<p>It sounds to me like I'm speaking loud enough but others can't hear me. To speak "normally" to me feels like I'm yelling</p>
<p>I'm a senior, I've been quiet like all my life and it's bad cause I know I can't be forever. It'd be fine if it was that I just talk less than others, but that's not it</p>
<p>Last summer I volunteered at the senior center since I would need to speak louder for some of them to hear me, but that only helped maybe a little</p>
<p>I joined mock trial this year largely because of this, but the team isn't decided yet and I won't be able to work on it through the club if I don't make it in. Before last meeting I practiced in front of the mirror, but while I tried very hard to speak loudly the coach rated my volume as 4 out of 10. It was also very difficult to keep my back straight and I must've immediately slumped whenever it wasn't on my mind. I spent tons of energy and it was almost painful to hear this</p>
<p>!!! last tryout day is this wednesday, but I also have a test that day on two bio chapters I haven't yet looked at, and there are four more tests for thursday and friday and two of them are very important</p>
<p>I really don't know what to do, practicing alone doesn't seem to help when I sound all loud to me, and when I ask my friends "am I speaking loud enough???" they don't seem to realize how important it is for me</p>
<p>I don't want to fail mock trial, college interviews, job interviews, life... or frustrate my teachers/parents like I already have been. I thought being more confident would help me with this, but while I feel much more confident than in last years on the inside it's not really helping on the outside. it's very stressful and hard to focus on homework or college essays (I only have a 3rd-4th draft for a single essay and hope to start a 2nd essay tonight) whenever thoughts about this come up</p>
<p>i'm kinda in the same boat as you, maybe not AS quiet but still pretty quiet. and very, very shy, plus bad posture (mild scoliosis). lots of people don't understand me when i say something either because i'm not loud enough or i'm "mumbling".</p>
<p>Take an acting class. Not only will you become a better speaker, but you'll learn how to feel comfortable around large groups (shyness often goes along with bad public speaking skills). Watch famous speeches on YouTube and practice them. Listen to good speakers and watch what they do well. Also, stop thinking about yourself as if you're crap. The second I read your post title, I immediately thought 'someone has low self-esteem'. If you think you suck, then you suck. If you think you're amazing, you're amazing. That's how I've gone through most of my life, and people obviously notice this because I've been the lead in multiple plays and I've been given the opportunity to speak publicly many times. I try to exude confidence no matter how bad I am at whatever I'm doing, and 99% it makes me better.</p>
<p>Ugh, I can't even control my voice. I stutter when I don't have a definite answer and I try to explain inducing more stuttering. Sometimes, when I answer, people think I'm shouting at them. I used to have this shy voice in elementary school where the teacher would always be like "speak up", but now I have a loud voice that everyone laughs at whenever I speak. All I can say is speak up and laugh at yourself. Don't think that everyone's against you.</p>