Exploring the Emotional Impact of Vocal Tones
put your finger on something: to identify it clearly or exactly. This is often used in the negative of not being able to put your finger on something when you cannot easily explain or understand something.
Correct pronunciation involves stress and intonation, but conveying emotions when speaking English is a higher-level skill. Voice actress Tawny Platis is a master at articulating emotional range. What exactly makes a voice sound warm, bright, authoritative, or sarcastic can be difficult to put your finger on, but when you hear it, you know it. In the video below, she demonstrates the following styles:
- Text to Speech: “You have to maintain a consistent and clear tone so the program can read anything, which gets really weird in the recording sessions when you’re saying words taken from shocking news headlines.”
Detached casual conversational: “It’s supposed to actually sound like a real person talking while they’re just mindlessly scrolling.”
Bright read: “You’ll usually hear this when big department stores want you to know that they have denim for the entire family!”
Warm read: “You’ll hear this when someone is trying to make you feel emotional about animals, coming home for the holidays, or anything else that’s meant to make you get just a little misty-eyed.”
John Krasinski conversational (chatty): “It’s when you’re just supposed to sound like a guy. Some people might call it a chatty read, and you might hear some little vocal flavorings here and there. This also of course works in a more traditional feminine read, when it’s supposed to sound like you’re just talking to a friend.”
Authoritative tone: “When we want you to trust us, because we’re confident professional leaders in our field.”
The Natasha Lyonne sarcastic/wry: “When they want me to sound rye or sarcastic, I call it the Natasha Lyonne Know-It-All tone, and it’s an offshoot of the chatty conversational read.”
Documentary narration: “This specific documentary narration tone is supposed to make you feel awe, wonder, and inspiration when it’s set against footage of nature and animals doing incredible things.”
E-learning and training modules: “This tone for e-learning and training modules is supposed to sound friendly and professional.”
On hold and voice answering service: “I often call it the Welcome-to-Chase voice. Thank you for calling. I’m really not sure why we’re still using this one, because nobody seems to like it.”
Sample sentences
1. Even though the room was beautifully decorated, I couldn’t put my finger on why it felt unwelcoming.
2. She has a unique style that’s hard to put your finger on, but you know it’s special.
3. There’s something about this town that’s hard to put your finger on, making it different from any other place I’ve visited.
