Q Talk

[jlkz]

@cyndilit And several others

It is not so much that they are “ saying “ the word AH; they are merely “ voicing “ their breath.

( this may never the only time in my life that I got to use something from the Linguistics required course for my MA degree in over 40+ years....finally, lol !!! )

[chrystaltree]

They do it to aggravate you.

[CalminHeart]

I'm surprised they don't say it more often.  Can you imagine talking for 20 minutes to an hour about most of the products offered?  It'd drive me nuts.

Q doesn't hire professional speakers.  They hire everyday people to sell their products on tv.  They hire the same kind of people that work in B&M stores. We don't expect B&M salespeople to speak like professional newscasters and shouldn't expect it from tv salespeople either.

[shaggygirl]

And yet not ALL of them do it. One in particular, a very popular hostess, can hardly get through a sentence without tossing an "uh" into the mix yet others can talk and talk without doing it. Which leads me to think it's mostly just a bad habit.

[walkingal]

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@Puppy Lips wrote:

If they would just talk a little slower, they would not have to say, "AHHHHHHHH" all the time to fill in dead air.

Lisa Mason was the best host as she NEVER said, "Ah" or "Um".

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Judy Crowell was also the best in front of the camera.  And never had to use  "ummm" or "ahhh" or any other fillers.  

[walkingal]

If the hosts would stop interrupting their guests, and let their guests speak, they wouldn't have to worry about filling air time or making up things to say.  

[San Antonio Gal]

Good point @walkingal!

[this is my nic]

Those filler words can be annoying especially if you hear them repeated constantly.  My husband used to say a word or phrase all the time.  I finally told him about it and said I'd  let him know every time he said it.  It was irritating to him at first, but it worked!  He no longer does that and I can't even remember what the word or phrase was.  If someone off camera gave the host a signal that they were repeating um or ah, they could break the habit.  

[corita]

      I would much rather hear the "ah's and um's" than the silly, irrelevant, personal stories and cutesy, made-up words used by some hosts!!!

[FuzzyFace]

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@CalminHeart wrote:

Q doesn't hire professional speakers.  They hire everyday people to sell their products on tv.  They hire the same kind of people that work in B&M stores. We don't expect B&M salespeople to speak like professional newscasters and shouldn't expect it from tv salespeople either.

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If you look at the biographies of the hosts, you will discover that a lot of them have worked in  television or radio. Heck, I think Carolyn Gracie was in radio for a lot of year, and it shows; she's got a voice made for public speaking.

I'm too lazy to go look up the other hosts but I'm pretty sure QVC does NOT snatch them off the public streets and put them on air with no training at all.