Stress, intonation and listening on calls

Clear speech depends less on accent and more on stress and intonation. A listener uses them to tell nouns from verbs, questions from statements and important words from the rest. Listening questions then check whether you caught the details a caller gave.

Word stress

In many two-syllable words, the noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb on the second.

Noun                   Verb
a REC-ord of the call  we re-CORD all calls
a PRO-duct             to pro-DUCE
an OB-ject             to ob-JECT
a PRE-sent             to pre-SENT

Other common work words: DEV-elop is wrong, de-VEL-op is right; COM-pany; pho-TOG-ra-phy; ho-TEL. Putting the stress on the wrong syllable is a bigger barrier to understanding than accent.

Sentence stress

You stress the word that carries the key or contrasting information.

• I sent the email yesterday. (I did, not someone else.)
• I sent the email yesterday. (Yesterday, not today.)
• I sent the email yesterday. (The email, not the letter.)

On calls, stress numbers, dates and amounts, and pause slightly before them: Your refund of ... 450 ... will reach you by ... Friday.

Intonation

1. Yes/no questions usually rise: Is this your registered number?
2. Wh-questions usually fall: What's your account number?
3. Statements fall at the end. A rise at the end of a statement can make you sound unsure.
4. In lists, the voice rises on each item and falls on the last: name, email and date of birth.

Listening for the details

In a listening task or a real call, note four things as you hear them: who, what happened, what they want and what has changed. Callers often correct earlier information, such as a new address or a different date, and that change is what you must act on.

Listen for contrast words like but, not and instead. In "I'd like to exchange it, not get a refund", the word "not" tells you exactly which option to reject.

Habit to build: during practice, write one line of notes for each call in the who, what, want, change format. Then read back the key details to the caller to confirm, using a falling tone on the final item.