This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2028.
Does this vocabulary resonate with you?
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In today's episode, a listener asks us how to use the word resonates.
Find out today what it means and how powerful this phrase can be for sharing your opinions, reactions and deep memories for a better connection.
In English
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Hey there, Aubrey.
How's everything today?
I'm great, Lindsay.
How are you?
Fantastic.
I have a question for you today.
Awesome.
Let's go.
All right.
So what is something that you heard recently that really resonated with you?
Oh, I actually heard yesterday a lyric in a song where the singer says she makes my Mondays feel like Fridays.
And that really resonated with me.
I was like, I want to be the kind of person that makes someone's Friday feel like a Monday.
I love that song lyric.
It made me have all these great feelings of just like, I don't know, happiness.
And it sort of motivated me to be like a more fun, positive person.
Yeah, I love more than I am.
I think that I don't know if you listen to any country music.
Do you listen to country music?
Sometimes, a little bit.
I feel like that's why people resonate so much with country music, because the lyrics are very relatable.
All their lyrics are always about the human experience in a very relatable way.
And so, yeah, I think it's nice when we can resonate with the music we listen to. right?
Absolutely.
You guys have heard us say this word resonate a couple times and you may have heard it before on the podcast.
We got a question about it today.
We're going to dive into what does this mean to have something resonate with you?
Yes.
And we love getting your questions, guys.
So send those in.
I'm going to go ahead and read this question.
Aubrey, are you ready?
Here we go.
Yes.
Hi, Lindsay.
I hope you're doing well.
I've been listening to your podcast for Eight months.
I love the podcasts.
I've got a question.
You often use these two words, chunk and resonate.
Two different words.
These words have many different meanings and different contexts.
Could you please explain them in a show?
Thanks a million in advance.
Well, fantastic for our listeners.
Such a great question, right?
And I know this happens sometimes that there are words that are just so native and natural to us to throw into conversation.
Sometimes we highlight them in the app, but sometimes we just move right along.
And I'm so glad that this question was sent in.
If ever this happens, where you hear us using a word that and maybe there are multiple definitions like this, let us know.
We'd love to highlight them in an episode.
Yeah, 100%.
Okay, so we're going to get into answering this question for our listener, but which part are we going to focus on today?
Right, because these two words are so different.
So we'll cover chunk in an upcoming episode.
So be sure to hit follow so you don't miss that one.
And today we are going to dive into resonate and similar ways to share the meaning of this yes i love it so this one that you do hear you know you hear this out there in the world a lot this word resonate so it really means you know what does it mean it means to relate harmoniously that's a bonus word for today aubrey harmoniously yes Exactly.
And relate really, right?
Relate means to identify with or to feel a connection with.
Yes.
And then harmoniously means to create harmony so that everyone and it's interesting because it can happen in lots of different ways
Song lyrics.
Like I was saying, I resonated because there was something about that music that related harmoniously, right?
That matched up with my life.
That meant something to me on some level.
Hundred percent so.
So music works.
Uh, a like a poem um, an idea, like a political view could really uh, resonate right.
Yes, so often we'll say like this will probably resonate with our listeners and we mean this is going to fit into your lives, this is going to make sense to you.
I love that idea.
As a personal example, when i started studying buddhist buddhism, buddhist practice meditation, the first few times i heard talks at like a Buddhist, I don't know a class or a talk, it just really resonated with me.
It just really felt like this makes total sense, right?
Yes, you would say these ideas resonate with me, right?
It makes sense.
I can feel this being a match for my life and my ideals.
Yes.
Any other examples we have for resonate?
Yeah, like maybe if you're listening to a speech or a presentation, you might say when I was listening to that speech, her advice resonated with me.
And what you're really saying is, whatever the topic of the speech is, however it was being presented touched, you would say like, was meaningful to you in some way.
Yeah.
And I think this is also the purpose of keynote speeches at conferences, where they want people to feel inspired with a keynote.
You want to feel like, OK, this is why I'm here at this conference.
It's not for the strategies or the tactics of building my podcast, for example.
It's about being inspired, right?
Yes, exactly.
Absolutely right.
You always want to leave a keynote speech feeling uplifted and inspired and motivated to make some kind of positive change.
100%.
So are there any other expressions that mean the same thing?
Aubrey.
Yes, there are some very similar.
There is an idiom that is strike a chord, which is very similar, right?
I could say this idea struck a chord with me, or when I was listening to that speech, it struck a chord with me.
It has a very similar meaning to resonate.
Yeah.
It means to maybe impress or just to feel that connection or emotion.
Would you say this is positive or negative?
Yeah, it can definitely be both.
As I was thinking of examples, both are definitely, right?
If we're thinking about that speech, oh, that struck a chord with me is so positive.
But what if you said like, whenever I see an animal mistreated, it strikes a chord with me.
That's definitely like creating a negative emotion, either sadness or anger.
Frustration can also strike a chord.
Interesting.
Very good to know.
Okay.
So that's our second expression.
Guys, that would really mean the same thing as resonate, but obviously we have to pay attention to the grammar and how we would say that.
But let's move on to number three.
What would number three be?
Yeah.
This is a verb, evoke.
And we'll often say that evokes certain feelings in me, right?
That speech.
And because it resonated with, it evoked maybe motivation in me or joy or happiness.
So we use this verb to say it creates an emotion or like a special interest for something.
Yeah.
And it always has to be in terms of the construction here Aubrey, it always has to be.
Evokes something right.
We can't just say it evokes.
No, exactly.
Exactly.
It's a verb that we're we do need that direct object, right?
What does it evoke?
What type of emotion, what type of feeling is being evoked?
We're always going to want to share that with this verb.
Right.
So as we said, looking at old photos evokes warm memories, right?
What else, Aubrey?
What else would you say?
Or the news report evoked sadness in everyone in the room, right?
So as you can see, it could be any emotion.
Evoke just means it's creating that emotion in you.
Yeah.
Do you feel like you get a lot of...
Things evoked from smells?
Because I do.
Oh, yeah, I do.
Sometimes I feel like maybe chocolate chip cookies will evoke like a memory of my grandma and just that joy of being warm and comfortable in her home.
Yay!
That's what I was thinking.
It's usually older family members or for me, whenever I go to visit my parents or when I smell the ocean, I think of my parents, because they live by the sea in a little town south of Boston.
And my mom grew up by the ocean.
So when I think of the ocean, it's always about my parents, right?
And so it evokes memories and feelings about my parents and how much I love them, to be honest.
That's amazing.
Oh man, there are just so many things that evoke these memories, positive memories, positive emotions.
I know travel for both of us, right?
Lindsay, would you say that just even the idea of travel evokes positive emotions in you?
A hundred percent.
That's why I'm so excited because we just booked a trip to Portugal for November.
I thought we were going to Sicily and we changed our minds spontaneously and we're going to Portugal.
Yeah.
Oh, I'm so jealous.
I have always wanted to go to Portugal.
I was in Spain and I just didn't, I didn't have the time to get to Portugal.
So Portugal is very in style right now.
I think a lot of Americans are actually living there, but that's another story.
In my case, whenever I travel with my family, the thing is I'm the language person, right?
I'm designated the language person.
So as you guys heard, when I was in Egypt in the spring, the pressure's always on.
You had to learn some Arabic.
So how are you going to prepare?
Yeah, I'm going to use Rosetta Stone because it's a great way to learn a language.
Yes.
Oh, nice.
I have used Rosetta Stone for both French and Spanish.
And I'm sure a lot of our listeners are also looking for a way to learn English or another language, maybe prepping for a trip just like you, since it's summer.
After all, we start thinking of fun trips.
So guys, we want to let you know that if you don't, you know, you really don't have a lot of time to waste when it comes to learning a language, especially as adults.
Right.
We are busy.
We have kids.
We have classes to go to.
We have things to do. go ahead and check out Rosetta Stone.
It's the most time-tested app out there, right?
Aubrey, it's been around for a long time.
Yes, Rosetta Stone has been the expert in language learning for 30 years.
But what I've learned after working on Arabic right as our listeners know, I traveled to Egypt.
I studied Arabic in the spring is that language learning for me.
It really needs to fit into my daily life.
It's hard for me to create that extra time.
So for example, when I'm walking my dog, which I do every morning, it's the perfect time to learn.
That's why I'm excited to use this Rosetta Stone app, right?
Because they have an audio companion feature.
That's really good just for learning as you're commuting or taking long walks.
Oh, that is perfect.
You guys could... check it out right after you finish listening to our episode today.
And I love the idea of getting a lifetime membership, right?
You said that your friend has a lifetime membership.
Yes, I do.
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I'm jealous I've been looking into it because then you can just use it whenever you have time.
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All right.
Fantastic.
So I hope you guys go over there and check out Rosetta Stone.
Aubrey, where should we take this episode?
What else should we talk about here?
What we want to share.
Wes, this is such a great connection topic to talk about something that evokes emotion in you or something that resonates with you.
You want to be able to start a conversation about this with friends, family, coworkers.
So we have a couple of ideas of how you could start that conversation here.
Oh my gosh, yes.
It is such a deep connection topic because we've already shared things about our parents.
You've shared about your grandmother.
These are deep, important things about connecting with someone, guys.
Absolutely.
Right.
So you could say you know what's something you heard recently that resonated with you, or what's something you saw recently that resonated with you.
And this just means what's something you heard or saw that was meaningful.
And this is the best way to really create those deeper connections, because you're inviting them to share something that's more meaningful on a deeper level.
Yeah.
And we've said before, you know, the best way to start a conversation is to ask people about themselves, because they like to talk about themselves.
Right.
People.
And that's a human thing.
It's normal.
It's.
Every human being on the planet loves the sound of their own name and likes to talk about themselves.
And so go into that, right?
That is the way to start that conversation, guys.
It's kind of a hack.
It's a trick.
Absolutely.
Yes.
Or use this idiom and say, what's something that struck a chord with you lately?
And this could be anything.
They're going to share something they're passionate about that they have emotion about.
Maybe it'll be something they read in the news or something you know, something about politics, something that's a little more serious for them, a little deeper.
You're inviting them to have that connection, that conversation with you.
Right.
Or write this one down, guys, too.
What's something that evoked a lot of emotion recently? right?
Exactly.
And then they could share something that's a little more personal, or they could share, like we did, something about their past.
If they smelled something that reminded them of a good memory of their past.
It really is very open-ended where, whoever you're asking that question, there's so many things they could share.
Yeah.
I mean, obviously you want to use judgment in terms of how well do you know this person?
Are you building a closer connection?
Maybe this is not a opener when it comes to being at a party with someone you don't know, but we know that right.
We have that sense.
When is it okay to bring up something a little bit deeper?
But I think our listeners are ready for this.
So Aubrey, we have a role play.
Should we do it?
Yeah, let's do it.
So in this role play, you and I are discussing a graduation ceremony that we just attended.
I love it.
Here we go.
That was an impressive commencement speech.
It really struck a chord with me.
I agree.
It really resonated with me too.
Can't believe these kids are graduating.
I feel like they were just toddlers.
It's crazy how time flies.
It definitely evokes some mixed feelings.
Oh my gosh, that's going to be you soon.
I know, right?
I know my kids are about to graduate and I do feel like they were just toddlers.
That's crazy.
Oh my gosh, that's so crazy.
So crazy.
So here we used a couple of these that we taught you guys, all three actually.
I said that was an impressive commencement speech.
It really struck a chord with me.
Very classic way to say that.
Yeah, absolutely.
Right.
And then you could go into more deeply, like what about it struck a chord with you?
You know, what did you find especially impressive?
And these, you know, keynote speeches, like you said, commencement speeches, that's the goal.
So this conversation after that.
This is very appropriate, because everyone will be feeling these same kind of emotions.
Right.
Yeah.
I think sometimes, when parents view commencement speeches for their kids, it probably reminds them of being a high school graduate student.
Absolutely.
All those feelings of being nervous, but not knowing, being excited about the future.
The whole world open to you.
Yes, absolutely.
It's a cool moment, actually.
Yeah.
And then I said, I agree.
It really resonated with me too.
And this is one of those great moments where you can sort of mirror back what they're saying.
They say, this struck a chord with me.
You can say yes, it really resonated with me too, without having to repeat the exact words they're using.
Yes, perfect.
And then finally, you said, it's crazy how time flies.
It definitely is. evokes some mixed feelings.
So you're hinting that, yeah, you have kind of mixed emotions about this moment, right?
Right.
My kids are graduating.
I'm excited for them to make something of their lives and move on.
But I'm also kind of sad that they're moving out of the home.
It's that empty nester feeling a lot of parents feel where mixed emotions.
Yes, 100%, 100%.
This is good.
So Aubrey, what's the takeaway for our listeners today?
Where should we leave them?
Yeah guys, talking about what strikes a chord with you or with others, what resonates with you, is such a great way to get deeper.
I'm so excited now that you have the vocabulary to do that, the phrases to do that, because this is a great way to build connection.
Yeah, I mean before.
You guys might have said something like oh, this matters to me, or I felt deeply about that.
But now you have natural native language to talk about this feeling that something resonates with you.
So that's going to help you build those connections a lot faster, right, Aubrey?
Absolutely.
Yes.
And now you know what it means when we say resonate, because we do use it here quite a bit on the podcast.
Thank you for sending this question, because that's important to us to know what resonates with you guys, what resonates with us.
That's what we want to share.
We want to build on that.
Okay, I love it.
So guys go over and check out the amazing lifetime deal for 40 off of your lifetime membership at rosettastonecom.
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All right, Aubrey, good stuff.
And we'll talk to you very soon.
Awesome.
See you next time.
Take care.
Bye.
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