This is definitely something I struggle with however I'll use some of the tips in this video - I find the hand gesture very helpful. Didn't even think of lowering my head too!
This is so helpful! I watched another video on upspeak that was not helpful. It basically said just take your voice down at the end of a sentence. I get that but when I try it I sound ridiculous. Easier said than done. Your idea of taking my head and hands down at the end of a sentence is so helpful, and now I'm trying it out with sentences from a presentation I have to do. It's working great! It sounds more natural and not as forced. I also think my problem is I'm thinking like a run-on sentence and that's how it comes out when I talk. I just realized from this that I need to use shorter sentences that have a clear ending. I also realized that if I take my hands down at the end of a sentence, that means they were up during the beginning and middle of the sentence, so this helped me see how to use my hands, too!
Hi Samantha! I'm glad you found this video helpful :) It's true, sometimes there's some "unlearning" that needs to happen, particularly with something like uptalk! It can be done :) you got this!
Thank you very much for making me learn how to minimize high-rising terminal or the so-called “uptalk”! 🙏🙏🙏 No wonder most of my declarative sentences, depending on how long [or short] I speak, have always ended with the very falling intonation, while most of my yes-or-no questions have ended with rising intonation. WHY DON’T YOU ALSO TEACH THOSE CALIFORNIANS HOW TO MINIMIZE UPTALK? IT IS VERY IMPORTANT! YOU MIGHT THINK THAT UPTALK STINKS AT SO MANY TIMES!
It's interesting how on most self-improvement videos or speaking/singing practice videos, people in the comments are encouraging each other or talking about their own struggles with the topic, but on upspeak videos, people feel free to shame, ridicule and hate people who use upspeak.
Uptalking taxes the listener. He must evaluate whether or not the words issued by an uptalker are a statement, a question, or a rhetorical question. The listener may reach the wrong conclusion.
I wonder how much uptalk hurts in a sales environment? One thing I try to do in certain conversations is to use uptalk to minimize the number of questions I ask, assuming that more questions might cause prospects to withdraw.
I am not a native English-speaker but when I hear someone talk that way I perceive it somehow as confrontational attitude or like the person were questioning the truth in the facts he/she is delivering. It may depend on the person but this way of talking sometimes feel confrontational.
A few years ago I was on a nature hike with a group of people led by an interpretive naturalist. She was a woman in her early 20s. Every sentence, every phrase was uptalk. I thought I was going to go crazy. I think uptalk becomes ingrained in some people's speech. I wonder if in 30 years everyone will be uptalking. I will be the seen as the downtalker, the old guy with the annoying manner of speech.
I would like to know if there's a kind way to let the speaker know their uptalk inflection is harming my mental health to where I would just leave/mute the speaker. I feel the same way about those with vocal fry as well.
That's definitely tricky! We talk about these types of communication conundrums in our private community: academy.explearning.co What I can say is I understand that everyone has unique preferences and sensitivities when it comes to communication styles. It's important to approach this topic with empathy and understanding, while also providing constructive feedback. In response to your concern, you might try the following approach: "[Speaker's name], I appreciate your enthusiasm and the insights you bring to the conversation. I recently came across this Explearning Communication TH-cam video on Minimizing Uptalk [share video lesson] and I'd like to offer some constructive feedback that could help make your message even more effective. You might not be aware of this, but occasionally you use uptalk and vocal fry in your speech. While it's not inherently negative, some listeners might find it challenging to focus on the content of your message due to these speech patterns." Additionally, you can point them in the direction of this TH-cam channel or our community, academy.explearning.co for more communication and social skills workshops and ongoing support :) Hope this helps!
Except that it rarely helps. You’d think that youtubers and others with a public platform would be eager to make as authoritative an impression as possible, and would therefore be somewhat open to constructive criticism. Nope. No matter how kind or sensitive the critic, the target will take offense and shoot back. I recently saw a comment from a presenter who huffily claimed that it was rude for listeners to make suggestions because she was generously providing free content. Okay. I hope she’ll give the criticism some thought once she calms down. It was kindly meant.
It does seem to me that people reading from a script rarely use uptalk. The only legit use of uptalk that I can think of is as a way of asking "are you still with me so far?" without actually saying it. When used to excess you sound like a child that is desperate to keep your attention while they ramble on and on. Just listen to a child giving a lengthy account of something that happened.
So glad you enjoyed this video :) Yes, chunk phrases can definitely be overused and most of us are not even aware we use such phrases repeatedly! Here's a video I made about avoiding these types of fillers: th-cam.com/video/9kFXaHRzJ3c/w-d-xo.html . Feel free to share with those who'd benefit :)
@@ExplearningCo Thank you for the link to the suggested video you gave me. I am familiar with public speaking and the “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.” method of addressing your audience. I do understand that one needs to be organized and know the content for any subject to which you are addressing to avoid fillers. However, it is the common use of “filler words” (chunk phrases) that really bothers me. I have heard professionals and doctors use the words “Ya know” and “I mean” so much in the past several years that I am unable to listen to what they have to say. Professional sports figures are the worst. In addition, one other item that has given me issues is adding an “s” on the end of the word “anyway”. I was not taught to say “anyways”, and I am not sure why others would use that word in that manner.
When I hear 'uptalk' during a meeting / presentation, I seem to immediately get distracted from the context of the of the conversation / presentation as I somehow wander to thoughts of their qualification on the topic. Call me old fashioned, but that's just how I'm programmed. Sort of like talking to a person with a nose ring.
So after watching this video, I practiced a bit and read along with some news journalists from NPR whose speaking styles I like. What I noticed is that a balanced mixture of 1) upspeak, 2) ending a sentence level or in the middle, and 3) bringing your voice down is the best. I was practicing taking my voice down at the end of every sentence and it sounds ridiculous. From following along with these journalists and interviewees, I can see that they end sentences either by going up or staying level when they want to link two ideas in separate sentences. They take their voices down in the middle of their turn to talk about a third of the time but especially when they are concluding a thought and are ready for the other person to respond.
There are loads of podcasters whose upspeak annoys me so much that I have to turn them off, even when I find the topic interesting, yet I suspect that most of these people speak normally with friends or family. My theory about the prevalence of upspeak on TH-cam: The presenters are self-conscious and can’t imagine an actual viewer/listener on the other side of the camera. It sounds like they’re talking to themselves and not to an audience. As a listener, I want to scream, “Talk to ME, not up there to the sky-or wherever it is that you’re directing those utterances!”
I just watch a presentation And it was full of uptalk and umms and ah… although it was good info … I just completely stop listening . In professional settings presenters really need to learn how to do it correctly . I am in my 50s, can any one tell me that did they stop teaching this skill in schools? If they did then be proactive and take a class or two or more.
I just tried listening to a livestream discussion on a topic that I was interested in. the guest speaker was so obnoxious with her use of "like", "right" and nonstop uptalk that I had to actually leave the channel. It was unbearable. UGHHH. These people sound like idiots. She had another terrible habit of squelching her words. I don't know how to describe it better than that. Just, pulling back on the volume to the point where you hear the vibrating vocal cords more than the actual words being spoken. It was so annoying.
I can sympathize, Charles! Communication and delivery can make or break an interview, particularly something like a podcast which is lower resolution in terms of not having information about nonverbal communication or paralinguistics! Sounds like it was quite egregious :/ maybe point the guest speaker in the direction of Explearning :))
I think it's all about moderation. If it's too much, then it can become distracting, but the amount of hate people have here in the comments is crazy. Yes, it's a little annoying, but we need to be more tolerant of each other. None of us is perfect (yes, that's grammatically correct).
Who cares about uptalk. Let people talk how they want to talk and stop trying to police everything. It's so incredibly cringe people trying to force people to be a certain way. Let people be themselves and talk how they want to, they shouldnt care and you shouldnt care what people think of them. Be yourself and stop judging people based on the tone or texture of someones voice.
Some people have been told in their performance evals that they should take accent reduction lessons. Employers, customers, and co-workers care about how people sound.
One must also watch out for vocal fry, the extreme opposite of uptalk.
This is definitely something I struggle with however I'll use some of the tips in this video - I find the hand gesture very helpful. Didn't even think of lowering my head too!
Terrific! So happy you found this lesson helpful! Let us know how the strategies work out for you 😊
This is so helpful! I watched another video on upspeak that was not helpful. It basically said just take your voice down at the end of a sentence. I get that but when I try it I sound ridiculous. Easier said than done. Your idea of taking my head and hands down at the end of a sentence is so helpful, and now I'm trying it out with sentences from a presentation I have to do. It's working great! It sounds more natural and not as forced.
I also think my problem is I'm thinking like a run-on sentence and that's how it comes out when I talk. I just realized from this that I need to use shorter sentences that have a clear ending. I also realized that if I take my hands down at the end of a sentence, that means they were up during the beginning and middle of the sentence, so this helped me see how to use my hands, too!
Great video. Thank you for this. It is very hard to stop uptalking. That is how I learned to speak English.
Hi Samantha! I'm glad you found this video helpful :) It's true, sometimes there's some "unlearning" that needs to happen, particularly with something like uptalk! It can be done :) you got this!
Thank you very much for making me learn how to minimize high-rising terminal or the so-called “uptalk”! 🙏🙏🙏
No wonder most of my declarative sentences, depending on how long [or short] I speak, have always ended with the very falling intonation, while most of my yes-or-no questions have ended with rising intonation.
WHY DON’T YOU ALSO TEACH THOSE CALIFORNIANS HOW TO MINIMIZE UPTALK? IT IS VERY IMPORTANT! YOU MIGHT THINK THAT UPTALK STINKS AT SO MANY TIMES!
I absolutely despise uptalk. I once walked out of a class because every sentence uttered by the instructor ended in a question tonation. Awful.
Maybe try to be a little more tolerant. No one is perfect, not even you.
Just stop with the uptalk. It's annoying@@obsidiansea
It's interesting how on most self-improvement videos or speaking/singing practice videos, people in the comments are encouraging each other or talking about their own struggles with the topic, but on upspeak videos, people feel free to shame, ridicule and hate people who use upspeak.
Uptalking taxes the listener. He must evaluate whether or not the words issued by an uptalker are a statement, a question, or a rhetorical question. The listener may reach the wrong conclusion.
Love you but nix the fry too. ❤
Yes! She could use some help with that for sure.
I wonder how much uptalk hurts in a sales environment? One thing I try to do in certain conversations is to use uptalk to minimize the number of questions I ask, assuming that more questions might cause prospects to withdraw.
I am not a native English-speaker but when I hear someone talk that way I perceive it somehow as confrontational attitude or like the person were questioning the truth in the facts he/she is delivering. It may depend on the person but this way of talking sometimes feel confrontational.
A few years ago I was on a nature hike with a group of people led by an interpretive naturalist. She was a woman in her early 20s. Every sentence, every phrase was uptalk. I thought I was going to go crazy. I think uptalk becomes ingrained in some people's speech. I wonder if in 30 years everyone will be uptalking. I will be the seen as the downtalker, the old guy with the annoying manner of speech.
And I’ll be covering my ears way before those 30 years are up.
I would like to know if there's a kind way to let the speaker know their uptalk inflection is harming my mental health to where I would just leave/mute the speaker. I feel the same way about those with vocal fry as well.
That's definitely tricky! We talk about these types of communication conundrums in our private community: academy.explearning.co
What I can say is I understand that everyone has unique preferences and sensitivities when it comes to communication styles. It's important to approach this topic with empathy and understanding, while also providing constructive feedback.
In response to your concern, you might try the following approach:
"[Speaker's name], I appreciate your enthusiasm and the insights you bring to the conversation. I recently came across this Explearning Communication TH-cam video on Minimizing Uptalk [share video lesson] and I'd like to offer some constructive feedback that could help make your message even more effective. You might not be aware of this, but occasionally you use uptalk and vocal fry in your speech. While it's not inherently negative, some listeners might find it challenging to focus on the content of your message due to these speech patterns."
Additionally, you can point them in the direction of this TH-cam channel or our community, academy.explearning.co for more communication and social skills workshops and ongoing support :)
Hope this helps!
Except that it rarely helps. You’d think that youtubers and others with a public platform would be eager to make as authoritative an impression as possible, and would therefore be somewhat open to constructive criticism. Nope. No matter how kind or sensitive the critic, the target will take offense and shoot back. I recently saw a comment from a presenter who huffily claimed that it was rude for listeners to make suggestions because she was generously providing free content. Okay. I hope she’ll give the criticism some thought once she calms down. It was kindly meant.
why are u this much underrated??
Thanks for being here! Feel free to share our channel and 200+ lessons with people who you think would benefit 🌟😉
It does seem to me that people reading from a script rarely use uptalk.
The only legit use of uptalk that I can think of is as a way of asking "are you still with me so far?" without actually saying it. When used to excess you sound like a child that is desperate to keep your attention while they ramble on and on. Just listen to a child giving a lengthy account of something that happened.
This is a great point
Thank you! Great video. 💖 Now if individuals can stop overusing Chunk Phrases such as "You know" and "I mean" and the conjunction "Y'all".
So glad you enjoyed this video :) Yes, chunk phrases can definitely be overused and most of us are not even aware we use such phrases repeatedly! Here's a video I made about avoiding these types of fillers: th-cam.com/video/9kFXaHRzJ3c/w-d-xo.html . Feel free to share with those who'd benefit :)
@@ExplearningCo Thank you for the link to the suggested video you gave me. I am familiar with public speaking and the “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.” method of addressing your audience. I do understand that one needs to be organized and know the content for any subject to which you are addressing to avoid fillers. However, it is the common use of “filler words” (chunk phrases) that really bothers me. I have heard professionals and doctors use the words “Ya know” and “I mean” so much in the past several years that I am unable to listen to what they have to say. Professional sports figures are the worst. In addition, one other item that has given me issues is adding an “s” on the end of the word “anyway”. I was not taught to say “anyways”, and I am not sure why others would use that word in that manner.
When I hear 'uptalk' during a meeting / presentation, I seem to immediately get distracted from the context of the of the conversation / presentation as I somehow wander to thoughts of their qualification on the topic. Call me old fashioned, but that's just how I'm programmed. Sort of like talking to a person with a nose ring.
So after watching this video, I practiced a bit and read along with some news journalists from NPR whose speaking styles I like. What I noticed is that a balanced mixture of 1) upspeak, 2) ending a sentence level or in the middle, and 3) bringing your voice down is the best. I was practicing taking my voice down at the end of every sentence and it sounds ridiculous.
From following along with these journalists and interviewees, I can see that they end sentences either by going up or staying level when they want to link two ideas in separate sentences. They take their voices down in the middle of their turn to talk about a third of the time but especially when they are concluding a thought and are ready for the other person to respond.
There are loads of podcasters whose upspeak annoys me so much that I have to turn them off, even when I find the topic interesting, yet I suspect that most of these people speak normally with friends or family. My theory about the prevalence of upspeak on TH-cam: The presenters are self-conscious and can’t imagine an actual viewer/listener on the other side of the camera. It sounds like they’re talking to themselves and not to an audience. As a listener, I want to scream, “Talk to ME, not up there to the sky-or wherever it is that you’re directing those utterances!”
I just watch a presentation And it was full of uptalk and umms and ah… although it was good info … I just completely stop listening . In professional settings presenters really need to learn how to do it correctly . I am in my 50s, can any one tell me that did they stop teaching this skill in schools? If they did then be proactive and take a class or two or more.
Uptalk is like nails on chalkboard ... its bad in the U.S. but even worse in Australia
How not to uptalk? Vocal fry
I just tried listening to a livestream discussion on a topic that I was interested in. the guest speaker was so obnoxious with her use of "like", "right" and nonstop uptalk that I had to actually leave the channel. It was unbearable. UGHHH. These people sound like idiots. She had another terrible habit of squelching her words. I don't know how to describe it better than that. Just, pulling back on the volume to the point where you hear the vibrating vocal cords more than the actual words being spoken. It was so annoying.
I can sympathize, Charles! Communication and delivery can make or break an interview, particularly something like a podcast which is lower resolution in terms of not having information about nonverbal communication or paralinguistics! Sounds like it was quite egregious :/ maybe point the guest speaker in the direction of Explearning :))
In my day kids used to get speech therapy. I knew lots of kids at school who had that. Guess it went out of style.
Uptalking is good in customer service or supporting a friend. This is more for informal environments.
No, it’s cringey no matter what. I feel like they’re constantly asking me to reassure them when they talk like that.
Nonsense, Linh Ngo. As plumeria66 said, it's cringey no matter.
I think it's all about moderation. If it's too much, then it can become distracting, but the amount of hate people have here in the comments is crazy. Yes, it's a little annoying, but we need to be more tolerant of each other. None of us is perfect (yes, that's grammatically correct).
Who cares about uptalk. Let people talk how they want to talk and stop trying to police everything. It's so incredibly cringe people trying to force people to be a certain way. Let people be themselves and talk how they want to, they shouldnt care and you shouldnt care what people think of them. Be yourself and stop judging people based on the tone or texture of someones voice.
Some people have been told in their performance evals that they should take accent reduction lessons. Employers, customers, and co-workers care about how people sound.