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 you if you are in a leadership role, or working on getting to that level produit equivalent au viagra. How you sound with your statements will determine if people believe you or not. If you uptalk every declarative sentence, people will read it as uncertainty and lack of knowledge.
Some things you can work on immediately:
- Develop some awareness of the times you use uptalk.
- Consciously practice saying declarative statements in private (So that you get used to it).
- Visualize a period at the end of each sentence. This drives home the fact that you are communicating a sentence, not a question.
This isn’t saying that getting rid of uptalk will automatically make everyone find you more credible. But it’ll certainly make you sound more confident, and that goes a long way.
