Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Speech Test

I've had a couple surgeries and have been seeing a speech therapist. There is some debate about methods that sound better. As such, I've devised this speech test. Please take 43 seconds to listen to the clip. In the clip I read the same passage of a children's book three times. The order of the sequence is random in terms of method used. Please listen and vote for which segment you think sounds best, from a speech perspective.

Bryan


16 comments:

Alex Solla said...

OH WOW! Bryan, I had no idea you could achieve that level of annunciation. That is amazing! The third recitation was infinitely better than the first. How are you able to do this? Care to explain the difference? This is AWESOME!!

Bryan said...

Hey Alex. Thanks for participating in my test. Do you really like #3 better than #2?

Brandy Bailey said...

hey there!! I think number 2 was the best...you sounded very clear to me...that could be because I have the southern thing going on though!! Haha!!! Love you guys!!

Unknown said...

I say #2 also

Natalia said...

jon and i both vote #2...i say possibly #3

sfstolpe said...

Hey Buster.

Anya and I thought that she would be a great listening candidate, being a foreign national with a linguistics background who makes corrections as people butcher her own language for 8 hours a day. I had her listen without bias from reading the comments.

She says that #2 is the strongest: "your hard consonants (T's, G's especially) are stronger, without the slurring of S's which occurs in the preceding a succeeding variations".

Ditto.

xoxo,

Sam and Anya

Angela said...

it was a close call between #2 and #3, but after cheating, i mean reading over the other comments, i will have to make my final answer #2.

Unknown said...

Mom and I both listened several times through. We think the first and second versions are the best. The third version sounds more guttural and back in your throat.

Mom and Dad

Katharina said...

Bryan--I vote for #2. Strong work, man!

Eric Miller said...

I thought the first sounded the best. Second was harder for me understand. Third was better than second.

Brent and Debbie said...

Bryan - You rock. I vote number 2. Number 3 is good two but I thought 2 was very clear. Love to you all

Alex Solla said...

I still stand by my original assessment...Number three is easier on the ear. I think after having listened to this sample four times, the reason might be that the vowel sounds are longer and more drawn out. A lot can be said without consonants. Just ask for directions in Scotland. (one long vowel movement as Robin Williams said)

So, I guess the question is which sounds better to you? and most of all, which is easier for everyone else to understand? Is it harder to achieve this level of annunciation and inflection?

Carol Bailey said...

I listened to it twice on different days, and they all sound pretty close, but I think #2 is the clearest. Mom

Kindred Family said...

My vote is number two.

Bryan said...

Everyone, thank you for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated. For those that are curios here is the breakdown: #1 isn't an option any since I've had surgery since that has changed the anatomy of my throat. #2 is what I prefer and is the status quo. #3 is what my speech therapist wants me to do. The only intended difference is the way in which I say S's and Sh's.

Brett said...

I could understand #2 the best.