-time and soft voices were valued and have grown into a relatively quiet adult.
We all learn different norms from our families and friends, and we all have different experiences of what is normal and expected behavior.
7. They’re selfish and egocentric.
It’s not the nicest reason, but it is valid: some people are loud because they’re obnoxious.
People who are self-obsessed will often be loud speakers because they genuinely don’t care if they’re being rude while they do it.
In fact, they’ll sometimes do it to annoy other people on purpose.
This is quite a classic trait of narcissism – a disregard for other people’s feelings and an intent to frustrate or upset them in order to feel good about yourself.
8. They could be anxious.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, some people find it hard to speak out loud because they struggle with anxiety.
This can make their voice louder than others’ because they’re trying to cover up how anxious they feel, or they become unaware of how they’re talking because there are so many emotions running through their minds.
When we feel anxious, our bodies go into a panicky, fight-or-flight mode. This causes huge levels of adrenaline to pump through our bodies and often speeds up our speech and raises our volume levels.
9. They have control issues.
This is one that most of us can relate to – at some point, we’ve all tried raising our voices in order to assert ourselves.
Some people do this all the time, however, and it’s often due to a deep-rooted control issue.
It may be that the loud talker needs people to know they’re in charge by being the loudest voice in the room.
Or it may be that they feel more in control if their voice is drowning out their thoughts.
