Freeing the Voice from Habit: Accent, Vocal-Fry and Up-Speak

ACCENT vs. AFFECTATION or TRENDY VOCAL PATTERNS

ACCENTS
Accents are wonderful—we all have them! Accents are determined by country, region, culture, family, and even generation. Accents only cause a problem if the audience cannot understand our communication. So, if there is a possibility that even one person might lose our meaning due to our accents, make sure every word is heard and understood by enunciating clearly.

AFFECTATION

Affectation, on the other hand, is determined by trend.

We’re looking at the two I hear most often:

Vocal fry and up-speaking.

VOCAL FRY
Vocal-fry is fine(ish). I don’t like it because I know how it impacts the vocal folds over the long-term. Not good.

As a teen, I heard it mostly in surfer and skier dudes. Now I hear it mostly in young women.

I want us all to have choice about how we use our voices, so if vocal-fry is a vocal quality you choose, go for it. But look into the physical impact.

If we find ourselves falling into vocal-fry unwittingly and want to stop, the first thing to do is strengthen our breathing. Our throats should ideally hold no tension at all. We want to feel open and free. Vocal-fry happens when we force air through our vocal folds, creating tension. Having strong breath control allows the throat to release so that the air flows freely.

UPSPEAK

Up-speak happens when we make a statement but use an upward inflection. The listener hears a question: “My name is Kate?” Unlike vocal-fry, up-speak changes the meaning of our communication. It confuses the audience.

If we find ourselves delivering statements with an upward inflection:

• Pay attention.

• Remember our intention—to be clear in our communication.

• Practice our-loud putting an unambivalent period at the end of our sentences, a clear END.

• Here is a video illustrating all of the above.