Eloquence

I love Raye's music. Seriously. I believe she's the best news to have come out of the United Kingdom in quite a while. Her music is fresh, exciting and she knows how to write lyrics that linger in your head long after the song is over. That said, I think it would be great if she worked a little on her speaking skills. Just listen to this clip:

"Also at the same time, yeah, like, do you know what I mean? Like, you know..."

There's nothing wrong with using fillers and discourse markers. They help us avoid awkward silences and play for time while we look for the right words. But problems start to pile up when a sentence contains more fillers than meaningful terms. So let's forget about Raye for a second and look at these two random examples:

• "I was, sort of, you know, kind of, like... tired"
• "And I was, like... wow".

Do they sound familiar? Those phrases capture the inarticulacy of so many speakers who fail to craft such simple sentences as I was tired or I was awestruck.  On the other end of the spectrum we come across someone like Eileen Gu, a record-breaking freeskier, who recently answered a question like this:

Even though she uses the term like an inordinate number of times and ends her answer with a perfect example of the infamous vocal fry, she is without a doubt a gifted speaker. Within 60 seconds she manages to display a perfect mixture of lexical resources, which includes the following:

• advanced vocabulary (pensive, revere, analytical lens, neuroplasticity, egotistical)
• a simple expresions (I spend a lot of time in my own head)
• a thought-provoking scenario (my 8-year-old me would revere who I am)
• an effective comparison (tinkering like a scientist)
• colloquialisms (flex, are you kidding?)

Both Raye and Eileen Gu are highly accomplished women who excel in their respective fields, but it would be preposterous to state that their speaking skills are comparable. As English learners, we should pay attention to the way competent speakers talk so we can borrow from them as much as we can. Articulate speakers remind us of the immense range of possibilities that a language has to offer. They help us understand our choices and venture into uncharted territories. So, now you know what to do: hone your metalinguistic awareness and give serious thought to your own communication skills or, as Eileen Gu would put it, "apply an analytical lens to your speaking process". It definitely pays off.

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N.B. Some may argue that comparing a less articulate interview with an inspired one is unfair. And that is a valid point. However, these clips are intended solely to ilustrate the spectrum of eloquence. Remember that this blog is a study of the English language, not a critique of the people speaking it.