Integrating Orchestral Speech & The Jump

Introduction

Once you have learned how to employ Orchestral Speech and the Jump and have started experimenting with using them in real-life speaking situations, you will probably have noticed that each technique works well in some situations and less well in others. Therefore, to benefit most from these two techniques, you need to know which technique is best suited to the particular speaking situation in which you currently find yourself.

In most speaking situations there are moments where it is more appropriate to use the Jump and other moments where it is more appropriate to use Orchestral Speech, and you will achieve the best results by freely alternating between the two, using Orchestral Speech for the phrases you need to say fluently with a minimum likelihood of blocking, and the Jump for the phrases that it is important to say accurately. But whatever the case, if you find that one of the techniques doesn’t work in a particular situation – insofar as the listener fails to understand what you have said – you can always repeat the phrase using the other technique. More often than not, one of the two techniques will enable you to successfully get your message across.

To clarify why Orchestral Speech is better in some situations and the Jump is better in others, it is useful to have a clear picture of the similarities and differences between them.

As you worked through our online course modules on Orchestral Speech and The Jump, you will have noticed that these two ways of speaking share much in common. In particular, both Orchestral Speech and the Jump require you to…

  • Immediately abandon the sounds you find yourself blocking on
  • keep moving forward (to the end of the phrase you intended to say)

The key differences between these two ways of speaking are…

  • what you prioritize while you speak
  • what you do when you get stuck

Broadly speaking, Orchestral Speech is best suited to speaking situations where there is time-pressure and where it is more important to speak fluently and where the accuracy of your articulation of individual sounds and words is less important than the speed with which they come out.

In contrast, the Jump is best suited to speaking situations where it is more important to say each sound and word as clearly as possible, and the speed or fluency with which one speaks is less important.

Differences between Orchestral Speech and the Jump

Orchestral speech

Orchestral speech, when employed properly results in instant fluency. This technique is particularly useful in situations where there is time-pressure and a limited window of opportunity in which to speak

The Jump

The Jump enables you to immediately get re-started on the next sound when you find yourself blocking. This technique is particular useful in situations where there is little or no time-pressure and where it is more important to say words relatively clearly and accurately.

With Orchestral Speech, you speak with a firm determination to keep up with the intended forward flow of speech (in other words, with your inner speech) even if you need to miss out some sounds and words in order to do so (just like you would do if you were speaking in a chorus). This means that if you block, you may need to miss out some sounds or words in order to catch up.

Because Orchestral Speech requires you to give priority to maintaining the intended forward flow, it significantly reduces the extent to which you try to pronounce each word accurately. This shift of your focus of attention away from accuracy (and away from speech-errors) substantially reduces the likelihood of blocking.

With The Jump, when you start to speak you simply focus on what you want to say, and if you block you abandon the sound you are blocking on and jump to the next sound. You don’t need to worry about keeping up with the intended forward flow.

In contrast, with the Jump you do not have to focus on maintaining the forward flow, so your attention is likely to be attracted to how your words sound and how well you are pronouncing them. This tendency, while using the Jump, for your attention to be drawn towards accuracy rather than fluency means that you are still likely to block.

Thus, the net result of using these techniques is slightly different…

With Orchestral speech, you will block less, although you are likely to make somewhat more speech errors and miss out more sounds and words. Your articulation will probably be less accurate – especially if you are speaking fast.

Thus Orchestral Speech is best suited for use in situations where clarity and accuracy are not so important, and where maintaining a relatively fast speech rate is more important.

With the Jump, you will block more than when using Orchestral Speech, however you will make fewer speech errors and miss out fewer sounds and words. Your articulation will be more accurate, but your speech rate will be slower.

Thus the Jump is best suited for use in situations where you want to speak relatively clearly and accurately, and where time-pressure is not an issue.

Both ways of speaking have some potential pitfalls…

With Orchestral Speech, if you become overly attached to it, there is a danger that you may use it to avoid blocking and you may thus continue to evaluate blocks as undesirable and fail to overcome your fear of blocking.

With the Jump, if you become overly attached to it, there is a danger that you may start to focus too much on saying each individual sound and word. Consequently, although the Jump will enable you to keep moving forward, you may still find yourself blocking more frequently than is desirable.

For practical advice on how to combine Orchestral Speech and the Jump and how to integrate them into a single pragmatic approach, go to

Combining the Jump with other techniques and other modes of communication