She suddenly realizes she slipped into AAVE for a few words because we were speaking casually. this article was originally conceived after listening to NPR and the annoying patterns heard by those that are supposed to be professional broadcasters. Me too! What is the affectation where the speaker draws out the end of every sentence as if theyve just ran out of breath, but still want to get that last word out. not pronounce the actual vowel, but rather make it the aaaaah sound. Also da for the has been trending. Another one that I see increasingly in many of those under 40, is known as g-dropping. I am so tired of women trying to sound like little girls and drawing out their s sounds. No more changing anything. Britain? One of my pet peeve: Someone who always speaks the -ah at the end of there sentence. As a mother of 2 teens, I can certainly relate. Is this really a new trend? Much of what else is mentioned here Ive not heard or not noticed. And singing involves a Melody AND talent. Another more recent pattern I hear most often by women is speaking in the low register of their voice. Duffin, of Planet Money, said that when she's recording she tries to sound like "a more listenable, polished version" of herself. Part Two: Here Comes AI, Is the Golden Age of Voice Over Gone? The latter pronunciations of each drive me nuts. At first, I thought maybe he was just discovering a new feature in the product he is explaining but it has become clear it is just something he blurts out every few minutes. Youve covered it all, including the Yes, no stupidity. As a result, many teachers stopped teaching it. Alternatively, or also, it could be an attempt to inject artificial emphasis to Every.Single.Word. I feel more rested? Grammatical mistakes are less annoying, but still problematic. If I.could. I guess it works when communication is between persons with a combined vocabulary of less than 100 words, but for everyone else its extremely annoying. OMG! Im not ashamed to say that I have on frequent occasion shown these dim-witted types the door of my office immediately (usually upon hearing any hint of vocal fry, thats enough to do it), telling them to email me their query, which I then promptly delete without reading, and send them an auto-reply to that effect. 4) #pubradiovoice Sitting in host chair for first time I channeled white voice from Midwest and lost my own. For example: On those rare occasions when I hear an interview with someone who is profoundly lacking all of these five patterns, it is such a breath of fresh air! Worst laugh is definitely Dan Pashman (The Sporkful). Yes. She likened speaking into a microphone to a "performance that should be as authentic as possible.". I recently discovered cursive writing has been dropped, so do schools no longer teach how to construct a sentence? Socially, or even professionally, person to person, I dont let them bother me too much. I am a white dude on the radio, and no one has EVER tweeted at me critiquing my voice. To me, thats like criticising someone who stutters, besides being a tool to stonewall me. Its pervasive with men and women. I get annoyed when people on TV or radio speak too quickly while also using fillers such as umm or uh. Many of these language offenses are just figures of speech and situational patois. Keith Woods, NPR's vice president of newsroom training and diversity, told me that a variety of voices is one way to achieve greater journalistic truth. She has performed guest star roles on NBC's Parks & Recreation and HBO's Veep, working with Amy Poehler and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, respectively. Im only 40 but I feel like a rambling old person yelling at the TV any time I watch it. And also SORREY, instead of saying sorry I first noticed this 10 years ago watching Dora the Explorer with my Daughter. While for many VO artists, like you and me, we strive to have a more refined and adjusted voice, that is more pleasing to the ear, I do find that in general media such as TV, film and especially commercials, the prevalence of this is a reflection of the prevalence found in the general population. A study in 2014 found that although vocal fry, whether used by men or . the kind of and sort of virus has been making the rounds of cable news hosts and pundits, and its literally driving me crazy, you know what i mean? Can you tell the audience As Ted brought up a few posts up: the ubiquitous use of the words sort of by media drives me nuts! Being a voice-over talent makes me extremely sensitive to not only the sound of voices I hear on TV, radio and the internet, but also to the words that are chosen. That happened to Mike Cooper, a voice-over artist who recently stumbled upon his voice being used without his knowledge for AI. Ive NO idea where it came from or why. I also cant stand when people repeatedly mispronounce words. But, over the past few years students have become increasingly reproachful as if I am purposefully attacking their generation. The pervasive use of hypophora, mostly in spoken media, is more than annoying to me! Well, if you look at the data, youll kind of notice that theres a trend that sort of jumps out at you.. I hope that is not the case. why do young women want to sound freaky? Second one: the pin/pen merger. "What would happen if you approached different-sounding voices with curiosity and said 'Let me see how this works, see how this feels, and try to understand where they're coming from'? Also have you noticed that many reporters and tv personalities will repeat words over and over like that that that that,,,and, and, and and to to to to which is now ta ta ta ta (examplethey were going ta ta ta be there on Friday) etc. I forgot about another sentence I hate, Just stop! .ANY Mouth smacking, Ttt or Tsk between every phrase, or hearing saliva sounds !!! He told me: That is a sign that I've opened them up, they feel comfortable and they're talking in the way that they just regularly talk. I wonder if there is a name for this yet? I wonder if anyone was listing to the message and if the listeners are able to verify the accuracy or validity of the content. Allison Shelley/NPR Lets take a selfie of you and I. Yes, I understand that my fixated attention on these patterns is what is causing me to be distracted. The pay is $18 an hour, and Id start on next Monday, soyeah. (My 18-yo granddaughter, recently). I work for a large tech company in the SF Bay Area and I can attest that uptalk, unfortunately, is more pervasive than ever. It hurts my ears! "They can feel more comfortable, confident and relaxed, because they feel like they have command of this instrument and their performance," said Hansen. I saw it as SORE-ree. Youre not insane. Now that youve become painfully aware of my top five annoying speech patterns, please share your ownspeech pattern pet peeves. She currently sings with Summer Parfait, a jazz band including fellow NPR employees Chris Joyce and James Willetts. OMG! After living abroad for over a decade, I noticed in the mid-1990s that, in the workplace, every female in a supervisory position seemed compelled to preface nearly every declarative sentence with, At this time. It was quite ridiculous to hear something like, At this tiiiime, we do not have a vacancy, but wed like to talk to you, so At this tiiime, can you tell me if you could come in at 10:00 on Thursday? People are suddenly emphasizing the wrong syllable in words that end in dent. e.g. One reason we don't comment on reporters' voices is because voice is personal. The one voice that NPR does have on hand that presents a good marriage of youthful freshness and traditional diction while remaining pleasing and understandable is David Greene, currently on Morning Edition. Stripping is not music. I seem to see/hear it all the time nowadays, normally just after someone has clearly explained the facts around something, but the person reading/hearing it feels the need to demand the person giving out the information to Wait! so they can then ask them What?, as though what theyve just heard is complete nonsense, simply because they havent, (or so it comes across), been able to comprehend it the first time around. No problem implies that the Thank you was not needed, because it was the right thing to do. Of course, once he shared them with me,I started hearing them, too. Its good to see I am not. If you really sit down and read every word its a fascinating phenomenon. It is difficult to give an example because this is a pitch pattern not just certain words. Its EVERYWHERE on tv, the news reporters and movies. Heres what makes me hit mute/delete on any podcast, youtube speaker, Radio, etc. That drives me INSANE!!!! Housewives of wherever, The Hills, Keeping up with, The Apprentice. I agree. I hear it all the time paint-inG almost sounding like guh at the end of the syllable. Can you comment on a growing trend of, what one person termed, manufactured precision diction? Sam Sanders, host of NPR's It's Been A Minute, records a segment at NPR West on September 24, 2018. I see it in newscasts all the time being used by educated people. The voices on NPR are more diverse than ever. You can read opened up by the person being interviewed by a magazine or newspaper and it makes me cringe. For more information, please see our Have a listen how many times you hear ABSOLUTELY on the tv. The other tying vote is dropping the t, as stated above or over pronouncing the t to make up for the cur-an, moun-an folk. As a naturalized American citizen I am paying attention to my execution of sentences and the intonation. After Sanders and his panelists discussed a mysterious case of American diplomats in Cuba suffering from a possibly psychosomatic illness, listeners wrote that his tone had been too light-hearted for a serious subject. Its a good question.. uuuh-eem.. if we look at the sortve.. cultural implications.. implications.. we we find that people.. generally are all victims of being annoying.. Its under the The Up-and-Coming Most Annoying Speech Patterns section. Sometimes reporters do incorporate feedback about their delivery. use of the phrase sort of in each statement you made. Im sorry to say that the age old requirement to communicate accurately both verbally and in writing, and to effectively be your true self while communicating, is rapidly being lost to us all, in favour of these Social Media / Reality TV educated fools who cant be bothered to spell a word properly or fully, or string a coherent sentence together without an emoji! Trying to describe some of these patterns is difficult, so examples would be very helpful! Its been shortened from I know, right? (Aka, IKR?) Why bother with all the words when you can trim it down to one. Reporters get these complaints directly, too. But Glass said in that episode that he never hears about his. Good English dictates brevity as a virtue; much, is redundant here. I think, that new forms of expression are good because language is alive and new inventions created new vocabulary as well. All of this is annoying- up talk, vocal fry, So. I particularly despise yeah yeah yeah and starting sentences with So. They also make thespeaker sound less intelligent and sometimes even manipulative. They are rampant in the South. Adding an additional, unnecessary syllable to certain words for emphasis: no becomes no-ah and hello turns into hello-ah.. as though the speaker just had to get rid of that extra bit of air, and vocalize it. They even create elaborate spoofs, like this send-up of the "annoying" podcast voice. People complained that young, female reporters rasped their voices in an unprofessional way. My current most annoying list includes some new & old (along with my initial yeah, no): 1) Vocalfry, can actually hurt voice. I want to shout at them Inhale! I consider language a beautiful sign of class, education and the desire to make everybody involved in a conversation comfortable. We all must remember to keep our minds sharp and active. This American Life even did a segment on the negative messages their women reporters receive about vocal fry. Further, it seems that engaging in these practices seems to indicate a greater authenticity for Gen Z and Millennials. Someone above grits their teeth at Americans and Brits speaking. I can deal with that but having to stand there and not be able to express a thought is just too much. Leaving the Ts out of a word, as in bu on or ki en. 2) pumped and stoked for excited Finally, the other habit that seems to be spreading is the use of the schwamostly women but not exclusivelyperhaps the thought is that it makes them seem more cultured. Re-reading your article I see your use of annoying phrases was intentional and very effective. I find that contrary to the quality of education that many of us older folks received. https://t.co/7p2fxbZTAN. And also have heard does that make sense? from one particular Millenial. One will usually do the trick! Aural homogeneity discourages listeners and future radio-makers who don't fit the mold. They dont even allow their white announcers in Texas to sound like theyre from Texas! Suddenly I see the speech patterns that seem unnatural and improper. Just like everyone else, sometimes reporters need a moment to collect their thoughts. It seems to me it takes more effort to speak a word without its T sound in the middle than to speak the word properly! Im so glad someone has identified moronic speech that has gone from thoughtful Well,. to the contrary So, as if theyre indicating a confirmation summation that theirs is the correction of an issue. I believe they are taught this mode of delivering content. Wu-ut? Not sure. 2 the addition of ing to verbs Dropping the T is not a girl thing, at least not in the American South. It seems a convemient time period for my schedule at this tiiime, Up talk is especially annoying when the speaker is listing things, as in those pillow commercials:, I sleep better? Its rampant. The bulk of revenues coming from programming fees, grants from foundations or business entities, contributions and sponsor-ships. Hansen coaches voice . I was thinking that I was the only hearing the incorrect use of the schwa during a recent newscast. Ira Glass has a speech pattern whereby he voices extremely fast bursts of words, and then leaves a space. AMEN. It was made popular by chef Gordon Ramsden. I think it is annoying when people answer a question with, Yes, no It seems trendy with Britsh speakers. Yet its undocumented. YES! a. period. I was about to write a comment concerning the misuse of me and I when I read yours. And they do it a lot. I even contacted a renowned acting school. Politicians and reporters insist on saying Look before spewing a profound statement. Its not just insincere, its rude, as if theyre annoyed at having to say it. Ive been listening to a lot of podcasts lately and obviously, most of them have commercials. Mark, your comments are very well spoken, and I also consider language and ones command and understanding of it to be a sign of class and proper education. thas instead of thats (which is the abbreviation for that is) Of all the irritating speech patterns around these days, vocal fry is, for me, the most intolerable. Hello; I can only see things getting worse and I dont know how Ill deal with it. Ive noticed that, too. Or I mean, Im not lyin when I say She has taught throughout the Washington metropolitan area, including the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and American University. As in: Reporter: Do you favor wearing masks in public to help slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2? How did this start? It seems to be many white females that Im noticing using this trend. Interviewer asks, Why is the current focus on companies like Exxon?, Young woman interviewee: Yeah, so Exxon is a high-profile, Mostly, young women seem to do this. Those experiences felt like subtle whitewashing of his voice. Thats my new pet peeve and I wish I knew a way to counsel him on it! Ultimately, I realized that it is deeply right to have many different voices reporting on the powerful.". Last week, Slate Lexicon Valley podcaster (and NPR On the Media host) Bob Garfield lamented a frightening tic invading American speech. Thank you so much for validating my comments to my skeptical wife. Hansen has taught techniques including Shakespeare, musical theater, and microphone and audition skills to children and adults of all ages. Finally, it is a bid to keep the floor. November 28, 2016 by Debbie Grattan 307 Comments. And the speech pattern that led me to your page is the one Ive observed in the voice overs on virtually all home improvement shows. I believe it to be the key to longevity. Who started that? Lately, I have noticed by newscasters and others on TV the word expecially, which of course does not exist. It starts at home and moves to the classroom. I felt as though I learned something today. Several years ago, feminist author Naomi Wolf suggested vocal fry among young women was causing them to "disown their own power.". Im curious if this is a West Coast thing with the under 40 set. You forgot the most annoying example of all: that of swallowing the t Im the middle of a word, together with a glottal stop. It appears "almost exclusively among women, and young women. Sam Sanders, host of NPR's It's Been A Minute, records a segment at NPR West on September 24, 2018. Like many here, I listen to a good deal of NPR-ish broadcasts and podcasts. For example, in Alabama, pen and pin are pronounced the same way. Its definitely whiny, and its annoying as hell to my ears. This post & comments are fun because though annoying is a subjective quality, some of these patterns & phrasing are widely undesirable. 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