Man, I just made the mistake of listening to a tape of an oral argument I gave this morning. What I can’t understand is how come everyone who is within hearing distance of me doesn’t have blood flowing out of their ears! Good god, how horrific that I subject my family to my endless blatting. No wonder my dog doesn’t come when I call her.
Consider yourselves fortunate that you only read my writing, and don’t actually have to hear me. (Just to give a clearer representation, tho, from now on I will liberally sprinkle “uhs” throughout my posts.)
Not my finest hour. I most definitely have a voice for print media!
That’s no big deal man. I’m a terrible orator. Who cares how many ‘uhs’ are in what you say. Do you have a dry erase board at home for family meetings? LOL!
I understand that for most people, the first step to eliminating fillers is to listen to a recording of their own speech. (I worked it out without a recording, but only as a side effect of trying to eliminate a very slight stammer I occasionally manifested as a teen.) Once you’re aware of the fillers, try to replace them with silence. Slow down, and use slight pauses between sentences to marshal your thoughts. You’ll sound like William Shatner for a bit, but the gaps will mostly close up in time. Of course, you will inevitably stumble from time to time when presenting a speech or argument, but you will sound better overall.
Oddly enough, the key to articulation is knowing when not to speak.
Yes, Balance has it. It takes practice to learn to embrace your pauses. The natural tendency is to fill in thinking time because usually people speak with other people rather than speaking to them. In a conversation, the fillers are there to signal that you’re not relinquishing your turn, yet. It keeps someone else from taking over.
It’s easier once you can trust that your audience is trapped by custom, and can’t speak until you formally relinquish your turn. They have to listen, not just to your words, but to your pauses. Pauses can add emphasis, when done correctly. You’ll only sound like William Shatner if you pause multiple times in the middle of sentences.
Of course, nothing helps as much as practice does.
I say “uh,” “like,” and “you know” like I get paid per utterance. It’s not a conscious thing.
However, part of my job is recording voiceovers for training videos. I just did one this morning. It’s amazing how mature and professional I sound, and how pleasant my voice is, when I have a script in front of me and nothing else to concentrate on but the next word. No accent, no verbal tics. But on the phone, or giving presentations – I must sound like Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel.
I have a deep voice. Sexy if I have a cold, but otherwise – meh. I’d love to sound like a girly girl!
Dinsdale, maybe you’re in the wrong branch of law. I have a naive illusion of attorneys as being forceful, persuasive orators because they are all worked up about big-J Justice. Only in the movies, eh?
When I’ve heard my recorded voice, I think I sound high-pitched and strident, a little like Joan Rivers without the accent. So, why do so many people mistake me for my husband on the phone?!
I’ve been doing this kind of work for over 20 years. A part of it involves oral arguments. I used to do it more often - and at one time I considered it one of my strengths. Was on debate team in college and all. So maybe I’m just a little out of practice. Or perhaps after 20 years I’m just not as into it as I used to be. I used to do several arguments a month. This was my first one in a year or so.
I was very surprised to hear the “uhs”, because I intentionally and effectively eliminated them many years ago.
As for the sound of my voice, I don’t know that I can accurately describe it. And I had a bit of congestion yesterday that might make it even worse. But it strikes me as kinda droning. Pretty low. I think it sounds bored/lazy.
H&R - I’ll pm you a link, and you can give me your assessment. I may be being overly critical just because I have such high expectations of myself, but I give myself a solid C.
I know I talk A LOT. But MAN, when I am talking my voice doesn’t irritate me as much as when I hear it recorded. Seriously makes me think I should shut up more.
OK, I watched it last night. Confirmed, much to my shame. I can “turn it off” at work when I need to speak to people professionally, but my “home” voice - yep, it’s her.
Damn, it’s just a matter of time before I’m on Jerry Springer.
