Hi Reader,

When you spend your days listening closely to voices, you start to notice patterns.

And lately, I’ve been hearing something fascinating.

American English is shifting.

Not just in vocabulary, but in the actual sound of how people speak.

New speech habits have been emerging that can subtly influence how confident, polished, or credible someone sounds.

Some are harmless.

Others can unintentionally weaken the message a speaker is trying to convey.

Here are four trends I’m hearing again and again—from meeting rooms to pitch events to everyday conversations.

1. Vocal Fry: The Low, Creaky Drop at the End of Sentences

A few years ago, vocal fry first hit mainstream awareness when the Kardashian sisters were widely mocked for the creaky, gravelly tone in their speech.

Young women across the U.S. began imitating that style—and before long, vocal fry became associated with a “too relaxed to care” attitude.

So what is vocal fry?

It appears when the voice runs low on breath and drops into a creaky, rumbling sound. A little is natural. But heavy use often makes someone sound tired, disengaged, or as if they don’t have enough energy to finish their sentence.

Recently, I noticed this with a long-term client—someone who had never used fry before. At the end of many sentences, his voice suddenly dropped into that gravelly low register, making his otherwise strong voice sound fatigued.

A week later at a pitch event, I heard two presenters use vocal fry throughout their entire presentations

—one a young man in his twenties (whose fry plus Gen Z vocabulary made him sound more like a teenager than a founder)

-- another in his late 30s/40s who sounded oddly strained.

And then came the surprise:

A woman in her 50s leading a webinar with extremely heavy vocal fry.

I found myself wondering,

Is she sick? Is she falling asleep? Is her microphone malfunctioning?

The sound drew attention away from her message.

Bottom line:

Vocal fry rarely adds authority. In many cases, it subtly takes it away.

Not familiar with vocal fry. Hear it here:

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2. Upspeak: When Every Sentence Sounds Like a Question

Upspeak—when your tone rises at the end of a statement—has been around now for a few decades, and is full of controvery.

Many listeners interpret it as uncertainty. Others hear it as friendly, casual, or open.

As a native Californian, upspeak feels very natural to me. It’s practically part of the regional melody.

And it’s not new—California films and TV from the 1980s made it mainstream long before social media existed.

I was reminded of this on a recent trip to Southern California. My sister-in-law and her coworker were on a Zoom call, and both ended almost every sentence with a rise in pitch—not because they were unsure of themselves, but because that’s a very Californian speech pattern.

The challenge:

Outside of California (and a few other regions), upspeak can send the wrong message—especially in leadership and high-stakes communication.

Awareness is key.

You don’t have to eliminate upspeak, but it’s important to know when a falling tone will serve you better.

3. The Disappearing Glottal Stop

Traditionally, American English speakers use a glottal stop when a T occurs before a syllable ending in -n.

What is a glottal stop?

It’s a sound made by briefly stopping airflow in the throat.

In addition, the vowel between the T and the N disappears.

You'll see it written in dictionaries and pronunciation texts with the symbol [ʔ].

Common examples:

• mountain → moun[ʔ]n
• button → bu[ʔ]n
• eaten → ea[ʔ]n
• important → impor[ʔ]nt

However, younger speakers—especially those under 30—are gradually moving away from this pattern.

Instead, I’m hearing:

• “moun-din” (flap T)
• “impor-dint” (flap T)
• “bu-tin” (a clearer, more articulated T)

I’m hearing this shift everywhere: movies, podcasts, TV shows, audiobooks, classrooms, and even in casual conversations.

It’s a subtle but real generational change that alters the rhythm and feel of American English.

Learn more about the glottal T here:

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4. The New Lexicon: Aesthetic, Cringe, Rizz… and More

Younger generations are reshaping vocabulary faster than ever before. Words like cringe and aesthetic have shifted meanings, and new terms like rizz, cap, and mewing seem to pop up every month.

This topic deserves its own deep dive—so I’m writing a full article on it soon. Stay tuned!

Final Thoughts

These trends aren’t about deciding whether speech is “good” or “bad.” They’re about awareness.

When you understand how patterns like vocal fry, upspeak, and shifting consonant pronunciation affect listener perception—confidence, clarity, authority—you can choose how you want to sound.

Your voice is a tool.
The more intentionally you use it, the more powerfully you communicate.

I’d love to hear from you:

Have you heard these in other people's speech? Do you use them yourself? What’s your opinion of vocal fry and upspeak? Have you noticed any other changes in the way Americans are speaking?

Reply and let me know—I read every message.

Best,
Nicole
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