Episode 28: Real Talking Tips – Word Emphasis: Arrow That Up!

Real Talking Tips Episode 28 is the second in the min-series of 11 ways to add Word Emphasis to speech, presentations, and voiceover recordings. This time, we’ll practice two types of upward inflection: arrowing a phrase up and adding an up-and-down-caret (^) to a word. Arrowing up sets up a statement for the response that follows. An Upward Caret slows down an individual word and provides additional musicality and focus to that key word within a sentence.

As before, we’ll use the Word Emphasis chart found on Episode 27 of my ElaineClarkVO.com/Podcast page, discussed in my books, There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is and Voice-Overs for Podcasting, and explored further in the video and interactive practice-record-and-listen areas of my app, Adding Melody To Your Voice. Now, I’ll show you additional ways to achieve those speech variations using a variety of movements and gestures.

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Add Speech Emphasis with an Arrow Up or Upward Caret.

Real Talking Tips Episode 28 continues the min-series of 11 ways to add Word Emphasis to speech, presentations, and voiceover recordings.

Last episode, we practiced adding a dot to a word for crisply stated focus. This episode, we’ll practice two types of upward inflection: arrowing a phrase up and adding an up-and-down-caret (^) to a word.

Arrowing a sentence up is different from the questioning uptalk we discussed in episode 6 where the speaker ‘curls the ending’ so it sounds like a question rather than a statement. Arrowing a sentence or phrase up sets up a statement for the response that follows.

The up-and-down-caret (^) adds emphasis to an individual word where the musicality of that word starts and ends on the same note and rises to a higher pitch in the middle.

As before, we’ll use the Word Emphasis chart found on Episode 27 of this ElaineClarkVO.com/Podcast page, discussed in my books, There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is and Voice-Overs for Podcasting, and explored further in the video and interactive practice-record-and-listen areas of my app, Adding Melody To Your Voice.

Word Emphasis: Upward Caret and Arrow Up.

Let’s begin with the upward caret. With one finger pointed low, raise it higher and then drop it down to the original location. When speaking, this up and down movement raises and lowers the pitch of that word.

Here’s an example: ‘EmPHAsis’ The first syllable EM starts at the lower note, the second syllable PHA is a slightly higher pitch, and the final syllable SIS returns to the lower pitched starting position.

This movement tends to slow down the focus word and provide additional musicality within a sentence. And that’s the point of this type of word focus. Changing the rhythm of the sentence so the key word stands out because it is spoken at a different pace.

Read this sentence aloud in a flat, monotone manner:

When speaking, I use the variety provided in the word emphasis chart.

Now, say the sentence again with all the words flat and add a musical peak in the middle of the word ‘emPHAsis.’

When speaking, I use the variety provided in the word emPHAsis chart.

When an audience loses interest, seems distracted, or can’t follow the message, it’s often a result of too many words emphasized. Let’s work on a couple approaches to solve that problem.

Caret It Up! The following are 4 different physical movements that result in a caret up and down speech pattern. Once again, practice along using the focus word ‘emphasis’.

1. Finger Down-Up-Down: With the index finger in a neutral or low position, raise it higher on the middle syllable, and back to the original starting position at the end. ‘emPHAsis’

2. Shoulder Shrug: Start with the shoulders relaxed and down, raise one or both shoulders, and drop the shoulders to the original relaxed position. ‘emPHAsis’

3. Eyebrow Lift: Start with the eyebrows relaxed and down, raise one or both eyebrows, and drop the eyebrow(s) to the original relaxed position. ‘emPHAsis’

4. Chin Acknowledgement: Start with the chin relaxed and level, raise the chin slightly, and drop the chin to the original relaxed position. ‘emPHAsis’

That’s just four ways to create the upward caret. There more movement options to create that sound. You can raise and lower a toe, stiffen and relax the back, tighten and relax the stomach muscles, or any number of ways your body quickly responds to the rise and fall of the voice’s pitch.

Arrow It Up! Arrowing a phrase up sets up an answer or response. When speaking, the voice starts at a lower pitch and rises to a higher pitch. There’s a slight pause of anticipation while that final word lingers at that higher pitch before changing musical direction, tempo, or attitude. Using the same sentence to demonstrate, set up the second half of the sentence by arrowing the first phrase up and lingering at that pitch for a split second before changing direction and musically dropping the last phrase down.

When speaking, I use the variety provided in the word emphasis chart.

Did you notice the upward musically of the opening 2-word arrow-up phrase and that it was slower than the10-word response that followed? That’s because dynamic and effective speech should be balanced, much like musical beats and measures. Eyeballing the script provides a clue. The comma after the first phrase, alerts the speaker to slow down and balance the 1st measure with the faster and wordier 2nd response.

Listed below are 4 different physical movements that set up a low-to-high arrow up statement. Remember to hold your gesture or position at the highest position. Otherwise, the voice will drop on that final word and sound more like the up-and-down caret we just discussed. Or, if the speaker doesn’t slow down on the arrow up set-up, the upward phrase can easily sound like a question or upspeak. To hold the note in the final position, you may need to add a glottal stop at the end of the phrase to pause the speech action without stopping it completely.

1. Hand Gesture Up: With a hand or finger, start speaking at the low position and gesture up. ‘When speaking.’

2. Shoulder(s) Up: Start with the shoulders relaxed and down, raise one or both shoulders and hold that position. ‘When speaking.’

3. Eyebrow Lift: Start with the eyebrows relaxed and down, raise one or both eyebrows, and hold that position. ‘When speaking.’

4. Chin Up: Start with the chin relaxed and level and raise the chin slightly. ‘When speaking.’

When adding brevity and crispness to a specific word, it’s important that the corresponding action start on the very first letter of the word and end on the final letter sound.

Practice: and

Each body movement integrates and connects with your own personal history and how you use those motions on a daily basis. It’s being aware of what you do naturally and don’t spend time thinking about. Exploring these movements and how they impact speech and communication makes it easier to accept and apply these Real Talking Tips techniques. So when you practice, remember that the purpose of practice is to build confidence and trust in yourself to get the message across in the manner you intended.

There are so many variations on how to say this sentence:

When speaking, I use the variety provided in the word emphasis chart.

Let’s now practice 2 ways to use the Word Emphasis Arrow Up and Caret Up in that sentence.

1. Arrow up at the beginning and add the upward caret on the focus word ‘variety’:

2. Add the upward caret on ‘speaking’ and arrow up on focus phrase ‘word emphasis chart’:

Now, practice saying the same line on your own with all the various permutations and combinations discussed here and those you’d like to try out. The important thing is that you don’t repeat the same movement or gesture in the same sentence. Use different parts of your body to achieve the desired goal.

You could nod, point, shrug your shoulder, lift a toe, raise an eyebrow, straighten your back, or do any other movement that compliments the caret up and down and arrow up speech focus.

There are so many ways to use the Real Talking Tips micro-learning lessons to get a better understanding of the speaking voice and improve speech dynamics. Until next time, keep practicing!

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Tune in to Real Talking Tips Episode 29 for more Word Emphasis variations.