Men with deeper voices are paid more, says a new study out of Duke University’s business school. Researchers sampled male CEOs (female sample size was too small) from S&P 1,500 firms and found that a 22.1 Hz drop in vocal pitch relative to the average meant an extra $187,000 a year. In extremes:
James Earl Jones’s rumble
85 Hz voice
$4M/year
Average male CEO’s voice
125 Hz voice
$3.7M/year
Gilbert Gottfried’s quack
215 Hz voice
$2.9M/year
That may change, though: The commanding sound of deep voices may rule in a top-down, old-school business, says lead researcher William Mayew. But at new companies that encourage collaboration, he suspects that a less booming voice might be just as (or more!) effective.
[Magazine Credits: ASTRID STAWIARZ/GETTY IMAGES (JONES); TOMMASO BODDI/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES (GOTTFRIED); SHUTTERSTOCK (DARTH VADER, DUCK)]
[Image: Flickr user JD Hancock]
A version of this article appeared in the February 2012 issue of Fast Company magazine.
