1.
SING YOUR
WAY TO GREAT SPEECH
As mentioned earlier, singing
your words can really help to purify an accent or speech problem. Think Gareth
Gates. He has overcome his lifelong stammer since building a successful career
and working with a speech therapist using some of the techniques in this guide.
Singing, no matter how badly, can help you purify your speech and lose a
difficulty. It is virtually impossible to stammer whilst singing and accents
are hidden by singing. Even if you are a lousy singer, in the privacy of your
home, sing your words and then go back to normal speech immediately afterwards
and notice how much better your diction is. Again a tape recorder is helpful to
practise this technique.
2.
POSTURE -
STAND TALL TO SPEAK WELL
The way that we stand and hold
ourselves has a direct effect on our speech. Standing tall with your head held
upright opens the throat and diaphragm for better quality speech. Never speak
looking down, you will mumble, always look directly forwards and hold shoulders
back and chest out. Give your passages and good open airway through which to
operate.
If you suffer from bad posture,
back problems or just habitually slouch, then try Yoga or Pilates or working on
an exercise ball to strengthen and improve your posture.
3.
IMITATION
Listening is one of the most
useful things one can do to improve your speech. Remember you first learned to
speak by imitating those around you. We tend to develop our accents and speech
from our parents and family members and our peers at school. Whatever we are
exposed to most is how we learn. Our ear is established before or voice and in
order to change your diction you need to relearn by listening. If you want to
speak like a BBC newsreader, then listen to the news, even tape it. Listen to
how Trevor Macdonald or Moira Stuart sound when they are presenting. Take
sentences, listen and copy. Actors use the IMITATION technique all the time to
create characters who sometimes speak with entirely different accents. They do
this by listening and imitating someone who speaks in the way they need to
speak for the part they are playing.
BBC Radio 4 is a great place to
hear good speech. Saturate yourself with the sound of good clear RP (Received
Pronunciation). Go to sleep listening to it for even greater effect.
4.
BREATHE
YOUR WAY TO GOOD SPEECH
Our sound is very dependent on
the way we breathe. To improve the quality of your speech you need to learn to
breathe through your diaphragm. However, a simple technique to discover where
you are breathing from is to talk whilst placing your hands on your ribcage, if
you feel a resonance/vibration in between your ribs, you are breathing
correctly. If you don’t you are speaking higher up in your chest. To lower your
speech to your diaphragm, say the sound O (o-her) as in the word COUGH – say
this repeatedly whilst placing your hands on your diaphragm until you feel the
vibration there. It takes practise so don’t give up. You will learn to feel
where your breath is and then you will breathe naturally through your
diaphragm.
5.
TONGUE
TWISTERS
Tongue twisters are a great way
of strengthening your vocal ability. Use the exercise with the different
techniques listed here – speaking on a whisper, singing, with a pencil in the
mouth. This will strengthen your ability to have strong diction and to overcome
lazy speech. Practise whenever you can.
A few examples
Around the rugged rock the
ragged rascal ran.
She sells seashells on the
seashore.
Red lorry, yellow lorry, red
lorry……etc
6.
WASH YOUR
MOUTH OUT!
Not being rude, keep your mouth
clean and fresh and look after your teeth. Poor dental care can affect our
speech as gaps in the mouth change the whole structure of your sound and can
lead to whistling sounds. Oral infections lead to throat infections which are
fatal to good speech, so keep healthy – this is good advice anyway and diet and
exercise help in all matter.
DO NOT SUCK SWEETS TO
MOISTEN THE MOUTH…INSTEAD DRINK WATER. IT IS A MYTH THAT SUCKING HELPS THE
THROAT AND MOUTH WHERE SPEECH IS CONCERNED.
7.
LOVE YOUR
VOICE
Love your own voice. Our voice
is part of our own unique identity. It is not necessarily a good thing to
change an accent for instance, unless it is holding you back in your line of
work or daily life. In fact you can never lose an established accent entirely,
it is part of your heritage and whilst you can learn a new way of speaking, you
can go back to your old way any time you choose.
Learn to love your voice and
nurture it. Don’t concentrate on what is wrong with it, improve what is good
about it. Tell yourself your speech is part of your unique wonderful identity
and just like polishing your car, you can make it more beautiful, but it is
beautiful anyway!
