Monthly archive for October 2016

Do you Uptalk? Uptalk is a speech pattern in which phrases and sentences habitually end with a rising sound, as if the statement was a question. Also known as upspeak, high-rising terminal(HRT), high-rising tone, valley girl speech, Valspeak, talking in questions, rising intonation, upward inflection, interrogatory statement, and Australian Question Intonation (AQI). The term uptalk was introduced by journalist James Gorman in an “On Language” column in The New York Times, August 15, 1993. However, the speech pattern itself was first recognized in Australia and the U.S. at least two decades earlier. Confidence is important when you’re trying to build credibility. If you don’t sound confident, it’s easy for people to dismiss or be skeptical of what you’re saying, however valid it may be. One vocal habit that undermines your credibility is uptalk, the tendency to speak as though you’re asking a question. Many of us are guilty of this, and sometimes it’s so subtle we don’t even realize we’re doing it. The awareness of uptalk is critical for

Do you speak too fast? Speech rate is the term given to the speed at which you speak. Studies show speech rate alters depending on the speaker’s culture, geographical location, subject matter, gender, emotional state, fluency, profession or audience. Speech rate is the term given to the speed at which you speak. It’s calculated in the number of words spoken in a minute. A normal number of words per minute (wpm) can vary hugely. However, despite these variables, there are widely accepted guidelines. These are: Slow speech is usually regarded as less than 110 wpm, or words per minute. Conversational speech generally falls between 120 wpm at the slow end, to 160 – 200 wpm in the fast range. People who read books for radio or podcasts are often asked to speak at 150-160 wpm. Auctioneers or commentators who practice speed speech are usually in the 250 to 400 wpm range. Why change your speech rate? Generally people are not

Soft Voice Disorder A soft or quiet voice can obviously inhibit communication acheter viagra prix. If someone can’t hear what you’re saying, they can’t give you a proper response. Instead of asking you to repeat yourself, sometimes they’ll just pretend they’ve heard you and end the conversation. When some people meet a quiet talker, they may find it too much trouble to always have to try to make out what they’re saying. Instead, they’ll move on to someone they have an easier time understanding. If you want to speak in a group conversation, especially a lively one, it’s a lot harder to draw attention to yourself if you are soft spoken. If you do get to speak, it’s also more likely someone else will jump in and start talking over you. Not to mention, it becomes close to impossible to make yourself heard and socialize in louder environments like a wedding

Speaking with a Lisp A lisp is a speech impediment that affects the way an individual says words that contain the letters s and z. Most lisps are caused by incorrect tongue placement when speaking. Overbites and underbites can also cause an individual to have a lisp. Many of my clients come to me for accent reduction and I find that they have a lisp that was never corrected and is present in their own language as well as in English. There are four aspects to a lisp: Interdental lisp: This takes place when the tongue pops in and out during speech. Lateral lisp: This is a reference to the wet sound that is produced due to air breaking away from the sides of the tongue. It makes the /s/ sound appear “slushy”. Dentalised lisp: This takes place when a person put their tongues and pushes air outward. This results in

Nasal Voice Disorder In the English language, there are only three sounds that should vibrate in your nose: the m, the n, and the ng sounds. What this means is that any word you say with any of those letters or sounds will vibrate in your nasal cavity to some degree. Words like, mail, man, plan and ring for example. The result may be a whiny sound or a twang. To see if you are a nasal speaker, place a finger on each side of your nose very gently. No pressure. Say the word “believe”. Did you feel any vibration? Again, just grazing your nose with your fingers, say the word “away”. Did you vibrate? Now say the word “and.” If your nose vibrated on any of the three examples above, you may have some nasal issues. If you vibrated heavily on all three sounds, you could potentially have serious nasal issues. The good news is