The tone of your voice—that is, its quality and the emotions it conveys—is capable of sending a stronger message than your actual words. Every time you open your mouth, your tone will reveal whether you’re confident, uncertain, bored, annoyed, stressed-out, enthusiastic, skeptical, or a million other states of being.
Just imagine, for example, that you’ve been insulted by another customer while waiting in line at Starbucks for your double espresso chocolate macchiato. You turn and say to your perpetrator with a sarcastic or even furious, “I’m sorry?” Anyone within earshot knows dang well that you’re not the least bit sorry. What you’re really saying is, “How dare you say that to me?” Your tone makes your true message absolutely clear, regardless of the words you’ve chosen.
Much of your vocal tone is the result of intonation, the rise and fall of your vocal pitch, or the “melody” of speech. Different pitches within a phrase form patterns that we recognize as statements, requests, and questions, and these patterns characterize your speech.
Statements usually begin at a higher pitch and end on a lower one. These are declarations, plain and simple. (“I arrived at work today only to find that my department had been relocated.”) By the time you reach the word “relocated,” your voice is probably at a lower (if not much lower) pitch than it was when you started the sentence.
Requests typically maintain the same pitch throughout. While phrased as questions, these are really instructions or suggestions, and your vocal pitch stays on an even keel. (“Will you bring me the domestic sales file, please.”)
Questions usually start at a lower pitch and end on a higher one. They’re designed to elicit information. When you end on a higher pitch, you’re implying the need for some form of resolution. (“Do you know who’s leading the management meeting today?”)
These are standard pitch patterns, familiar to almost everyone in our culture. However, not everyone adheres to them, which can get in the way of communicating in a clear and powerful manner. Let’s take a look at three of the most common, power-sapping pitch mistakes you can make, and simple ways to change them.
Upspeak. You’re undoubtedly familiar with the use of upspeak: the tendency to make statements sound like questions. In other words, your vocal inflections go up at the end of the sentence, as if you’re asking a question, instead of going down in pitch or staying on an even keel, as if you’re making a statement. You’ve probably heard this pattern so often that you may not even notice it—even in yourself. Here’s how it sounds:
I was on my way to a meeting? And I was walking past the break room? And then Eric asked me how to work the new coffeemaker? So I showed him as fast as I could. And then I was late for the meeting and my manager gave me the evil eye? But it wasn’t my fault? Unbelievable!”
My theory about the rising pitch at the end of a statement is that it’s actually a bit of shorthand. Instead of saying, “Are you following me?” or “Do you agree?” we fold the question into our statements by going up in pitch at the end. Then we look for some kind of signal that, yes, the listener’s on board and agrees. This way, we don’t have to stop our story to ask for and receive this verification.
Unfortunately, this habit can easily become a dominant speech pattern, and it runs counter to the powerful, self-assured image you want to convey. In fact, it practically screams self-doubt.
When you make a statement that sounds like a question, you send the message that you’re unsure of yourself and what you’re saying, that you don’t know if you’re making sense, or that you doubt whether you’ll be understood. If you use this tone in a business meeting or when making a presentation, you’ll definitely sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Bottom line: Make your statements sound like statements rather than questions. Bring your pitch down at the end of your sentences, or keep the pitch even if you’re making a request. Go up in pitch only if you’re truly asking a question.
Shrieking. Simply put, the highest range of your vocal tone can be off-putting—and downright irritating. Many of us (women a bit more than men) use something called a “widely varying intonational pitch pattern,” which makes use of four distinct pitch ranges, from low to high. (Men usually use only the three lowest pitch ranges.) You use the highest-most pitch range to express delight, surprise, or excitement, as in, “Wow! I didn’t know you were going to beeee here today!” You might also use it to talk to babies, small children, and pets. (As an aside, men do the same thing when talking to these same three groups.) But no one, neither male nor female, uses it indiscriminately. You won’t hear anyone walk into a restaurant and shriek, “Helloooo! I’d like to order a cheeeeseburger!” In other words, the highest pitch range is sociological “code” for expressing extraordinary enthusiasm among humans, and it’s not characteristically used for common everyday interaction.
Unfortunately, this highest pitch range, while useful at children’s birthday parties and dog parks, is the one that undermines your power and credibility. So if you want to be taken seriously and be seen as a capable communicator, you’ll need to jettison this high-pitched voice, and stick to the lower registers—especially when making presentations, delivering information, or giving instructions.
Bottom line: In order to sound powerful and professional, keep your voice in its lower register, and watch the use of your uppermost vocal pitch. It’s best to eliminate it altogether—unless, of course, you’re talking to a cute puppy.
Vocal fry. Talk about a controversial subject. But first of all, let’s define vocal fry, and then we’ll discuss the most recent research.
You’ve heard vocal fry many times before, but it’s possible that you haven’t paid any attention to it. You may even be using it yourself, unconsciously. Vocal fry—also called creaky voice, glottal rattle, and a host of other names—is created by slackening the vocal chords, and then allowing air to pass over the lax chords and vibrate in a way that produces a low, almost growling sound. If you want to hear what vocal fry sounds like, just say out loud an extremely long sentence without taking a breath, and you’ll be frying up a storm at the end. It’s a natural occurrence when our vocal chords are underpowered by insufficient airflow.
And now—let’s talk facts. Prepare to be surprised.
Here are some things that, despite a recent barrage of media coverage about vocal fry, are simply not true:
1. Women do not use vocal fry more than men.
2. There is no evidence that vocal fry is on the uptick. Linguists believe it’s been around since the beginning of language.
3. Vocal fry is not actually bad for your vocal folds. In fact, many languages, such as Vietnamese, make deliberate use of vocal fry, and its speakers do not have any particular vocal problems as a result.
4. Vocal fry is not always associated with “valley girl talk” or Katy Perry. The British Aristocracy uses vocal fry to demonstrate their highbrow social status. (Just watch a few episodes of “The Crown” and you’ll hear them creaking away like crazy as they make disdainful statements about the scullery maids.)
5. Vocal fry is not all negative. Some people, including radio personalities and airline captains, intentionally use vocal fry in order to sound calm, relaxed, and friendly.
So then, if much of the hype about vocal fry isn’t even true, why would I include it in my list of irksome speech habits? Because it’s highly likely that you’re going to encounter a lot of people in positions of power—like hiring managers, bosses, and cops—who simply don’t like the sound of vocal fry. They find it to be grating and unrefined. Or they associate it with insolence, detachment, or incivility, and they will judge you harshly for using it.
Prejudicial stereotyping? You betcha. But here’s the reality: same as the clothes you wear or the way you style your hair, your vocal tone will signal your social status, maturity level, educational ranking, cultural ties, and your general professionalism. So why not present yourself in the best possible light, whether you’re interviewing for a job, trying to impress your current boss, or looking to land a call to the majors.
Bottom line: Make a conscious effort to eliminate vocal fry if you want to sound professional, mature, and capable. Speak with crisp vocal clarity, and finish your sentences without even a hint of a creak. Leave the vocal frying to Kim Kardashian, or to Prince Charles. After all, they can afford to creak—they already have killer careers.