A New Speaking Trend which is Dangerous for Your Voice

Young woman speaking in vocal fry

Introduction

In recent years, a new trend has emerged in American speech, particularly among young women, which seems to mimic the voices of the Kardashians. This trend is known as vocal fry.

What is Vocal Fry?

Vocal fry is a low, airy, gravelly voice quality that some people use while speaking. It is often characterized by a raspy or crackling sound at the lowest part of the vocal register, below normal speech. This is produced by vibrating the vocal cords at a very slow rate, creating a deep, harsh, sometimes growling sound. This voice quality makes young women sound as if they are running out of air.

Past Vocal Trends

When radio and TV were new, the “broadcast” voice was developed. This Midwestern dialect was taught in speech communication classes in broadcast schools throughout most of the 20th century. Broadcast voices were known for their theatrical quality with clear diction, excellent projection, vocal modulation, enunciation, and resonance. As the United States became more ethnically diverse, this broadcast standard faded away. Now, more regional dialects are incorporated into theater and broadcasting.

In the 1980s, a linguistic subculture of young upwardly-mobile women called the Valley Girls introduced the unique California vocal dialect known as uptalk, which became popular among young women at the time. Uptalk is a speech pattern where the speaker ends the sentence with a rising inflection, making it sound like a question. The phrase “It is hot in Arizona” in uptalk is interpreted as “It is hot in Arizona???”—a question. This fad lasted about 4 to 5 years and disappeared as quickly as it arrived in our culture.

The New Trend in Speaking and Linguistics

With the rise of the Kardashians on television and streaming services, a new craze was born—vocal fry. Speaking in vocal fry involves being at the bottom of your vocal register, producing a low, glottalized, scratchy sound. This sound is produced with minimal diaphragmatic breath support, resulting in slower vibrations of the vocal folds. Broadcast and communication schools have deemed vocal fry as unpleasant and unprofessional in the English language, as it can come across as lazy or disinterested. It can also make it difficult for others to understand what you are saying, as the creaky voice quality can distort the words.

Furthermore, excessive use of vocal fry can strain the vocal cords and potentially lead to vocal nodules or other vocal health issues.

How Do I Stop Using Vocal Fry?

Like any other linguistic pattern, we learn speech habits by listening to others, and it is easy to develop new speech habits. Have you ever noticed that if you visit another part of the country for a few weeks, you start picking up that dialect? This is how vocal fry is learned.

The biggest issue causing vocal fry today is that speakers don’t take enough pauses, creating run-on sentences, which contributes to vocal fry. When you don’t pause, your sentence becomes so long that the end of the phrase just drops as you run out of breath, sounding like a creaky door. To improve communication skills, you might want to find out your optimal pitch by training with a Speech-Language Pathologist or a Vocologist, like myself. Finding your optimal pitch and a healthy voice registration will protect you from vocal damage and strain.

Let’s Sum Up

We know that vocal fry is a learned behavior that can be corrected with vocal training. Professionally, it is important to speak clearly and confidently in a work setting, whether you are a teacher, public speaker, or someone who wants to sound more polished. Remember that vocal fry can detract from your message and credibility. It is best to avoid using vocal fry and instead focus on using a clear and articulate voice while speaking in English.