10 amazingly simple tips on how to learn to speak beautifully

Many people tend to consider eloquence a natural talent, and people who possess it are rare lucky ones. But, as practice shows in all spheres of life and art, talent is only a small percentage of success, everything else is perseverance and daily work. It is not difficult to develop eloquence. It is a well-researched subject that has been studied and taught since ancient Greece and Rome. We can confidently identify a number of qualities inherent in an eloquent person in almost all cases:

1. good memory
2. self confidence
3. ability to improvise
4. competent and well-delivered speech

With the help of accessible and effective methods of self-development, each person can cultivate all the qualities inherent in a good speaker.

If you consider these qualities separately, you will see that each of them can be developed independently, or by attending appropriate rhetoric courses. There are also combined classes, the purpose of which, directly or indirectly, is the development of eloquence. These include courses in public speaking and acting that are conducted by the Benefis Theater School.

How to develop eloquence: an effective exercise

The exercise, which is often recommended in public speaking courses, may seem funny, but gives excellent results. How to develop eloquence without attending special trainings? You need to select some household item, say a saucepan, and then describe it in as much detail as possible, using beautiful literary language.

People who have difficulty with this task can start with a three-minute description. The time gradually increases until a person learns to talk about the same subject for half an hour, without repeating his thoughts and without resorting to the same characteristics.

Enrich your vocabulary

Of course, a beautiful speech does not have to be replete with fanciful phrases and bookish words, but you must be able to express your thoughts as accurately and as vividly as possible - this is eloquence.

Don't limit yourself to just words: get acquainted with beautiful phraseological units, catchphrases and euphonious synonyms of words that have already set your teeth on edge. Learn to come up with metaphors and make apt comparisons.

And remember that it is not enough just to know some words and expressions. In eloquence, only active vocabulary matters.

Working with a dictionary

How to develop eloquence using a Russian language dictionary (any)? Research has shown that the average person uses about 4 thousand words in everyday life. As a result, people are unable to express the thoughts that arise in them due to lack of vocabulary. The problem has a simple solution - learning new words by heart.

You need to purchase a small dictionary that is easy to carry with you, and study with it every day in your free moments. You can set yourself the task of remembering the meaning of at least 10 unfamiliar words every day. Exercise has a positive effect not only on eloquence, but also on intelligence and memory.

How to develop eloquence without resorting to using a dictionary? Reading helps expand your vocabulary. Moreover, you need to study not only fiction, but also scientific, reference, and technical literature.

Exercises for self-study

Any exercises that involve continuous, spontaneous and prolonged speech are suitable for developing eloquence. You can find options for training even in everyday life. For example, turn on a football match, mute the TV and pretend that you are a football commentator reporting live. Take the matter seriously, try not to get lost and not take long pauses. Even if you don’t complete the entire 90 minutes of the match, you will at least know exactly how long you can successfully “hold the line.”

Games to develop associative thinking

Association for a speaker is an important tool that allows you to easily change the topic of a conversation, make the necessary digressions, and also make your speech clear and persuasive depending on the situation. A good speaker’s selection of associations is brought to the point of automaticity: without hesitation, he will give out a whole list of options as soon as the need arises. It will be very difficult for people without special training to repeat such a trick, because in everyday life this skill is practically not useful to them.

A speaker with developed associative thinking is able to speak more flexibly and skillfully give his speech the necessary direction without being noticed by the listener. With the help of association, you can smoothly move the conversation in any direction and give it any vector of development.

The best way to develop associative thinking is through games. The standard "association" game is based on the same principle as "cities", "names" and other similar games. You can play it with friends, adjusting the rules to suit your taste and abilities.

Interview

The hardest thing is not to get lost in the live interviewing mode, especially when the journalist tries to introduce a provocative, tricky, ambiguous or compromising question. Such an interview is a real test even for a skilled speaker, which is why it is indispensable as an exercise in developing eloquence.

You will need a partner who will take on the role of a journalist. You will have a kind of duel with him: he makes attacks on questions, you counter with answers. His task is to confuse you, yours is to maintain control over the situation and each time smoothly move the conversation away from a development that is unfavorable for you. Based on the results, you can change places, because the person asking the questions also undergoes serious training in improvisation and flexibility of speech.

Replacing words

How to develop eloquence in order to speak freely on various topics? An exercise involving replacing words shows excellent results. Let's say you need to take a short text, and then replace all the verbs present in it with synonyms that correspond in meaning. Similar operations can be done with all words: adjectives, nouns, participles. This exercise leads to the activation of passive vocabulary that a person possesses, but is not used to using.

A similar exercise is composing phrases with words that have opposite meanings. Let's say dry water, a little giant, bitter sugar, a fast turtle, and so on. This has a positive effect not only on eloquence, but also on creative thinking.

Another fun exercise is “deciphering” words. You need to choose a word and then imagine that it is an abbreviation that needs to be deciphered. To begin with, it is best to use short words, then you can move on to more complex ones. Let's say summer - “a gentle raccoon tramples sawdust.” At first, you can ignore common sense, and gradually the “translation” will turn out more and more successful.

Advantages of beautiful speech and areas of application

The word eloquence has different meanings. This is the ability to construct a reasoned speech, the ability to communicate on a variety of topics and the ability to present your thought so that it seems worthy of the listener’s attention. To learn how to express one’s thoughts harmoniously and clearly, a special science was created - rhetoric. This teaching has certain advantages:

1. Eloquence represents the skills and techniques of persuasion. If a person can choose his words wisely, then his argument is difficult to refute.
2. With its help, you can express your thoughts clearly and without long pauses.
3. The ability to speak well creates the impression of authenticity of thinking. Most people have a stereotype that those who think correctly speak well.

The development of eloquence depends on the mood and state of mind, which affects the quality of speech. The ability to overcome your fear and nervousness is reflected in the ability to speak. High-quality preparation for a performance gives additional confidence. Before a speech, experienced speakers plan and rehearse not only their presentation, but also their facial expressions, gestures, and even their posture.

Rhetoric as a science is necessary in the educational field, where academic eloquence is used. Political eloquence is considered a type of oratory, which is distinguished by accessibility and simplicity of expression, persuasive power and the ability to infect many people with an idea. Communication skills are essential in business. An important part of business relationships are negotiations, presentations and contracts.

Retelling

How to develop eloquence? Exercises related to retelling texts will definitely help. You need to take a newspaper article, read it carefully, and then present the content of the article in a conversational style. The retelling is repeated several times, the story is supplemented and expanded, enriched with new details, including fictitious ones. Be sure to express your own opinion about the article you read. You can choose a mirror as a listener.

It is important that at least the first ten sentences are coherent, smooth, and without artificial pauses. You also need to learn how to convey the content of the text in a single sentence. Instead of a newspaper article, you can take paragraphs from textbooks and chapters from books. In addition, it is useful to describe the paintings you see, supplementing the description with an assessment of the artist’s skill.

The most difficult task is retelling a text whose topic the narrator has absolutely no understanding of. However, constant training with simple texts will help you gradually master this art.

Books for the development of eloquence

Please note that the development of eloquence is positively influenced by reading absolutely any books. A book as such is a speech material that contains many lexical, syntactic, logical and rhetorical constructions. All of them can be used by you in practice. Reading books out loud develops speech, diction, memory and improvisational skills (unbeknownst to yourself, you are practicing expressive reading of an unfamiliar text without preparation). In addition, the vocabulary is constantly updated - the most important tool for a speaker.

It is not enough to read books alone to develop eloquence. A good speaker must read all the time, read everything that consists of letters, and read it out loud.

As for “profile” books, our small selection of world-famous works from recognized authoritative authors will help you understand the basic concepts and basics of working on yourself. The selection of books is compiled with the unprepared reader in mind.

1. Heinz Lemmermann "Textbook of Rhetoric"
2. Dale Carnegie "How to Speaking in Public"
3. Larry King "How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere"

Heinz Lemmermann "Textbook of Rhetoric"

A universal guide to modern rhetoric from Professor Heinz Lemmermann at the University of Bremen. The textbook includes a theoretical part, in which the author gives the reader an accessible and detailed understanding of rhetoric as a science in general, and also shares his own thoughts and practical experience. The book further includes a collection of various exercises that both adults and children can practice. The book is more of a teaching aid than an introductory material, and is intended for long-term study.

Dale Carnegie "How to Speaking in Public"

Dale Carnegie is a world-famous American psychologist and teacher, the author of a number of authoritative works on psychology and self-development, as well as the founder of the Institute of Effective Public Speaking and Human Relations. This book was published in 1956, after the author’s death. It represents a kind of quintessence of the writer’s previous works in the field of rhetoric and eloquence. The book is written in simple and popular language, is replete with real-life examples and illustrations, and also contains a number of practical exercises.

Larry King "How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere"

The book by the famous American television journalist Larry King is aimed mainly at overcoming fears of communication. The author's methodology is unique and has been tested many times by the author himself and a group of his assistants. An important difference between the book and the previous two is that it is entirely devoted to communication. The author examines in detail hundreds of situations in which people of different ages and social status experience communication difficulties. The most pressing problems of speech are considered and accessible solutions from the author’s own practice are proposed.

Controlling facial expressions

Eloquence: how to develop this gift that many people dream of? Enriching your vocabulary and retelling texts will definitely help, but you also need to pay attention to exercises that allow you to learn to control your facial expressions.

Standing in front of a mirror, you need to retell any text (artistic, scientific, technical) without emotion, and then repeat it, using facial expressions and gestures. It is also useful to pronounce the same phrase repeatedly, constantly changing the intonation and tempo of speech.

Get rid of what spoils your speech

We are talking about filler words, obscene language and jargon. Get rid of them. We offer two strategies:

1. Write down the words that you want to clear from your speech. Select synonyms for them in advance and memorize them. Subsequently, you will replace unwanted words and expressions with them.
2. Get used to pausing. Instead of another “uh-uh” or “ah-ah-ah”, it’s better to just be silent. Among other things, such a pause will give weight to your words and give listeners time to think about what you said.

It is better, of course, to combine both strategies. You can also keep a progress journal in which you note how clear your speech was throughout the day.

Useful tips

How to develop eloquence? This cannot be achieved by just studying theory, because a future skilled speaker needs constant practice. It is necessary to communicate as much as possible, systematically expanding your social circle, meeting new interesting people. It is also useful to watch the presentations of presenters on TV, attend trainings and evaluate the speeches of speakers. Finally, you need to pay attention to developing your own sense of humor, since a good joke will decorate any story. This can be easily achieved by memorizing funny jokes and watching humorous programs.

A useful device such as a voice recorder will help you evaluate your own achievements. After recording your story, you should listen to it, evaluate the pros and cons. It is possible that the narrator needs to get rid of filler words, because his speech sounds too monotonous or he speaks too quickly.

Get rid of mistakes

First of all, you need to get rid of speech errors, that is, errors in the use of words. First, understand the paronyms. You need to distinguish the addressee from the addressee, the instigator from the instigator, and the ignorant from the ignorant.

Be sure to pay attention to spelling: spoiled or spoiled? normalize or normalize? envious or envious?

Also use phraseological units correctly and follow stylistic norms. We recommend reading about other possible mistakes here (in general, you can easily enroll in the Russian Language online program, which will improve your speech).

Eloquence and children

How to develop eloquence in a child? To achieve this, as in the case of adults, simple exercises will help. You need to ask your son or daughter to pick up this or that object, and then describe it in as much detail as possible: shape, material, color, and so on. Leading questions will help make the task easier for your child.

Adults should also more often ask children questions that do not require a monosyllabic answer. For example, you can simply ask your child what he did in kindergarten today, and then listen carefully to the answer, encouraging the little storyteller to provide details.

The main thing is to exercise regularly, and then the result will not keep you waiting.

Take an example

Try to regularly read authors whose style you like. Try to highlight what exactly attracts you. Perhaps it is a certain style of speech, perhaps a wealth of vocabulary, perhaps something else. Identify the most “delicious” in someone else’s text and borrow it.

It's the same with speakers: what do you like, what don't you? Why does one performance make a strong impression, while another is forgotten after a couple of days? Try to answer these questions. Observe other people and learn the best from them.

Who is a speaker

An orator is a person who has oratory abilities, which consist of the ability to speak beautifully and convincingly, to master the tools of acting, and to have psychological knowledge.

The talent of eloquence can be innate. It is even believed that each of us has it, only to varying degrees. This means that anyone can develop this gift, taking into account individual characteristics and working on themselves.

With the development of oratorical skills comes the skill of public speaking, which has its own properties:

• special content of speech - linguistic and non-verbal, in the form of facial expressions and gestures, methods of influencing the listener;
• focus - receiving feedback from the audience;
• effectiveness - as a result of the psychological state of the speaker and his authority among the public.

But you can structure your speech competently if you use the rules of oratory:

1. The presentation should be structured for better assimilation and accessible to understanding.
2. Speech that is correct, expressive and without filler words is capable of capturing the attention of the public for a long time.
3. The information provided must be useful and truthful.
4. The emotional content of the speech and the dry language of numbers will create balance and will not allow the listener’s interest to evaporate.
5. His attention should not be abused; conciseness and informational capacity of speech are welcome.
6. The beginning of a speech and its final part have a greater effect on the audience than the content - this should be taken into account in the compositional structure of the speech.
7. You need to speak to the audience in a language they understand, taking into account their intellectual level, age category, and social affiliation.

And then she will have the qualities necessary for oratory:

The image of a talented speaker is charismatic and closely associated with such characteristics and traits as self-confidence, inspiration, erudition, the ability to improvise, vividness of thought, strong voice, and expressive gestures.

We’ll talk later about how to learn public speaking on your own.

How to achieve a successful performance? 5 important rules for a speaker

• Set yourself up for luck. There is no need to worry and go over everything in your head. Believe in your success.
• If you can’t avoid anxiety, it’s better to immediately confess to the public - you will instantly feel relief and begin to speak more calmly.
• Avoid monotony: you should be interesting to listen to. Emphasize words with your voice, make intriguing pauses, joke. This way you will absolutely attract attention and establish contact with the public.
• There is no need to show off your acting skills . Excessive gestures will not only seem funny, but will also irritate the viewer. Also, don’t walk from corner to corner so that people don’t get tired of looking at you. Don't overact.
• Don't deviate from the plan: your speech is already written in advance. There is no need to tensely “go” from point to point, checking off “boxes” in your head, but you still need to confidently and calmly follow the plan. Such rigor is needed so that you do not forget to fulfill everything you have planned and do not lose your way during the performance.

Watch other people

The best way to master the skill of eloquence is to learn from other people. Before your speech, it is recommended to watch the speech of famous people. Think about how you plan to present. With humor? With some impact on those listening? Knowing how you plan to speak will help you in public speaking.

Nowadays you can find performances by many people on YouTube. Watch Steve Jobs give a speech to Stanford University students in 2005. He literally reveals his soul and shares his life experiences with students. He talks about his interesting life and shares his thoughts. Every word of Steve Jobs is verified and weighed. You listen to the Apple founder's speech with bated breath.

We have a unique ability to search for performances on the YouTube platform. In addition to performances by famous people, you can find stand-ups that are popular nowadays. Stand-up comedy is in great demand among young people. You can learn from the artists their manner of speech, stage image and the ability to influence the audience.

Working on speech technique

Form and content are the main aspects that characterize speech. The form represents the technical side of the issue. These include: diction, voice volume, speech rate. Content means semantic content, i.e. correctly formed thoughts, well-structured speech, ability to lead a discussion, rich vocabulary. For a speech to sound beautiful, it must be thoughtful.

Working on speech skills is a fairly lengthy process. It includes the following areas:

• diction training;
• practicing speech techniques;
• speech development (increasing vocabulary, clearing parasitic words).

Diction training

Diction is the correct and clear pronunciation of sounds. If you have problems in this area, you can identify them in one of the following two ways:

• independently, using a voice recorder of the conversation;
• with the help of a pronunciation specialist - speech therapist.

In the first case, you need to read aloud an excerpt from the text (it is better if it is the text of an audiobook spoken by a professional actor) and record it on a voice recorder. Then listen to the recording, compare it with the actor’s and highlight the shortcomings. To be safe, let someone else close to you listen to this recording. Let them share their opinions too. This will help you identify diction flaws that you will have to work on in the future.

In the second case, I advise you to contact a speech therapist - a specialist who diagnoses and corrects speech defects in people of different ages. Basically, parents whose children have difficulty pronouncing words most often turn to a speech therapist. It is at preschool age that it is easiest to get the correct pronunciation. However, you should not be embarrassed by a speech therapist if you have not been a child for a long time, and problems with diction have not gone away.

The most common diction disorders:

• burr;
• lisp;
• stuttering;
• fuzzy whistling sounds;
• “swallowing” individual sounds, etc.

Regular classes with a speech therapist will help you quickly establish correct pronunciation and consolidate it.

Systematic training of the speech apparatus is also important. Be sure to do the following exercises at least once a day:

• perform articulatory gymnastics;
• read poetry or prose aloud, pronouncing each sound clearly;
• speak tongue twisters.

While saying tongue twisters, place nuts or candy behind your cheeks. It will most likely be very difficult to understand what you are trying to say at first. But gradually you will overcome the resistance, and the pronunciation will become clearer. This exercise is regularly performed by announcers and actors.

Practicing speech techniques

To make your speech sound beautiful, in addition to diction, you still need to work on its elements.

1. Intonation . With its help, speech becomes “alive,” emotionally charged and expressive. Reading aloud with expression is a great way to practice. Read plays as if you were performing on stage, trying to express the emotions of the characters as believably as possible.
2. Rate of speech . The speed of pronunciation greatly influences how your interlocutors perceive what you say. Speech that is too slow puts people to sleep and people lose the thread of the conversation. And the too fast pace forces you to listen intensely to the conversation in order to catch the main idea. As a result, the listener has to ask again.
3. Volume and strength of voice . It is very important to learn to control the strength and volume of your voice so that during a conversation you do not whisper or scream. It is usually advised to speak 30% louder than usual, as if you want to be heard by the person standing behind the interlocutor. By the way, most people involuntarily begin to speak louder, especially when they meet friends or acquaintances on the street.
4. Volume of voice . Volumetric is called a “chest” voice, which sounds as if from the chest. It is deeper, more sonorous, stronger and more pleasant. The following exercise will help you achieve a voluminous voice: place your hand on your chest and pronounce the vowels “a”, “u”, “s”, “o”, “e”. As you speak, you will feel a vibration in your chest with your hand. Try to strengthen it. To achieve the effect, perform this exercise daily for 5-10 minutes.
5. Breathing . During a conversation, try to breathe calmly and measuredly. Then the voice will sound confident, the timbre will become softer, and the speech itself will be calmer. If you breathe too quickly and intermittently, your voice will sound weak and unsteady. Proper breathing can be learned through special practices.

Let's take a closer look at one of the most common mistakes related to pronunciation - too fast a speech rate. When a person jabbers, it is very difficult to perceive him by ear. In addition, in a hurry to tell everything as quickly as possible, he begins to swallow individual words, and in general he may blurt out too much.

To stop chattering and swallowing words, you need to learn to control the pace of the conversation. Proper breathing will help a lot here. Before you say anything, try to take a moderately deep breath, calm down and think that you have absolutely no hurry. To practice speaking speed, you can say out loud at a slow pace, for example, a sequence of numbers from 1 to 100. The more often you practice, the faster you will get used to speaking slowly.

The structure of oratory speech

In order for a public speech to achieve its goal and leave no one indifferent, it is built according to the plan and content in a certain order, which is called composition.

The introduction should attract attention, interest, establish contact with the audience, and give an idea of ​​the topic of the upcoming message with a brief description of the issue.

The main part of a public speaking speech is the presentation of the material itself, argumentation, and the use of facts and logical evidence.

The conclusion is intended to summarize and generalize what has been said, emphasize the main idea, draw conclusions, and inspire listeners.

It is advisable to approach creatively when working on a composition. While maintaining a clear sequence and consistency of its elements, it is important not to lose your individual style.

Oratorical techniques

Oratory techniques are used to improve the perception of information. They work either by orienting the listener to figurative perception, or by stimulating his mental activity.

For example:

• visual comparisons and short illustrative examples are especially appropriate when conveying numerical material;
• repeating what has already been said in other words creates a new image;
• the allegory clearly illustrates the speaker’s ideas and thoughts;
• antithesis by contrast enhances their perception;
• hyperbole exaggerates those points that need to be paid attention to;
• rhetorical questions do not require an answer, but stir up interest;
• an insertion when a casual remark made draws attention to what was said;
• unexpected words and actions heighten the listener's curiosity.