The number one thing I tell all of my action reduction clients is you have to practice reading out loud.
It is the one thing that's really going to help you be confident and master that American rhythm and sound.
Hey there, I'm voice coach Gabriel Barofato from GB Voice Academy.
And on this video, we're going to be reading out loud together.
Now, there's a little bonus trick at the end that I want to share with you.
I want to see if you could pick up the one element, the one common thread in this conversation that makes this that much more American.
And it's one thing that a lot of action reduction instructors miss and that I wanna make sure you get by the end of this video.
And I'm telling you it's gonna make a huge difference in how you sound and feel and the confidence you're gonna have when speaking with fellow Americans.
Without further ado, let's get started.
So Fred is going to be starting a Zoom meeting.
So we're going to be meeting him and meeting his fellow colleagues along the way.
Here we go.
I woke up really early this morning to get ready for my Zoom meeting.
I was up late last night with some friends.
We had a great time, but it looks like I'm paying for it now.
After my second cup of coffee, I started to feel like myself again.
I don't normally eat breakfast in the morning.
I may have a piece of toast if I'm feeling ambitious.
I took a shower, combed my hair, got dressed, and was ready to take on the world.
Hello everyone!
Great to see you all.
I wanted to thank you all for being here in this Zoom meeting.
I know it's really early in the morning for a lot of you.
As you can see, I'm on my third cup of coffee, so I'll try to keep things as short and productive as possible.
We have a lot to cover this morning, so without further ado, let's get started.
But before we start, why don't we begin with a brief introduction?
Maria, why don't we start with you?
Hello, everyone.
Thanks for having me.
My name is Maria.
I'm from Seattle, Washington, the birthplace of great coffee.
I've been with the company for a little over two years now.
I have been in the industry for over eight years, and I look forward to sharing my input.
Thank you, Maria.
And thank you, Seattle, for your great coffee.
Couldn't do it without you.
Akash?
Hi, my name is Akash.
I'm originally from London, England.
I love coffee, don't get me wrong, but tea is what gets me going in the morning.
I have been with this company for close to 10 years now.
Can you tell how much I love it here?
I look forward to hearing everyone's input.
We love having you here too, Akash.
Sergey?
Hello, my name is Sergey.
I am based out of Dallas, Texas.
I'm a morning person, so I welcome early morning hours.
I actually just started with a company last week.
I'm excited to start this journey and hope to have coffee with all of you very soon.
Excellent, good.
Now were you able to find the one ongoing element in this whole conversation that made it very typically American.
You guessed it, humor, lightheartedness, jokes.
The one thing that they did is that they kept things light and funny.
What we would normally see as negative, it's early and people are tired and they can't be there.
He's suffering from a hangover.
They made it light and witty and fun. which is a very common thread.
You see this in American comedy all the time.
It's keeping things light and fun.
So, were you able to catch all those funny jokes and positive sarcastic remarks?
Why don't we go through it again and see if we can isolate those humorous light, funny bits that make this conversation fun?
So we start off with Fred saying I woke up early this morning to get ready for my Zoom meeting.
I was up late last night with some friends.
We had a great time, but it looks like I'm paying for it now.
He's talking about his hangover, something that would normally be negative.
Oh God, hangover, I gotta wake up early.
But he's making a fun joke of it, which makes him much more approachable, much more engaging.
I wanna hang out with him versus somebody who's like I gotta wake up so early.
Oh my God, my life is horrible.
Going on.
After my second cup of coffee, I started to feel like myself again.
Something as negative as a caffeine addiction He's making fun.
He's making it light.
Let's go on.
I don't normally eat breakfast in the morning.
I may have a piece of toast if I'm feeling ambitious.
There's some more humor in there talking about not eating breakfast, but I'll have toast if I'm feeling ambitious.
I took a shower, combed my hair, got dressed, and was ready to take on the world.
Again, over-positiveness, fun, lighthearted, going on.
Hello, everyone.
Great to see you all.
I wanted to thank you for being here.
I know it's really early in the morning for a lot of you.
Funny, funny, funny, making light of something that would normally be perceived as negative.
As you can see, I'm on my third cup of coffee.
So I'll try to keep things as short and productive as possible.
That addiction to his caffeine he's making light of it.
He's making it something fun, not negative.
And then we move on to Maria.
Hello, everyone.
Thanks for having me.
My name is Maria.
I'm from Seattle, Washington, the birthplace of great coffee.
You see what she did there?
She recognized the humor that was brought on by Fred earlier on by talking about coffee and how it keeps him up.
And she added her own anecdote into this ongoing thread of this coffee joke.
That's a very typical thing among the American conversation.
It makes her come across as funny witty smart, and the fact that she was listening and really engaged in what Fred had to say earlier.
Beautiful.
Great.
We love Maria already.
Akash.
Hi, my name is Akash.
I'm originally from London, England.
I love coffee, don't get me wrong, but tea is what gets me going in the morning.
Again, Akash recognized the ongoing humorous thread in this conversation, took it and added some element of humor of his own by saying that he drinks tea instead.
But he doesn't mind coffee, but I rely on tea.
That makes him, again, come across as a team player.
He's a part of this game now.
It's like we're throwing the ball to the next person, onto the next person, and onto the next.
Good job, Akash.
I've been with the company for close to 10 years now.
Can you tell how much I love it here?
I look forward to hearing everyone's input.
See how he made light of the fact that he's been here for 10 years?
And he was positively sarcastic.
Sarcasm is used a lot in the American communication, but positive sarcasm versus yeah.
Can you tell how much I like being here?
No, positive.
Can you tell how much I love being here?
Moving on.
Sergey, hello, my name is Sergey.
I'm based out of Dallas, Texas.
I'm a morning person, so I welcome early morning hours.
Do you see what he did there?
He started another thread of humor in this conversation.
He remembered how Fred was earlier talking about how it's early in the morning and he made light of it by saying I'm a morning person.
I actually just started with the company last week and I'm excited to start this journey and hope to have coffee with all of you very soon.
Brilliant, Sergei!
See what he did there?
He wrapped up this whole conversation with a callback is what they call it.
Well, that coffee bit that we've been talking about throughout this whole conversation, by saying I hope to have coffee with all of you very soon.
Good job, Sergei.
So the key to this American conversation is positivity, keeping things fun, listening to what was said earlier and adding on to it.
Now, a lot of my clients say, well, Gabriel, that's easy for you to say.
You're a native, you know, you speak the language.
How about us?
Well, here's the one thing I tell all of my clients to do on a regular basis.
That's gonna help you being able to match that American humor and delivery and rhythm.
Simply watch American comedy.
Watch the latest sitcoms they have on Netflix or wherever you can find them now and listen actively.
And what you're going to notice is that there seems to be an ongoing rhythm and pattern in this conversation.
This is something a lot of action production teachers miss.
We spend all day on pronunciation.
Yes, of course, you got to work on that.
And the link below to my five-star best-selling action production course does exactly that.
But we also cover the delivery and the humor and the rhythm of the American sound.
Because that's the one thing that's gonna take your conversation skills to the next level is making people laugh, being engaged.
Watch an episode a day of the latest comedy they have on television right now.
Not the old comedy from like the 40s, 60s or 70s or 80s, but the latest comedies, whatever is hot now.
Listen actively and repeat just like we did here.
Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you'll get access to these practice videos on an ongoing basis.
Hit the notification bell comment, because i'm here for you.
Let's keep this conversation going, so i know what you need.
Also, below is a link to my five-star best-selling action reduction course, with five-star ratings from people all over the world.
