0949 – The ‘Gabbling’ Voice

2023.08.07 – 0949 – The ‘Gabbling’ Voice

Gabbling voice[1]

Symptom:  Different situations require different speeds: a brash ‘pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap’ commercial is likely to be faster than one for luxury lingerie, a late-night presenter on a classical music station likely to have a slower pace than a jock on a city-based Countdown show. Having said that, someone who speaks too fast may not be pronouncing their words correctly. Or if they are, they may stumble more than they should. This may be as a result of their eye > brain > larynx > mouth workflow being unable to keep up with the speed demanded of them. While words are jammed together, parts of many of them (full syllables and clear consonants for example) may be lost. Also affected will be correct intonation (there may be very little, or too much), proper phrasing and of course proper pausing. The nuances of the copy is lost and what could be intelligible becomes incoherent.

Prescription: The psychological issue here may be of someone trying to emulate an experienced and confident presenter who speaks faster because of those two attributes. Newbies should develop their own style of course. Faster speech if required, is made clearer with understanding your content, clear script markings, good posture and breath control, and enunciation exercises. Slower speech is easier to practice and it should come hand-in-hand with good diction, and an understanding of the script so the reader is clearly communicating… being expressive and not being an express train.

·        Our series on the ‘speed of the read’ was covered in episodes 368 onwards

A subgroup of this may be referred to as ‘shotgun speech’ when someone speaks suddenly, quickly and in a rapid outburst of words. This type of talking may be a sign of nervousness and lack of self-confidence, and as you don’t take much air in, can weaken your voice and affect the clarity of your diction. (See advice for ‘gabbling’.)

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeK5ZjtpO-M&feature=youtu.be and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X4Fy8YqysY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.