Hardly anyone believes me when I talk about the need to emphasize words to manage breathing, and thus, your stuttering. I often hear, “With your BEP strategy (Breathe, Emphasize, Phrase), I can see the importance of Breathe and Phrase, but Emphasize?” Most people don’t see it, but trust me, it’s absolutely critical to your success.
I would argue that you cannot breathe or phrase effectively without emphasizing words (more commonly known as intonation).
I’ll even go further: I believe it’s highly doubtful you can break free from stuttering without emphasizing words. It’s that important.
Speak Like a Professional
Emphasizing words in not an original idea, I didn’t make it up. In previous posts, I mentioned how I got the idea from watching Matt Lauer on the Today Show (yes, I know he’s done some things).
At first, I thought he was the only one who emphasized words. But soon I realized that all broadcasters emphasize words, from local reporters to network anchors. It’s how they grab your attention and express ideas you won’t soon forget.
Singers also use emphasis — it’s a part of every song you’ve ever heard, just about every musical phrase, too. If you’ve sung a song, you’ve used emphasis.
I like to point out emphasis in Bohemian Rhapsody, since so many people know it. The emphasized words are in all-caps: MAMA, just killed a MAN, put a GUN against his HEAD, pulled my TRIGGER, now he’s DEAD. Freddy Mercury of Queen knew the power of emphasis, like just about every songwriter and performer.
But is emphasis really important for me? I’m not a network anchor? Why should I emphasize words?
Why It's So Important to Emphasize Words
Here’s why: While breathing starts the speaking process and is the #1 critical must-do, emphasis sets up your breathing and makes it possible. If you emphasize words consistently, you are much more likely to breathe consistently, and that’s the key to consistently comfortable speaking. (I’m big on consistency!)
Frankly, without emphasis, I don’t think I would have been able to make the transition from severe stutterer to comfortable speaker. Why? Because I breathed wrong, taking little half breaths that made me vulnerable to stuttering, especially to huge blocks. I used to feel like I was drowning, gasping for air. Emphasis changed that.
With emphasis, I used up all my breath, which forced me to end a phrase and start a new phrase with a new breath. Emphasis is the engine that makes breathing go.
Not any emphasis will do. It can’t be perfunctory; you have to really push it. When you emphasize a word, it’s important to use up all your breath, so it leads you to take a new breath in preparation for the next phrase.
The easiest way to choose words to emphasize is at the end of a phrase, much like Freddy Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. In that way, you end the phrase with emphasis, use up all your breath, and start the next phrase with a fresh breath. And the beat goes ON. (for all you Sonny and Cher fans).
You may have to think about emphasis at first, but if you do it enough it will soon become automatic. You may even feel that you’re building a rhythm with your speaking, which is really a good feeling.
Breaking the Rigidity in Your Speech
Emphasis is more than just a technique to get your breathing going. For me, emphasizing words was life-changing. Let me explain.
Most people who stutter speak with great rigidity (that was me, too). They’re monotone, hurried, speaking in fits and starts.
You need to break that, it’s holding you back. It’s hard to imagine making headway with your speech with rigid speaking. Emphasizing words is the way to break free from that rigidity and express yourself more freely.
Emphasis is the most effective way to take control of your speech. When you feel your speech getting hurried or blocky, increase your emphasis on words and shorten your phrases. This will slow things down for you, give you a chance to compose yourself and speak more comfortably.
The more you get comfortable using emphasis, the more you can use it to take control of your speech in any number of ways. Be creative. Have fun with it. You’ll be amazed at the ways in which you can manage your speech with emphasis. It’s an art form just waiting for you to exploit.
Emphasizing words is the key driver to speaking freely, enabling you to manage your breathing, your phrasing, and in turn, your stuttering. It’s your secret weapon — use it!
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