American Intonation and Public Speaking with Shonda Rhimes

Hey there, it's Hadar. And this is the accent's way. Today we're going to talk about how to use your pitch, the level of your voice and your intonation to engage people and to keep things interesting. We are going to do that as we analyze a speech by Shonda Rhimes. Shonda is the showrunner of big TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice and Scandal and. And she's also the author of the Year of Yes. It's one of my favorite books and if you decide to read it, I highly recommend the audio version because the way she reads it is just remarkable and so, so funny. And by the way, if you want to get a free 30 day trial for Audible, which is where you listen to audiobooks, then click on the link below and then you get a free credit which you can use to listen to the Year of Yes and practice it for with her. Today we're going to analyze together the beginning of her TED Talk. And there we'll listen to how she uses her pitch and the level of her voice to make things really, really interesting, engaging and creates the sense of anticipation, like you can't wait to hear what she has to say. We're also going to pay attention to see the difference between what's more important and what's less important and how she does that effortlessly. So let's first watch the clip.

So a while ago, I tried an experiment for one year. I would say yes to all the things that scared me. Anything that made me nervous took me out of my comfort zone, I forced myself to say yes to.

And now let's break it down line by line. The way I break it down is always I chunk it up, I divide it into small chunks. When we look at chunks, those small units in a sentence, we see that all the words within the chunk are connected. So we want to connect all of them, stress the more important words and reduce and pronounce softly the less important words.

So a while ago, I tried an experiment.

So a while ago, So a while ago, now she starts her talk with the word so. So is a filler word. So is meant to transition from one subject to another. It makes it seem as if we were in the middle of a discussion and we're just continuing the talk. Okay. It makes it sound more natural. So a while ago, here in this chunk, the word while is the stressed word. So see how she goes higher in picture? Let's listen to it again.

So a while ago.

So a while ago. And then she drops on ago So.

A while ago, I tried an experiment.

I tried an experiment. Tried an experiment. Are the stressed words and is really reduced? I tried an experiment, and it feels like something else is coming up. It's left open at the end. And something else is coming up.

For one year, I would say yes to all the things that scared me.

For one year, I would say yes to all the things that scared me. Right. She starts kind of high. So a while ago, and then she goes a little lower because that's serious and that's profound. For one year. And the way she stresses is not by going high in pitch, but she just says it a little longer with more intention. For one year, I would say yes to all the things that scared me. And we see what the words that matter here. Year. Yes. Scared. Just by listening to these three words or looking at these three words, we kind of get what the meaning of the sentence is. Right. That's why everything else can be faster, lower in pitch, less emphasized. For one year, I would say yes. I would. Would reduce. I would say yes to all the things that scared me. Make sure you pronounce the th's here. The things. The things connected together. The things. To all the things that scared me.

Anything that made me nervous took me out of my comfort zone.

Anything that made me nervous. Anything that made me nervous. Anything nervous. These are the stress words in the middle. We go a little faster. Anything that made me nervous. That stick the tongue up for the th. The a is reduced. That made. So you connect those two together. That made me. That made me. That made me. Anything that made me nervous took me out of my comfort zone. Took me out of my comfort zone. Took. We have a relaxed sound. Not took. Took. Took me. Me is lower in pitch because me is less stressed out of my. Turns into atom I. Atom I ata. So you actually drop your jaw for the a sound. The t becomes a flap T atta the of turns into just a simple uh. And ada Adam I. Adam I at am I. So she says it fast. Comfort zone. That's a set phrase. And a set phrase is usually a word with two that is comprised of two words and then the first word is more stressed, like high school or team leader or comfort zone. Comfort. Comfort zone. Took me out of my comfort zone.

Anything that made me nervous took me out of my comfort zone. I forced myself to say yes to.

I force myself to say yes to. I forced myself to say yes to. Again, she's really low here. Yes is slightly higher in pitch. That's the main point here. Okay. That's the key word. So she's going to go higher in pitch for that one. I forced myself to say yes to make sure that when you say the word forced, it doesn't sound like first, because that's a different word. To do that, you want to make sure that the sound is fully pronounced. And then you bring the tongue up for the r only at the end, after you pronounce the O. I forced myself to say T is reduced. I forced myself to say yes to the word to is not reduced when it's at the end. So you pronounce it with a pure oo sound to say yes to. Now, notice that because there is a period that's the end of the paragraph, the intonation drops down. I forced myself to say yes to unlike anything that made me nervous. Then she went up because something else is coming up. But here it's the end of the paragraph, she closed it, and it kind of organizes things in our heads. You want to think of your speech as if you're writing an email, right? You wouldn't just put a bulk of text, you would break it down into different paragraphs and put a comma in between ideas and. And a period at the end. And you do the same thing when you speak, only you use intonation for that. So that rising intonation, anything that made me nervous, right? When you lift it up, it's like a comma. And then I force myself to say yes to period. I know as a listener that the idea has ended, even though she's going to continue with the same argument or the same idea. It's a new start of a new sentence. So I'm preparing for it differently.

I forced myself to say yes to Did I want to speak in public? No, but yes. Did I want to be on live tv? No, but yes. Did I want to try acting? No, no, no. But yes, yes, yes.

Now, as you can see, she asks three questions.

Did I want to speak in public? Did I want to be on live tv? Did I want to try acting?

And the answer is the same for each question.

No, but yes. No, but yes. No, no, no. But yes, yes, yes.

So to make it interesting, she asks it differently every single time, because if she were to ask it the same, it would be boring. They don't want to speak in public. Did I want to be on live tv? Did I want to try acting? Right. That's boring and it's not interesting. So she escalates her intention and the tension and the pitch, and that's how she creates engagement and interest and anticipation to hear what the answer would be. So let's look at it.

Did I want to speak in public? No, but yes.

The first question is kind of casual. She has to start low so she has where to go. Right? Later on. Did I want to speak in public? That's a yes, no question. Rising, rising, intonation. No, again. Rising, rising, intonation. I know it's not over yet. Something else is coming up. But yes.

Did I want to be on live tv? No, but yes.

Then the next question. There is more tension there. How do we know that? Because she goes a little higher for live tv. Did I want to be on live tv? Closing. Did I want to be on live tv? And then the answer is the same.

No, but yes, Right?

It's more heightened. No, but yes. Again, rising intonation. No, but yes. Open, closed.

Did I want to try acting?

And then the last question. Did I want to try acting? The highest note.

No, no, no. But yes, yes, yes.

Now here, this is smart because instead of saying no because it's not for her, she's like chill and mellow. So she just says the word a few times. No, no, no. But yes, yes, yes, right? No, no, no. Open, open, open. But yes, yes, yes. And then she's closing it.

And a crazy thing happened.

And a crazy thing happened. She ends it at the end with a rising, falling, intonation reduced. And a crazy thing happened. These three words are stressed. And. And a crazy thing happens. Stick the tongue up for the thing.

The very act of doing the thing that scared me. Undid the fear.

The very act of doing the thing that scared me. Undid the fear. Beautiful sentence. The very act. Act is stressed. The. The. Stick the tongue out. The very act of doing the thing that scared me. Of doing the thing. Of doing the thing of doing. Doing is somewhat stressed. Of is reduced of doing the thing. Stick the tongue up for the th and connect those two words together. That scared me. Scared really sticks out. That's another key word here. Of doing the thing that scared me. Of doing the thing that scared me. And then she stresses those two words really nicely. Undid the fear. Undid the fear.

Relaxed.

If or did. Undid the fear. Now she's not closing it here yet. You can hear the tail going up. Undid the fear.

Made it not scary.

Made it not scary. Made it not scary. So she goes really low in pitch. It's kind of like she's explaining it, right? Undid the fear. What does that mean? Made it not scary? So she says it a little faster and lower. In pitch. It's like she puts it in brackets, but it's important for her to say it. And then she closes it with that period with that rising, falling intonation made it not scary.

My fear of public speaking, my social anxiety. Poof, gone.

My fear of public speaking, my social anxiety. Right. Again, she's listing. And notice how every time she hits a different note so it doesn't get boring. My fear of public speaking, my social anxiety. Right. Anxiety is. It doesn't sound exactly like speaking. And for both, she goes up in pitch.

Poof, gone.

And then she closes it.

Poof.

Falling intonation. Gone. Falling intonation has a lot more certainty and confidence. Rising, Rising intonation. Wait, something else is coming up. It sounds like a question. Not sure. Wait a minute. It's not over yet. Okay, you need to understand that when you speak, because sometimes a lot of people use this rising intonation at the end and when they're not asking questions, when they are done saying the sentence. And then it feels like something else is coming up. Okay. And people don't know that they're done. So you want to be able to understand or recognize the difference between rising intonation and rising falling intonation. And when you get to the end of your sentence or when you're done, make sure to close it and reach the bottom of your pitch.

It's amazing, the power of one word.

It's amazing. The power of one word. So the word amazing really sticks out here. And the way she emphasizes it is by emphasizing not only the vowel in it, but also all the consonants. It's. Her M is so long. It's amazing. Also the ng. It's amazing, okay, because this is a strong word, and she really wants to emphasize it. The power of one word. So a lot of reductions here. The power of Reduce the. Of one word. And word is stressed, but it's stressed by prolonging it, maybe putting a little bit of emphasis there. And slightly higher in pitch. The power of one word.

Yes, changed my life. Yes, changed me.

So two profound sentences. Two different sentences. And listen to the melody. It is different. It has to be different. So it's not repetitive. So it shows the escalation, the growth, the importance of what comes after. Yes, changed my life. Okay, that's kind of like the fact. Yes, changed me. Right. In addition to that, and to be even more specific, it changed me. So she's only using the pitch to indicate that. And we get it. We get this just by simply pronouncing it a little differently or using a different intonation. And different melody. Yes. Changed my life. Yes. Changed me. Okay, you understand that there is this sense of importance here.

But there was one. Particular. Yes.

But there was one. But there was one. But there was one. Everything is reduced here. She's moving on to the next subject in a way. But there was one. But there was one. But there was one. Tth, place your tongue on the teeth for the t. But there. Then move on to the th. But there was reduced one. Particular. Listen to how she pronounces the word particular.

Particular. Yes.

Particular. Yes. Every consonant is enunciated because this is the stressed word. So she uses different ways to stress words. It's not always higher in pitch. And long. Sometimes the consonants are long. Sometimes the consonants are strong. Sometimes the word is really high in pitch. Sometimes it's just louder. So you have all these means to emphasize the words that convey your main message. Particular. Like she slows down on it. Yes. But there was one Particular. Yes.

That affected my life in the most profound way.

That affected my life in the most profound way. That affected my life. Fast. And then slow. See how she constantly shifts between fast, less important. That affected my life in the most profound way. That affected my life in the most.

Profound way in a way I never imagined.

And again, she goes down. She explains it in a way I never imagined. So she goes a little faster or lower in pitch. It's like she puts it in brackets. In the most profound way in a way I never imagined. Repetition for emphasis. So she does it using different words, but she makes sure not to use the same melody. Because listen to this. In the most profound way, in the way I never imagined. It feels like I've just said the same thing. Right? But if I say something like this in the most profound way, in a way I never imagined, it triggers my brain to think about it as different, as if it's two different things, which they are. But it helps me understand it even better.

And it started with a question from my toddler.

And it started with a question from my toddler. Started question. Toddler. These are the three stressed words. And started. See how she reduces the beginning. And it. And it. And it started. Is the stressed word with a question. With a. With a. With a reduced question is stressed. From I. From I. From I. Reduced. Fast. Effortless. Toddler. Okay, toddler. And then it feels like there is a tale that is continuing. Something else is coming up. And indeed, then she starts telling a story. But if you want to watch the story, you need to watch the TED talk. Of course I'll post a link to it right in the description below. Okay, so as you can see, you have all these ways to convey your message and to stay interesting. How you pronounce the words, how long you stretch them, how you pronounce the consonants and the vowels in the words, the pitch that you're using. And when you're explaining something, it's so important to keep your intonation varied so it's not monotone. Because when you use the same patterns, whether you're a non native speaker or a native speaker, it becomes repetitive and people kind of feel that they know what you're about to say because everything sounds the same. Also, when you change the intonation, people, if they zone out, they come back to you, okay? Because they feel that every time there is something different. So when it's repetitive, people may lose you, you may lose people. So it's really important to understand those nuances. And sometimes intonation pitch variation is more important than accurate pronunciation of sounds because people will understand the substitution that you're making with the r or the maybe with the th. But if everything is repetitive and you are not using the melody and the pitch to distinguish between the more important and the less important, if you're not going faster and slower for whenever it's more important and less important, then the message is not going to be clearly delivered. And the only, the best way to do that is by first observing how people speak. Speak. You pick someone that you like and you listen to how they speak and you analyze it and you break it down like we just did here. Okay? And then when you start hearing it, you can start making it. If you want to practice the speech, you can download the script. I've prepared it for you. It's on my website. I'll post a link to it below so you can go and grab it and repeat it and do it over and over again and think of all those nuances that we talked about here. Now I'd love to hear from you. So in the comments below, let me know what was new for you today. When it comes to intonation or pitch or rhythm, everything that we talked about and what is the one thing that you're going to take and practice and apply it in your day to day speech. Okay, so these two things let me know in the comments below. Remember that if you really want to change, you have to take action. You have to understand something, but then to do something about it right away. Okay? So don't wait with it. Go practice right now. Again, you can grab the script and practice with the script, but you can do it with any other script that is out there. If you want to grab my script of the Shonda Rhimes TED Talk, click on the link below or up here. If you like this speech analysis and you like this video, be sure to check out my playlist of American Intonation where I analyze many different speeches and I talk about intonation and rhythm and stress and that's it. Practice. The more you practice, the better you get. Have a beautiful week and I'll see you next week in the next video. Bye.