If you haven’t checked out realscoop.com yet, you need to do so.  It’s a web site with software on it that gives truth-or-lie ratings on clips of everyone from former Governor Spitzer to McCain and Palin to Kobe Bryant.  Check out how thoroughly McCain really thinks he vetted Governor Palin! 

I can’t vouch for the cosmic accuracy of the ‘believability meter’, but it sure is fun to speculate.  As a way for political junkies to fill up their empty hours now that the campaign is over, it can’t be beat. 

And yes, the web site does rate Former President William J. Clinton on Monica Lewinsky.  Of course, we already knew the truth of that one, but it’s fascinating to see the meter go wild. 

The larger issue this web site brings up is how important the timbre of one’s voice is when speaking in public.  We’re not very good at consciously rating people’s ‘truthiness’, but we are quite good at getting an unconscious feeling from the quality of the voice when it doesn’t carry conviction – or when it does. 

I suspect that, at base, a couple of things affect that impression more than others.  First of all, good breath support.  I’ve blogged on the importance of breathing before, because an unsupported voice usually fails to carry the strength and passion that it needs to move an audience.  Second, volume.  When people try to convince others of something that they themselves don’t believe, they tend to get louder, as if to drown out the oppositional thoughts. 

The most believable voice is a quiet one that is well supported with breath – and passion.