Talking Tip #15: Controlling the rate at which you speak will have a positive impact on your communication.

Speech Rate

In this last post, I want to talk a bit about speech rate– how quickly we talk.  Many of us are fast talkers, and we are guilty of running our words together.  Possibly we could be accused of mumbling!  I know that when I’m working with clients who are non-native speakers of North American English, I need to be reminded to slow down.  Funny thing is, I also see this when my clients are speaking in English.  There are times I encourage them to slow down as well.

I think we all tend to speak quickly, maybe as a result of our fast-paced society. Possibly it’s also a crutch for us to get through a word we’re not quite sure how to say, hoping if we just plow through it, we’ll be understood.  Unfortunately, that isn’t always the best plan.

Control it by…

There are times we need to control how fast we talk, and one obvious way to do that is to speak more slowly.  That can sound and feel unnatural.  But here’s a trick that will help you to slow your speech when you want to either emphasize a point or calm your nerves.

Stretch your vowels

Stretch out your vowels.  Consider the important word you want to say, and stretch the primary vowel in it.  For instance, imagine I am a teacher talking to my kindergartners who had just come in from recess. They are really excited, but I need them to listen.  I might say “Children, I need you to sit down right now”.  In order for them to hear me, I would stretch out the vowels in the words “sit down” and maybe “right now”.  This would get their attention because it wouldn’t be as fast as they were talking nor as fast as I would normally talk.

Pause

Another way to change your speech rate is through pausing.  We usually pause at the end of our thoughts.  We pause after something important that we say, maybe after each item in a list that we are giving.  Pausing slows down that message and also indicates to our listener that what we just said is important.  You can also slow your rate by pausing right before the important part of your message.  Maybe you pause right before saying someone’s name or right before listing the things you want your child to do before they get on their phone.

Pausing will slow down your listener so they pay attention, but it will also slow you down and give you chance to collect your thoughts.  One other benefit to pausing is it will help you to maintain control as you speak.  You won’t inadvertently give up the floor, nor will you feel your words are getting away.

Pausing and stretching your vowels are two effective ways to control the rate at which you speak.  They are attention getting and help your listener to better understand your message.

Talking Tip #15: Controlling the pace at which you speak will have a positive impact on you as a communicator.

In this last post, I want to talk a bit about speech rate, how quickly we talk. Many of us are fast talkers, and we are guilty of running our words together. Possibly we could be accused of mumbling! I know that when I’m working with clients who are nonnative speakers of North American English, I need to be reminded to slow down. Funny thing is, I also see this when my clients are speaking in English, in a language that is not their native tongue. There are times I encourage them to slow down as well.

I think we all tend to speak quickly, maybe as a result of our fast-paced society. Possibly it’s also a crutch for us to get through a word we’re not quite sure how to say, hoping if we just plow through it, we’ll be understood. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the best plan.
There are times we need to control how fast we talk, our speech rate. Just how do we do that? One way is to speak more slowly. That not only feels weird but can also sounds weird. We aren’t robots, and we really can’t keep it at it for long.

Here is one trick, though, to slow down your speech when you want to either emphasize a point or calm your nerves. Stretch out your vowels. Consider the important word you want to say, and stretch the primary vowel in it. For instance, imagine I’m a teacher talking to my kindergartners who had just come in from recess. They are really excited but I need them to listen. I might say “Children, I need you to sit down right now”. In order for them to hear me, I would stretch out the vowels in the words “sit down” and maybe “right now”. This would get their attention because it wouldn’t be as fast as they were talking nor as fast as I would normally talk. Try it the next time you either need to make a point or want to feel a little less stressed yourself.

Another way to change your speech rate is through pausing. We usually pause at the end of our thoughts. We pause after something important that we say, maybe after each item in a list that we are giving.

Pausing slows down that message and also indicates to our listener that what we just said is important. You can also slow your rate by pausing right before the important part of your message. Maybe you pause right before saying someone’s name or right before listing the things you want your kid to do before they get on their phone.

Pausing will slow down your listener so they pay attention, but it will also slow you down and give you chance to collect your thoughts. One other benefit to pausing is it will help you to maintain control as you speak. You won’t inadvertently give up the floor nor will you feel your words are getting away.

Pausing and stretching your vowels are two effective ways to control the rate at which you speak. It calms your nerves and helps your listener better understand your message.

Talking Tip #14: Projecting your voice the right way will make your message clear and understandable.

What do we do if we want to speak louder?  How do we make ourselves heard in a noisy restaurant or through a mask?  Do we yell? Do we force our speech?  Or is there another way?

Why projecting your voice is important

We talked about our breath being the foundation to our speaking.  We also learned how our vocal cords vibrate when we talk, giving the buzz to our voice.  This happens whether we speak quietly or loudly.  However, when we yell, we actually can damage that process because we cause our vocal cords to come together with force.  That force overtime can cause damage to the actual tissue by creating callouses.  The way we know this has happened is by the change we hear in our vocal quality. It becomes hoarse or strained sounding.  This isn’t good nor is it a path we want to venture down.

How do we project and not yell?

So how do we project our voice safely?  Well in some ways it’s through visualizing how we speak.  It’s seeing the words we say leaving our mouth and reaching their destination.  When we focus on visualizing this process, we are able to project our voice without the strain.  Here’s how it works.

Focus on your breath

We start by focusing on our breath, taking in a good belly breath (inhale with stomach out and shoulders down).  We begin speaking as we exhale, and we think about the words leaving our lips, not our throat.  When do this, we subconsciously make the focus of our talking in the front of our mouth, away from the vocal cords.  Our neck doesn’t strain, nor does our throat.  Instead, we focus on the release of our words from the front of our mouth, making sure we have adequate breath underlying this.  When if feels we are running out of breath, we stop and replenish before continuing.

Open your mouth more

As our words leave our mouth, we visualize them traveling through the air, reaching their destination with enough volume to be heard.  We also use our mouth to help by opening it more.  The mere act of opening our mouth more when we speak gives the acoustic energy a place to go.  We keep our throat open rather than constricted, and we move our tongue and lips in a slightly exaggerated posture.  All of this helps in the release of the words in as relaxed of manner as possible.

Give it a try.  Stand in a room across from a person or object and practice aiming your voice right at them.  Start with good breath support. Visualize your words leaving the front of your mouth.  Move everything a little more than normal.  Keep your throat open and see what happens.  And remember this: project, don’t yell.

Talking Tip #14: Projecting your voice the right way will make your message clear and understandable.

What do we do if we want to speak louder? How do we make ourselves heard in a noisy restaurant or through a mask? Do we yell? Do we force our speech? Or is there another way?

We talked about our breath being the foundation to our speaking. We also learned how our vocal cords vibrate when we talk, giving the buzz to our voice. This happens whether we speak quietly or loudly. However, when we yell, we actually can damage that process because we cause our vocal cords to come together with force. That force overtime can cause damage to the actual tissue by creating callouses. The way we know this has happened is by the change we hear in our vocal quality. It becomes hoarse or strained sounding. This isn’t good nor is it a path we want to venture down.

So how do we project our voice safely? Well in some ways it’s through visualizing how we speak. It’s seeing the words we say leaving our mouth and reaching their destination. When we focus on visualizing this process, we are able to project our voice without the strain.

Here’s how it works. We start by focusing on our breath, taking in a good belly breath (inhale with stomach out and shoulders down). We begin speaking as we exhale, and we think about the words leaving our lips, not our throat. When do this, we subconsciously make the focus of our talking further front in our mouth, away from the vocal cords. Our neck doesn’t strain; nor does our throat. Instead, we focus on the release of our words from the front of our mouth, making sure we have adequate breath underlying this. If we don’t and feel ourselves running out of breath, we stop and replenish before continuing. As our words leave our mouth, we visualize them traveling through the air, reaching their destination with enough volume to be heard. We also use our mouth to help by opening it more. The mere act of opening our mouth more when we speak gives the acoustic energy a place to go. We keep our throat open rather than constricted, and we move our tongue and lips in a slightly exaggerated posture. All of this helps in the release of the words in as relaxed of manner as possible.

Give it a try. Stand in a room across from a person or object and practice aiming your voice right at them. Start with good breath support. Visualize your words leaving the front of your mouth. Move everything a little more than normal. Keep your throat open and see what happens. And remember this: project, don’t yell.

Talking Tip #13: Knowing about syllables and the phonemes of a language can help with speech clarity.

This post addresses a few of the core components of our speech and language syllables and phomemes.  When we talk, what exactly are we saying?  Do we talk in big unintelligible glops of words run together?  Or is there a structure underlying that?  In fact, there is, and knowing this structure just might help a bit in the clarity of our speaking.

Thought Groups to syllables

We communicate in thought groups, ideas made up of words and sentences.  When we speak, we don’t necessarily think about how those thought groups are put together.  But when we write, we do because we have to make sure our grammar, punctuation and use of vocabulary are accurate.

On a very basic level, we can think of our thought groups being broken down into sentences that follow the rules of grammar.  Those sentences are further broken down into single words that each carry their own meaning.  Each word can be broken into parts which we call syllables.  A syllable can be a vowel, vowel+consonant , consonant+vowel or consonant+vowel+consonant.

Word parts

In English, some of our words are just one syllable, and some are much longer.  Our words are comprised of a root with additional affixes (prefix or suffix).  These components carry the meaning of the word. The root of a word is its base and usually comes from Greek or Latin.  An affix is added either to the beginning or ending of a word, and it also carriers meaning.  For instance, the word “disapprove” has a prefix “dis” which means “not” and a root “approve”. Here we know the meaning of this word is to not approve or accept something or someone.  In another example, the word “boots” has a suffix “s” which functions as a plural. In this case, we know we are talking about more than one “boot”.

Phonemes

Our words are broken into even smaller parts.  These are the sounds in the words, which we call phonemes, the vowels and consonants.  If you google how many phonemes there are in the English language, you will find the number 44, divided into descriptive categories.  Phonemes are the sounds we speak, and they make up the sounds of the language.  They are not consistent across languages, but they are consistent within.

Accents

When someone speaks a second language, they will transfer the phonemes of their native language to the way they say the phonemes of the language in which they are speaking.  Sometimes the transfer matches and other times it does not.  When it does not, the result is an accent of varying degrees.

Accents are beautiful.  They tell about us, about where we came from and about who we are.  Accents are something we should never be ashamed of.  For some, we may wish to pronounce a new language similar to native speakers, and that is a skill that can be learned through structured teaching, often referred to as accent modification or accent reduction.  It takes a lot of work but many have had success.

The core components of our message include syllables and phonemes.  Recognizing the syllables in a word and being able to say the phonemes of the language will positively affect the clarity of what we communicate.  

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Talking Tip #13: Knowing about syllables and the phonemes of a language can help with speech clarity.

In this post, I’m going to talk a little bit about the core components of our speech and language. When we talk, what exactly are we saying? Do we talk in big unintelligible glops of words run together? Or is there a structure underlying that? In fact, there is, and knowing this structure just might help a bit in the clarity of our speaking.

We communicate in thought groups, ideas made up of words and sentences. When we speak, we don’t necessarily think about how those thought groups are put together. But when we write, we do because we have to make sure our grammar, punctuation and use of vocabulary are accurate.

On a very basic level, we can think of our thought groups being broken down into sentences that follow the rules of grammar. Those sentences are further broken down into single words that each carry their own meaning. Each word can be broken into parts which we call syllables. A syllable can be a vowel, vowel+consonant , consonant+vowel or consonant+vowel+consonant.

In English, some of our words are just one syllable, and some of our words are much longer. Typically, the syllables carry meaning, especially the ones that are the root of a word or an affix (a prefix or a suffix). The root of a word is its base and usually comes from Greek or Latin. An affix added either to the beginning or ending of a word that also carriers meaning. For instance, the word “disapprove” has a prefix “dis” which means “not” and a root “approve”. Here we know the meaning of this word is to not approve or accept something or someone. In another example, the word “boots” has a suffix “s” which functions as a plural. In this case, we know we are talking about more than one “boot”. There are many more examples of words with affixes that affect the root meaning, but this is just to give you an idea that even these parts of words are important to your message.

Now what about the smaller parts of words? These are the sounds in the words, which we call phonemes, the vowels and consonants. If you google how many phonemes there are in the English language, you will find the number 44, divided into descriptive categories. Phonemes are the sounds we speak, and they make up the sounds of the language. They are not consistent across languages, but they are consistent within.

When someone speaks a second language, they will transfer the phonemes of their native language to the way they say the phonemes of the language in which they are speaking. Sometimes the transfer matches and other times it does not. When it does not, the result is an accent of varying degrees. Accents are beautiful. They tell about us, about where we came from and about who we are. Accents are something we should never be ashamed of. For some, we may wish to pronounce a new language similar to native speakers, and that is a skill that can be learned through structured teaching, often referred to as accent modification or accent reduction. It takes a lot of work but many have had success.

Syllables and phonemes: these are the core components of our language. Who knew there was so much that went into speaking our words and conveying our message.

Talking Tip #12: Make sure to stress the important word in your message.

We’ve already talked about stress in words making sure we stress the correct syllable in long words so that others understand us.  But did you know that stressing the correct word in your overall message is just as important?  When we think about the stress in our message, we are considering how the overall content of what we say impacts our listener.

In North American English, we don’t typically stress the first word in our message.  Many times, the stressed word comes later.  In fact, often it is the last content word of our message.

Content word

What is a content word?  Think of it as being a word that is important.  If you consider the parts of speech, the important words are the nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.  The lesser important words are the function words like articles, prepositions, and linking verbs (is, are, etc.).  If I have lots of important or content words in my sentence, I’ll probably save the primary stress for the last of those.

Match the stress to the message

However, that is not a hard and fast rule.  We also need to consider that the message matches the situation.  In other words, if we are asked a question, the word we stress in our response is the word that most answers that question.  Consider this example.  Let’s say I’m giving the response “I think she took the blue marker”.  The word I stress is directly related to the question I’m asked.  For instance, if I’m asked “Do you know who took the blue marker?”, I will stress “she” in my response “I think she took the blue marker”.  If I’m asked, “Did she take the blue pen?”, the word I stress changes to “I think she took the blue marker”.  Likewise, if I’m asked “Did Sam think she took the blue marker?”, my response will now become “I think she took the blue marker.”

In each of these examples, we see that the stressed word changes depending on the question we are asked, and it is in varying positions within the sentence.  The messages matched the situation.

Knowing the importance of using stress to emphasize a point within your message, and knowing that the response we give needs to match the situation in terms of the word we stress, we will become more natural in the way we communicate and more effective in getting our point heard and understood.

Talking Tip #12: Make sure to stress the important word in your message.

We’ve already talked about stress in words, that is making sure we stress the correct syllable in long words so that others understand us. But did you know that stressing the correct word in your overall message is just as important? When we think about using stress in our messages, we are considering how the overall content of what we say impacts our listener.

In North American English, we don’t typically stress the first word in our message. Many times, the stressed word comes later. In fact, often it is the last content word of our message.

What is a content word? Think of it as being a word that is important. If you consider the parts of speech, the important words are the nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. The lesser important words are the function words like articles, prepositions, and linking verbs (is, are, etc.). If I have lots of important or content words in my sentence, I’ll probably save the primary stress for the last of those.

But that’s not a hard and fast rule. We also need to consider that the message matches the situation. In other words, if we are asked a question, the word we stress in our response is the word that most answers that question. Consider this example. Let’s say I’m giving the response “I think she took the blue marker”. The word I stress is directly related to the question I’m asked. For instance, if I’m asked “Do you know who took the blue marker?”, I will stress “she” in my response “I think she took the blue marker”. If I’m asked, “Did she take the blue pen?”, the word I stress changes to “I think she took the blue marker”. Likewise, if I’m asked “Did Sam think she took the blue marker?”, my response will now become “I think she took the blue marker.”

In each of these examples, we see that the stressed word changes depending on the question we are asked, and it is in varying positions within the sentence. The messages matched the situation.

Therefore, knowing the importance of using stress to emphasize a point within your message, and knowing that the response we give needs to match the situation in terms of the word we stress, we will become more natural in the way we communicate and more effective in getting our point heard and understood.

Talking Tip #11: Saying words with the correct emphasis or stressed syllable makes a huge impact on how well you are understood.

Stress 

Stress can mean a few different things.  It’s something we feel.  It’s something we experience.  It’s also an aspect of speaking, a component of our intonation.

Another word for stress is emphasis.  When we emphasize something, we are drawing attention to it.  Like if we are arguing or debating, we will emphasize a point to sway another’s opinion.  But how does this relate to talking?  Specifically, how does it relate to our words?

Stress patterns in speaking

When we speak North American English, we use stress whether we realize it or not.  We draw attention to parts of our words, and we do this with somewhat of a predictable pattern.  It’s not something we notice when we say words that are only one part or syllable.  But in longer words, we use differing patterns of stress.  For instance, if I say the word “finger”, I say two syllables but I only stress or emphasize one.  In this case, I stress the first syllable.  I say it a little more noticeably by raising my pitch and loudness slightly.

What happens when I say the word “today”?  Is the same pattern occurring as in the word “finger”?  Let’s take a closer look.  There are two parts or syllables in both of the words.  But the stress or emphasis is different.  Unlike the word “finger”, now the stress is on the second syllable “day”.  I say “today” by emphasizing the second syllable with a slightly higher pitch and loudness.  And so go the patterns for words of two syllables: either the first or the second syllable will be stressed.

Longer words

Now, what happens in longer words, like those of 3 syllables?  Is there a rule that fits all words?  Yes, there are patterns but unfortunately no hard and fast unbreakable rules.  There are three syllable words that have

the first syllable stressed (as in monument), the second syllable stressed (as in apartment), or the third syllable stressed (engineer).  We see in 4 syllable words that some have the second syllable stressed (as in Connecticut) and some the third (as in manufacture).

Importance of stress

Stress will vary as the words get longer, and it becomes increasingly important to get it right.  Otherwise, your listener may not understand you.  In fact, one of the key factors in speaking North American English naturally is being able to place the stress on the correct syllable.  Many of us work in professions with long words, tricky to say, and tricky to understand if not said correctly.  Those are the words to get right.

So, the next time you encounter a word you aren’t familiar with, listen to how it is being said and see if you can determine which syllable should be stressed. Follow these steps: listen carefully; pay attention to the stress; memorize; use the word in your everyday talking; repeat.  This is how you will learn the stress patterns of words in English, and the impact on your speech clarity will be significant.

If you would like to learn more about the intonation patterns of North American English, consider taking one of my courses.

Talking Tip #11: Saying words with the correct emphasis or stressed syllable makes a huge impact on how well you are understood.

Stress. That’s a buzz word. Stress can mean a few different things. It’s something we feel. It’s something we experience. And it’s something we can do when we are talking.

Another word for stress is emphasis. When we emphasize something, we are drawing attention to it. Like if we are arguing or debating, we will emphasize a point to sway another’s opinion. But how does this relate to talking? Specifically, how does it relate to our words?

When we speak North American English, we use stress whether we realize it or not. We draw attention to parts of our words, and we do this with somewhat of a predictable pattern. It’s not something we notice when we say words that are only one part or syllable. But in longer words, we use differing patterns of stress. For instance, if I say the word “finger”, I say two syllables but I only stress or emphasize one. In this case, I stress the first syllable. I say it a little more noticeably by raising my pitch and loudness slightly.

What happens when I say the word “today”? Is the same pattern occurring as in the word “finger”? Let’s take a closer look. There are two parts or syllables in both of the words. But the stress or emphasis is different. Unlike the word “finger”, now the stress is on the second syllable “day”. I say “today” by emphasizing the second syllable with a slightly higher pitch and loudness. And so go the patterns for words of two syllables: either the first or the second syllable will be stressed.

Now, what happens in longer words, like those of 3 syllables? Is there a rule that fits all words? Yes, there are patterns but unfortunately no hard and fast unbreakable rules. There are three syllable words that have
the first syllable stressed (as in monument), the second syllable stressed (as in apartment), or the third syllable stressed (engineer). We see in 4 syllable words that some have the second syllable stressed (as in Connecticut) and some the third (as in manufacture).

Stress will vary as the words get longer, and it becomes increasingly important to get it right. Otherwise, your listener may not understand you. In fact, one of the key factors in speaking North American English naturally is being able to place the stress on the correct syllable. Many of us work in professions with long words, tricky to say, and tricky to understand if not said correctly. Those are the words to get right.

So, the next time you encounter a word you aren’t familiar with, listen to how it is being said and see if you can determine which syllable should be stressed.

Follow these steps: listen carefully; pay attention to the stress; memorize; use the word in your everyday talking; repeat. This is how you will learn the stress patterns of words in English, and the impact on your speech clarity will be significant.

Talking tip #10: Pitch in questions can rise or fall at the end of our message depending on the type of question we ask.

In our last post, we talked about pitch in our statements, that our pitch starts low, rises up and down, goes to its highest level on the most important word and then falls back to where we started.  That is the pattern for statements, declarations, opinions and facts.  But what about questions?  Is there a pitch pattern for that?  Well, the answer is it depends on the type of question we ask.

Wh questions

When we ask questions to get information, ones that typically start with a “wh” word, our pitch follows one pattern.  “Wh” words  are who, what, where, when, why, and how.  Those are the types of questions we ask to get information or to confirm information we already know.  When we ask questions beginning with these words, our pitch pattern follows along very similarly to that of our statements.  We start low, modulate in the middle, rise up on the most important word, and then drop down at the end.

Doubt

In contrast, if we ask questions where we aren’t sure of the answer, maybe where we have a little doubt, our pitch does something different.  Take for example this type of a question “He jumped pretty far, didn’t he?”  If I’m asking that question because I’m not sure or I have a little doubt, I’ll start off low, modulate in the middle, rise on the important word, and then slightly rise at the end.  By doing that, I’m telling my listener that I’m not sure and would like their input.

Disbelief

In yet another situation, our pitch will rise up fully at the end of our question. This occurs when we are expressing shock or disbelief.  Take for example the question “Did he make it out of the burning house?”  In this situation, the speaker is asking an emotionally charged question, something where they might be in shock over the situation.  Pitch is rising and summiting on the last word of the question.  Most likely loudness is increasing as well.  This rising pitch suggests to our listener urgency, calamity, this is a really bad and stressful situation.

Names in questions

Lastly, if we use someone’s name at the end of our message, like in the question, “Did you really want to go Mary?”, our pitch will rise.  We’ll start of low, modulate in between, and then end with our pitch high as we say the person’s name.  We are asking our listener, through our words and our pitch, for them to respond to us.  Rising pitch in this case also helps to gain their attention and indicate they to respond to us.

Our pitch moves up and down, in predictable patterns depending on the purpose or function of our message.  Pay attention to your messages and be sure that the pattern of your pitch matches the intent of what you are asking.

Talking tip #10: Pitch in questions can rise or fall at the end of our message depending on the type of question we ask.

In our last post, we talked about pitch in our statements, that our pitch starts low, rises up and down, goes to its highest level on the most important word and then falls back to where we started. That’s the pattern for statements, declarations, opinions and facts. But what about questions? Is there a pitch pattern for that? Well, the answer is it depends on the type of question we ask.

When we ask questions to get information, ones that typically start with a “wh” word, our pitch follows one pattern. “Wh” words are who, what, where, when, why, and how. Those are the types of questions we ask to get information or to confirm information we already know. When we ask questions beginning with these words, our pitch pattern follows along very similarly to that of our statements. We start low, modulate in the middle, rise up on the most important word, and then drop down at the end.

In contrast, if we ask questions where we aren’t sure of the answer, maybe where we have a little doubt, our pitch does something different. Take for example this type of a question “He jumped pretty far, didn’t he?” If I’m asking that question because I’m not sure or I have a little doubt, I’ll start off low, modulate in the middle, rise on the important word, and then slightly rise at the end. By doing that, I’m telling my listener that I’m not sure and I’d like their input.

Still in another situation, our pitch will rise up fully at the end of our question. This occurs when we are expressing shock or disbelief. Take for example the question “Did he make it out of the burning house?” In this situation, the speaker is asking an emotionally charged question, something where they might be in shock over the situation. Pitch is rising and summiting on the last word of the question. Most likely loudness is increasing as well. This rising pitch suggests to our listener urgency, calamity, this is a really bad and stressful situation.

Lastly, if we use someone’s name at the end of our message, like in the question, “Did you really want to go Mary?”, our pitch will rise. We’ll start of low, modulate in between, and then end with our pitch high as we say the person’s name. We are asking our listener, through our words and our pitch, for them to respond to us. Rising pitch in this case also helps to gain their attention and indicate they to respond to us.

Therefore, our pitch moves up and down, in predictable patterns depending on the purpose or function of our message. Pay attention to your messages and be sure that the pattern of your pitch matches the intent of what you are asking.

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.

Tip#8: Your tongue is vital to your speech

Have you ever considered how important your tongue is to talking?  Without it, we would be hard-pressed to make our speech sounds.  Our tongue is vital to speaking.  It moves in the most intricate ways to make all of the nuances in our speech.  It moves quickly, with precision.

Functions

Our tongues are made up of many layers of muscle that are anchored at the base of our mouth as part of the structure of our jaw. The muscles have mass and sensation. We taste with our tongues and use our tongues to distinguish flavors.  Our tongues are instrumental in our ability to swallow, propelling our food and liquid to our esophagus, adding saliva as the food moves along.

Our tongues also have a special resting spot when we aren’t speaking. That resting spot when maintained correctly helps keep the tone of our tongue and lip muscles intact.

Speaking specifically

Where speech is concerned, our tongues play a role in the majority of our sounds.  Our tongues ride the jaw elevator up and down and have a role in the way our different vowels are produced and sound.  For some vowels, our tongue is high in the mouth.  For others it is low.  Our tongue moves in a forward to back position for each of our vowels as well.

The majority of our consonants are said with our tongues, using differing parts for differing sounds.  For instance, the tip of our tongue is used when we make a t and d.  The blade of our tongue (the portion just back from the tip) is used when saying a ch.  The back of our tongue plays a role with k and g.

Our tongue makes contact in our mouth in many ways, The tip, blade and back rise to the palate (rood of our mouth) in varying spots.  The sides also raise up to our molars and are critical when we make an r.

Consider this: we don’t speak one sound at a time but rather articulate one sound right after another.  We even anticipate a sound before we say it and while we are saying the one preceding it.  Our tongue gets ready to move into position and moves out quickly to the next.

Our tongue is vital to our speech.  It is vital to how we make our sounds, how clearly we speak and how quicky we are able to do it.  That in a nutshell is what we do our tongue!

Tip#8: Your tongue is vital to your speech

Have you ever considered how important your tongue is to talking? Without it, we would be hard-pressed to make our speech sounds. Our tongue is vital to speaking. It moves in the most intricate ways to make all of the nuances in our speech. It moves quickly, with precision.

Our tongues are made up of many layers of muscle that are anchored at the base of our mouth as part of the structure of our jaw. The muscles have mass and sensation. We taste with our tongues and use our tongues to distinguish flavors. Our tongues are instrumental in our ability to swallow, propelling our food and liquid to our esophagus, adding saliva as the food moves along.

Our tongues also have a special resting spot when we aren’t speaking. That resting spot when maintained correctly helps keep the tone of our tongue and lip muscles intact.

Where speech is concerned, our tongues play a role in the majority of our sounds. Our tongues ride the jaw elevator up and down and have a role in the way our different vowels are produced and sound. For some vowels, our tongue is high in the mouth. For others it is low. Our tongue also moves in a forward to back position for each of our vowels as well.

The majority of our consonants are said with our tongues, using differing parts for differing sounds. For instance, the tip of our tongue is used when we make a t and d. The blade of our tongue (the portion just back from the tip) is used when saying a ch. The back of our tongue plays a role with k and g.

Our tongue makes contact in our mouth in many ways, The tip, blade and back rise to the palate (rood of our mouth) in varying spots. The sides also raise up to our molars and are critical when we make an r.

Consider this: we don’t speak one sound at a time but rather articulate one sound right after another. We even anticipate a sound before we say it and while we are saying the one preceding it. Our tongue gets ready to move into position and moves out quickly to the next.

Our tongue is vital to our speech. It is vital to how we make our sounds, how clearly we speak and how quicky we are able to do it. That in a nutshell is what we do our tongue!

Tip #7: Our lips are a primary player in how we speak.

Our lips are an important factor in our speech.  We use our lips in a variety of ways to make our speech sounds.  When speaking North American English, our lips move and make different shapes to help our listener distinguish the sounds we are making. What is the lip factor in our speech? It is the effect of and extent to which we use our lips when speaking.  Read on for specific examples.

Consonant sounds

If we think about our speech in terms of vowels and consonants, our lips are fundamental in how we make those sounds.  For instance, some consonants are made mostly with the lips, like p and b.  When we make a p sound, our lips are closed, and our vocal cords are apart.  Air pressure builds up behind our lips and is released as we say the sound.  We hear a puff of air.

We make our b sound in a very similar way by closing our lips and releasing the sound.  Our vocal cords come together to vibrate and give the buzz sound to our voice.  As a result, air pressure doesn’t build up at the lips so there isn’t a puff of air as the sound is made.

Another consonant we make with our lips is the w, as in “water”.  We don’t close our lips for this sound but rather move them forward and round them as we say the sound along with the vowel that comes afterward.

Vowel sounds

Speaking of vowels, our lips are involved here as well.  For some vowels, we round our lips.  For others, we retract or pull our lips back.  Still others, we open our lips as our jaw drops.

Move your lips

Our lips should move as we speak.  We round them when we make a “sh” sound.  We touch our teeth to them when making an “f” or “v”.  We open them wide when we wish to project our voice so others far away can hear us.

If you find your speech isn’t as easily understood by others as you might desire, think about if you are using your lips to your advantage.  Our lips are important when we speak.  Move them and use them.

Tip #7: Our lips are a primary player in how we speak.

Our lips are an important factor in our speech. We use our lips in a variety of ways to make our speech sounds. When speaking North American English, our lips move and make different shapes to help our listener distinguish the sounds we are making.

If we think about our speech in terms of vowels and consonants, our lips are fundamental in how we make those sounds. For instance, some consonants are made mostly with the lips, like p and b. When we make a p sound, our lips are closed, and our vocal cords are apart. Air pressure builds up behind our lips and is released as we say the sound. We hear a puff of air.

We make our b sound in a very similar way by closing our lips and releasing the sound. Our vocal cords come together to vibrate and give the buzz sound to our voice. As a result, air pressure doesn’t build up at the lips so there isn’t a puff of air as the sound is made.

Another consonant we make with our lips is the w, as in “water”. We don’t close our lips for this sound but rather move them forward and rounded as we say the sound and the vowel that comes afterward.

Speaking of vowels, our lips are involved here as well. For some vowels, we round our lips. For others, we retract or pull our lips back. Still others, we open our lips as our jaw drops.

Our lips should move as we speak. We round them when we make a “sh” sound. We touch our teeth to them when making an “f” or “v”. We open them wide when we wish to project our voice so others far away can hear us.

If you find your speaking isn’t as easily understood by others as you might desire, think about if you are using your lips to your advantage. Our lips are important when we speak. Move them and use them.

Talking tip #6: Our jaw assists our speech.

Have you ever thought of your jaw playing a role in your speech?  Yes, it holds our teeth and anchors our tongue, but is that all it does for us when we are speaking?  Not exactly.

The Elevator

The jaw can be thought of as an elevator, going up and down in varying degrees for each of the speech sounds we say.  It moves it conjunction with our tongue and plays a role in how we are able to make distinct individual sounds.  It also helps in our overall clarity.

Our Sounds

Consider the vowels.  In North American English, we say 19 vowels and combinations of vowels.  We use our tongue and lips to varying degrees to make those sounds.  For some vowels, our tongue rises up within our mouth.  For others, it rests low.  Our tongue also moves forwards and back depending on the sound we make.  Our lips will vary from being retracted, almost like a smile, to being rounded.

The lips and tongue aren’t all we use when making our speech sounds. We also use our jaw.  Our jaw opens and closes, goes from a raised, closed position all the way to a low, open position.  It is instrumental in making our vowels sound the way they do.  For instance, when we say the long “e” sound, our jaw is in a high position, with a small opening.  In contrast, when we say “eh”, we’ve lowered our jaw a bit, leaving it in a slightly more open posture.  When we say “a” as in “cat”, we let it all hang out.  Our jaw is wide open, lowered to the max in order for that vowel to sound as open and fat as it can.

Why does this matter? 

When you are speaking North American English as your second (or more) language, you are overlaying the vowels you know from your first language onto the new ones you are now saying in English. The mechanics with which you speak are most likely from your native language.  Perhaps in your language, you don’t open your mouth and lower your jaw to the extent Americans do when speaking English.  This will affect the way your vowels sound.

In addition, in terms of overall clarity, the more you use your jaw to your advantage, the clearer your speech can sound.

Open your mouth more; move it more than you are used to. Use your jaw to rise and lower with your vowels, and you will hear a difference in the clarity of your speech.  And so will your listener.