Talking tip #9: In statements, our pitch usually starts low, goes up and down, and then it rises highest on the most important word of our message before falling back down at the end.

 

What is pitch?

Pitch, the highness and lowness of sound, is another important component of our speech.  We speak within a pitch range, and for some of us, that range is larger than others.  We vary our pitch in certain situations, like if we want to be dramatic and emphasize a point or when we talk with children.  At other times, we might speak with less variation like when we are serious about something or speaking calmly.

 

We control our pitch without giving it much conscious thought.  Our pitch rises and falls throughout our message.  In North American English, we have somewhat predictable patterns to our pitch depending on the purpose of our message.  Let’s see what that pattern is for when we state facts and opinions.

 

Statements

When we are making a statement, we typically begin at the bottom of our pitch range.  Let’s call that a 1.  As we start saying our words, our pitch will rise somewhat, maybe to a 3 and fall back down, like to a 2, and repeat this pattern as we continue to speak.  But something changes when we get to the most important word of our message.  That is the word that we stress or emphasize.  In most cases, it carries the primary meaning of what we are saying.  On those stressed words, our pitch will rise to its highest point, say a 4, of our message.  Then as we finish out, we might go back and forth once more falling at the end to a 1, which is where we started.

 

This kind of variation in pitch happens not only in the short phrases we say, like “I see you”, but in our longer messages as well.  If we are stating a fact or an opinion, we will start low, modulate quite a bit in the middle, rise up for the stressed word and then fall back down at the end.  This pattern is something most of us do automatically.

 

Pitch helps convey meaning

You might ask yourself if you are making your pitch rise and fall as you state facts and make statements, especially if you are not yet proficient in speaking English.  It is important to know because we give our listeners subtle information without directly saying it.  We let our listener know that we are stating something rather than asking a question based on the fact that our pitch falls at the end of our message.  We also let them know what the most important word or idea is in our message based on the highest pitch level we use and the word(s) it is tied to.

 

Pitch, it’s all over the place in our statements, but it’s predictable and informative. Start paying attention to yours. See if you can follow the predictable pattern, and notice if your listener understands you more easily.

Talking tip #9: In statements, our pitch usually starts low, goes up and down and then rises highest on the most important word of our message before falling back down at the end.

Pitch, the highness and lowness of our speech, is another important component when we talk. We speak within a pitch range. For some that range is larger than others. We might make our range larger in some situations than in others as well, like if we want to be dramatic and emphasize a point. Also, when we speak with a child, our pitch varies quite a bit.

Pitch is something control without really giving much conscious thought. It rises and falls throughout our message. In North American English, we have somewhat predictable patterns to our pitch depending on the purpose of our message. In this post, the focus will be on statements: facts, opinions, things that we say or declare.

When we are making a statement, we typically begin at the bottom of our pitch range. Let’s call that a 1. As we start saying our words, our pitch will rise somewhat, maybe to a 3 and fall back down, like to a 2, and repeat this pattern as we continue to speak. But something changes when we get to the most important word of our message. That is the word that we stress or emphasize. In most cases, it carries the primary meaning of what we are saying. On those stressed words, our pitch will rise to its highest point, say a 4, of our message. Then as we finish out, we might go back and forth once more falling at the end to a 1, which is where we started.

This kind of variation in pitch can be seen not only in short phrases we say, like “I see you”, but in our longer messages as well. If we are stating a fact or an opinion, we’ll start low, modulate quite a bit in the middle, rise up for the stressed word and then fall back down at the end. This pattern is something most of us do automatically.

But you might ask yourself if you are doing this for facts and statements, especially if you are not yet proficient in speaking English. It’s important to know because we give our listeners subtle information without directly saying it. We let our listener know that we are stating something rather than asking a question based on the fact our pitch falls at the end of our message. We also let them know what the most important word or idea is in our message based on the highest pitch level we use and the word(s) it is tied to.

Pitch, it’s all over the place in our statements, but it’s predictable and informative. Start paying attention to yours. See if you can follow the predictable pattern, and notice if your listener understands you more easily.