There are six characteristics of speech, all of which are vital to speak effectively. In this section we'll look at each of them separately. These speech characteristics are basically important to you and your manner of speech. If you are not completely happy with the way your voice sounds, you may need to work on some of them. Remember that although we are going to talk about each characteristic individually, they must ultimately blend into a compelling articulate speech. Let's list them, they are 1）pitch, 2）inflection, energy, 3）duration, 4）tempo, and volume.
Pitch is simply an 5）acoustical property of the voice having to do with its frequency, high to low. The pitch of your speaking voice is determined by a number of factors, including whether you're male or female. Early environment has its effect. If the people around you spoke in high pitches most of the time, chances are that you'll use primarily the upper third of your pitch range. Since Americans prefer voices pitched in the lower third of their range, speaking in such a high pitch voice, should be corrected. Genetic inheritance must also be considered. If father had a very deep voice and sang bass in the church 6）choir, then you, his son, may also sing bass and speak with a deep voice when it has lowered after puberty.
Female voices change during 7）adolescence just as do men's voices although not as noticeably. An adult female's vocal chords normally vibrate about twice as fast as those of an adult male. As a result, her pitch is about an 8）octave higher than a male's pitch. An interesting 9）aside though, contrary to popular opinion, a person's height or weight does not, as a rule, affect the pitch of the voice, or its volume. When you meet a large or tall person, with a tiny high pitched voice, it usually comes as a surprise. And once upon a time it was thought that an opera singer had to be overweight in order to sing with force, not so.
You should usually speak at a comfortable vocal 10）register. That's called your 11）optimum pitch. Your habitual pitch on the other hand is the pitch range that you use most frequently, and a caution is in order, if you speak at too high or too low a pitch, some or most of the time, you may strain your 12）vocal cords. That habitual pitch that you spoke of should not be constant though. Expressive speech requires that pitch be varied. Variety is also the spice of speech.
And that's the second characteristic of speech, pitch variety is technically called inflection. Inflecting your pitch, means that your voice rises and falls to 13）impart added richness and meaning to your speech. Inflection is the most important element giving meaning to our spoken thoughts. I might say,
“Well, isn't this exciting?”
I detect a note of sarcasm. I believe that while you were saying one thing, you meant another. That's a technique used quite often when we are insincere or teasing. Sarcasm can add humor to our speech, but it can also hide true intentions, and confuse our listeners.
Well then how about this,
“Oh isn't this exciting?”
Wow, now that was real excitement and you communicated that excitement through inflection, and also I think you raised your energy level a trifle. And so you see that inflection is a powerful speech tool. Always use it to your advantage in speech.
Let's move on now to the third characteristic of effective speech, energy. That's the level of enthusiasm with which you speak. Your level of energy varies of course to suit the setting in which you are speaking, and the subject matter you are addressing. Your energy level when speaking earnestly and quietly to a child wouldn't be used at a sporting event. That has to do with the speech setting of course.
If your speech doesn't convey interest or enthusiasm, if it's lack 14）luster and boring, you'll need to work on injecting more energy into it. You should always maintain a natural level of excitement and energy when you speak. it must never seem forced or artificial, but when that energy is there, your listeners will pay more attention to what you have to say.
（To be continued）
1） pitch n. （音樂(lè)、說(shuō)話的）音高
2） inflection n. 變音，轉(zhuǎn)調(diào)，語(yǔ)調(diào)的抑揚(yáng)變化
3） duration n. 持續(xù)，持久
4） tempo n. 節(jié)拍，節(jié)奏
5） acoustical a. 由聲音操縱的，能控制音響的
6） choir n.（教堂的）唱詩(shī)班，合唱團(tuán)。亦作quire
7） adolescence n. 青春期，接近成熟的
8） octave n. 八度，八度音程，一音階
9） aside n. 暫時(shí)離題；枝節(jié)話 10） register n. （音樂(lè)）音域，聲域
11） optimum a. 最適宜的，的
12） vocal cords 聲帶 13） impart vt. 傳遞；告知，通知
14） luster n. 光彩，光澤
Pitch is simply an 5）acoustical property of the voice having to do with its frequency, high to low. The pitch of your speaking voice is determined by a number of factors, including whether you're male or female. Early environment has its effect. If the people around you spoke in high pitches most of the time, chances are that you'll use primarily the upper third of your pitch range. Since Americans prefer voices pitched in the lower third of their range, speaking in such a high pitch voice, should be corrected. Genetic inheritance must also be considered. If father had a very deep voice and sang bass in the church 6）choir, then you, his son, may also sing bass and speak with a deep voice when it has lowered after puberty.
Female voices change during 7）adolescence just as do men's voices although not as noticeably. An adult female's vocal chords normally vibrate about twice as fast as those of an adult male. As a result, her pitch is about an 8）octave higher than a male's pitch. An interesting 9）aside though, contrary to popular opinion, a person's height or weight does not, as a rule, affect the pitch of the voice, or its volume. When you meet a large or tall person, with a tiny high pitched voice, it usually comes as a surprise. And once upon a time it was thought that an opera singer had to be overweight in order to sing with force, not so.
You should usually speak at a comfortable vocal 10）register. That's called your 11）optimum pitch. Your habitual pitch on the other hand is the pitch range that you use most frequently, and a caution is in order, if you speak at too high or too low a pitch, some or most of the time, you may strain your 12）vocal cords. That habitual pitch that you spoke of should not be constant though. Expressive speech requires that pitch be varied. Variety is also the spice of speech.
And that's the second characteristic of speech, pitch variety is technically called inflection. Inflecting your pitch, means that your voice rises and falls to 13）impart added richness and meaning to your speech. Inflection is the most important element giving meaning to our spoken thoughts. I might say,
“Well, isn't this exciting?”
I detect a note of sarcasm. I believe that while you were saying one thing, you meant another. That's a technique used quite often when we are insincere or teasing. Sarcasm can add humor to our speech, but it can also hide true intentions, and confuse our listeners.
Well then how about this,
“Oh isn't this exciting?”
Wow, now that was real excitement and you communicated that excitement through inflection, and also I think you raised your energy level a trifle. And so you see that inflection is a powerful speech tool. Always use it to your advantage in speech.
Let's move on now to the third characteristic of effective speech, energy. That's the level of enthusiasm with which you speak. Your level of energy varies of course to suit the setting in which you are speaking, and the subject matter you are addressing. Your energy level when speaking earnestly and quietly to a child wouldn't be used at a sporting event. That has to do with the speech setting of course.
If your speech doesn't convey interest or enthusiasm, if it's lack 14）luster and boring, you'll need to work on injecting more energy into it. You should always maintain a natural level of excitement and energy when you speak. it must never seem forced or artificial, but when that energy is there, your listeners will pay more attention to what you have to say.
（To be continued）
1） pitch n. （音樂(lè)、說(shuō)話的）音高
2） inflection n. 變音，轉(zhuǎn)調(diào)，語(yǔ)調(diào)的抑揚(yáng)變化
3） duration n. 持續(xù)，持久
4） tempo n. 節(jié)拍，節(jié)奏
5） acoustical a. 由聲音操縱的，能控制音響的
6） choir n.（教堂的）唱詩(shī)班，合唱團(tuán)。亦作quire
7） adolescence n. 青春期，接近成熟的
8） octave n. 八度，八度音程，一音階
9） aside n. 暫時(shí)離題；枝節(jié)話 10） register n. （音樂(lè)）音域，聲域
11） optimum a. 最適宜的，的
12） vocal cords 聲帶 13） impart vt. 傳遞；告知，通知
14） luster n. 光彩，光澤