Using Intonation to Suggest a Phrase Will Be Continued - Voice Acting Tips for 12-Year-Old Students

Intonation is the way your voice rises and falls when you speak. When you're acting with your voice, especially in storytelling or dialogue, you can use intonation to show whether a sentence is finished or if it's going to continue.

To suggest that a phrase will be continued, you usually make your voice rise slightly at the end of the phrase. Think of it like asking a question — your voice goes up at the end, signaling that there's more to come.

Here’s a step-by-step way to practice this:

1. Choose a sentence that feels like it should continue, for example: "When I went to the park..."
2. Say the sentence out loud, but instead of ending your voice low or flat, raise your pitch just a bit at the end.
3. Notice how this rising intonation makes listeners expect more words to follow.
4. Try to keep the rising tone natural, not too high, so it sounds like you are leading into something else.

For a voice actor, this technique is useful when you want your listener to stay curious or when the character is interrupting their own sentence or thinking aloud. Practicing this will help your voice acting sound more natural and expressive!