Speaking is definitely a skill that people can acquire with practice, especially before making a public speech, singing, or simply hanging out with noisy people. With enough practice, anyone can turn a mumble, mispronunciation, or very fast chatter into clear, lively sound.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Learning Basic Recitation Tips
Step 1. Pay attention to yourself when you talk in the mirror
Talk in front of a mirror while watching your mouth, chin, tongue, and lips move. Perform these movements as wide and clear as possible. This will improve your pronunciation, and help identify which sounds are difficult for you. Keep looking at yourself in the mirror as you practice the following steps.
Step 2. Show your teeth
Turns out, this helps a lot. Showing your teeth can give your lips more room, tighten your cheeks, and create a bigger earpiece. These changes can improve voice clarity and comprehension. If you don't believe me, try saying "clarity of voice and understanding" with your lips pressed together, and then with teeth showing.
Give a cheerful and happy expression, but not a full-blown smile. Your cheeks shouldn't hurt after a short conversation
Step 3. Lift your soft palate
This is the soft part at the back of your palate. Singers are trained to lift this palate to achieve a fuller, more resonant tone. Try inhaling slowly as you say the soft "Kay" sound, and the roof of your mouth will lift. The act of a small, silent yawn completes the inhale, by heating the different muscles around the roof of your mouth.
Avoid excessive yawning or swallowing to succeed at this step. Anything other than gentle effort would be counterproductive
Step 4. Keep the tongue on the front and bottom
Of course, your tongue will move as you speak, but it's best to practice a natural position that doesn't interfere with the passage of sound. Try hanging your tongue out of your mouth, then gradually pulling it back down until it's just behind the bottom row of teeth, touching the floor of your mouth. Your tongue can produce many vowel sounds with minimal movement from this position, generally by raising and lowering the center of the tongue rather than the tip.
This is important when singing, or when trying to troubleshoot certain plates
Step 5. Stand up straight
It can improve your breath. Sound is created by air being forced out of your lungs, so the clearer your breathing, the clearer your speech will be. Look straight ahead, so your chin is flat and doesn't drop down against your throat.
When talking to someone who is about the same height as you, maintaining eye contact is a good way to keep your chin up
Step 6. Speak slowly and regularly
If you speak quickly, you are much more likely to mess up your words. Even if you stutter, the best approach is to pause and say the word again, without rushing.
Part 2 of 3: Practicing Recitation
Step 1. Learn consonant-vowel combinations
This will allow you to practice common sounds, and will also help to "warm up" the voice before making a speech. Try a combination of vowels with some of the common consonants below, or even learn the entire alphabet:
- "Bah Beh Bee Bih Bo Boo Buh"
- "Vah Veh Vee Vih Vo Voo Vuh" (and so on)
- For more of a challenge, enter the vowel "aw," which is similar but different to "ah" for most dialects. You can also list consonant combinations such as "SL" and "PR".
Step 2. Practice diphthongs
Diphthongs are double vowels that require you to move your tongue from one position to another as you pronounce them. Practice saying these words slowly and identify the two mouth positions you use on vowels. Then try to increase your speed and say the word faster while still moving your mouth properly. Give the first part of the vowel more time than the second, and your pronunciation will sound clearer and smoother.
- ache mate paid saint stray
- eye nice rhyme pie height
- voice noise coin
- load toad flow
- crowd sprout found
- air square prayer (not necessarily considered a diphthong, but still a good exercise)
- cute few ewe
- onion union million
- Don't worry too much if you can't recognize the two vowels in these few words. Different dialects of English often pronounce diphthongs differently, or even as single vowels.
Step 3. Practice tricky words (tongue twisters)
Try to articulate any complicated words, especially words that contain sounds that are difficult to pronounce. Start slowly, and speed up once you can pronounce it perfectly. Here are complex words for sounds that are often difficult to pronounce, which you can find here:
- James just jostled Jean gently.
- Round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran.
- Silly Susan sells sea shells by the sea shore.
Step 4. Record yourself speaking
Read a book (or even this article) aloud in front of a tape recorder. Try to articulate each sound clearly so you can be heard. It may be helpful to set the tape recorder close, then increase the distance little by little and keep your pronunciation clear.
You may be able to find a recording device on your computer or online. Your phone may also have a recording device, but it may not be of good quality for practicing pronunciation
Step 5. Practice with a pencil in your mouth
Hold a pencil, chopsticks, pen, or similar object horizontally between your teeth, and repeat the speech exercise above. By making your tongue and mouth work harder to overcome physical speech impairments, pronunciation will be easier if you speak normally without a hitch.
Part 3 of 3: Practicing Other Speech Techniques
Step 1. Vary your speech rate
People have a hard time understanding pronunciation that is too fast to follow, or such as mumbling because you speak so fast that the tongue can't keep up. Read aloud while concentrating on the flow of content, slowing down to emphasize important points and a little faster on interesting moments. Children's books (with full paragraphs) are a good choice, as they tend to focus on emotion and have a simple style to follow.
You can also try recording yourself speaking aloud, then counting the number of words per minute you use. Although "normal" rates depend on region, culture and other variables, most people speak at speeds between 120 and 200 words per minute
Step 2. Pause for a moment
Read aloud one more time at a slow or medium speed, this time focusing on punctuation. Stop at commas and periods, and take a moment to clear your throat or take a deep breath at the end of a paragraph. Try including these pauses while speaking, so the listener has time to process what you're saying, and you don't stumble over your own words.
If you experience pauses or swallowing at the most inconvenient times, ways to deal with stage fright can help control this
Step 3. Speak loudly but clearly
There's an art to projecting your voice, or increasing the volume without sounding harsh or flat. Look in the mirror and place your hands on your stomach, then inhale and exhale deeply. Inhale from the diaphragm, below the stomach, not from the upper lungs. If your shoulders stay straight during this exercise, you're doing it right. Maintain this type of breathing as you practice greeting yourself in the mirror from a distance, or increase the volume gradually without any forced or itchy sensations.
Focus on this exercise if people often ask you to speak or repeat what you say, or if you practice giving oral presentations
Tips
- These exercises work best when done once or twice daily.
- Pronunciation doesn't require you to change your accent completely. Non-native English speakers should focus on the pronunciation, whereas native speakers who have moved regions may just need to increase or decrease their speaking speed to adjust to local customs.
