11 methods to Improve Speech Part 2

 

2.     MODIFY AN ACCENT, IMPROVE POOR DICTION

If you speak with an accent that you wish to modify or just have poor diction that you wish to improve, the quickest way to purifying the sound of your voice is to speak on a whisper.

Start by choosing a passage from a book, magazine or newspaper and read it out loud on a stage whisper, gradually increasing the volume of your voice.

Once you have practised this for about ten minutes, try taping your voice and then playing it back to yourself to see your progress.

Keep repeating this exercise until your sound is purified. It DOES work but some people will need to practise more than others if their accent is well established or their diction is particularly poor.

The same principal can be applied to singing words. Take a passage and sing the words getting louder and softer.

 

3.     PROJECT YOUR VOICE (Good for modifying Northern accents or quiet voice)

If you have difficulty being heard, have a quiet voice or a nasal quality to the tone of your voice ( particularly present in Northern accents such as Liverpudlian, Mancunian), you can bring your voice forward by speaking with a pencil in your mouth.

Place a pencil or straw between your lips and then read out loud holding the pencil between your lips. Keep practising this and then remove the pencil and attempt to read the same passage again without it. Keep repeating the exercise until your voice moves forward.

 

4.     CURE A STAMMER OR SPEECH DIFFICULTY

Stammers and speech impediments are often caused by lack of confidence. Therefore it is important to work on your self-esteem and remember that stammers and other speech impediments have often become habits. Just like giving up smoking or any other bad habit, stammers are some speech problems (not physical like cleft palate) are often just habits that we have established to cover shyness or lack of confidence.

First work on self-esteem techniques.

Give yourself permission now to lose the stammer or difficulty – Sounds ridiculous, but does work.

Say to yourself, ‘ I don’t need this habit any more, I can speak without it and BELIEVE you can do it.

It is much harder to speak badly when focusing your attention on keeping the pencil there.

A speech impediment can become so ingrained into our persona and sense of identity that we are almost afraid sub-consciously to lose it. It has become part of who we are and how we see ourselves. Positive affirmations that you speak with a strong, clear voice, can help for some people – visualizing that you no longer need the problem or speech defect and seeing yourself without it can also help. You need to make the picture in your mind clear and vibrant and see yourself speaking beautifully in different contexts and how that would feel.