Attracting the attention of the audience and genuinely getting people interested in your story is a painstaking and complex process that professional speakers cannot always cope with. What can we say about those ordinary people who from time to time have to speak in front of an unfamiliar audience.
Even in ancient times, many thinkers and philosophers called speaking in front of a crowd a real art. The most educated and charismatic person will not be able to gain the trust of people and convey his thoughts to them if he has problems with diction.
Every year it becomes more and more difficult to find a person who not only has perfect diction, but also constantly improves his speech. Many people forget that nature rarely rewards anyone with speech abilities. Therefore, those individuals who want to have excellent diction and clear pronunciation should regularly perform a set of exercises. What exercises will help improve your diction? Today we will tell you about it.
What is diction and why develop it
The word “diction” comes from the Latin dictio, which translates as “pronunciation.” By diction we mean pronouncing various sounds in accordance with the norms of the language. The clearer and more beautiful these sounds are, the better the person’s diction.
Good diction is needed not only by actors, presenters and speakers. Speech is the main means of communication between people. Moreover, the formal aspect of speech is no less important than the content. That is, it is not only what a person says that matters, but also how he says it. Even the most correct thoughts may not find a response in the soul of the interlocutor if they are said somehow.
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Another thing is beautiful, smooth, confident speech. It grabs attention and makes you listen no matter what it is communicating. Therefore, good diction is an additional trump card in all areas related to communication. Be it personal life or friendship, study, work and so on.
Why do they barely open their mouths in the videos?
Students often ask why we learn to sing with a mask, although in the videos many performers sing with their mouths barely open. The answer is simple: in the videos, the singers do not sing, but simply move their lips to the music. To see the real work of the articulatory apparatus, you should watch the song performed live.
Performed by the group "VIA Gra"
For example, let’s take the song of the group “VIA Gra” “Don’t leave me, my love.” In the video, the girls sing, barely opening their mouths, and sometimes even stop mid-sentence. Another thing is a concert where they sing live. It can be seen that all the performers sing with a smile, open their mouths wide and show their upper teeth.
A smile (or vocal mask) allows you to reach high notes and direct sound into the resonator, so mastering it is simply invaluable for a singer.
Performed by Sia
Should you always open your mouth wide when singing? No! For example, let's watch a video of Sia singing live. During the performance of the verse, the mouth almost does not open. Only on the chorus she uses a wide mask. Note, however, that this is an exceptional case.
The fact is that some singers, in particular Sia, use a style of closed singing: vowel sounds sound closed and directed into the hard palate - with a characteristic nasal tint. With this performance, you need to master the resonator and be able to correctly direct the sound. Let’s say right away: if you are fluent in resonators and know how to direct the sound where it is needed, you don’t need a mask that is too wide!
Read more about Sia’s performance in the article “Texts of the song Sia - Chandelier and full analysis” >>>
Performed by Billie Ellish
The Billie Ellish video is a completely different story: the sound is delivered with an absolute exhalation. The song sounds relaxed and sluggish, the mouth is motionless, as if numb. This performance, together with Billie's mermaid image, hypnotizes the listener. But don’t forget: in the right places she articulates everything clearly, all the words are legible. In addition, the video shows a masterful command of sound direction and resonators. The sound still goes where it needs to, and the combination of singing and frequent aspirations creates an absolutely complete and colorful picture. It is clear that the singer spent a lot of time on exercises for diction and voice.
How to improve diction: advice from speech therapists and professional speakers
Anyone can learn to speak beautifully. Let's look at general recommendations that will help you improve your speech.
Talk and read out loud more
As a rule, silent people experience problems with diction and articulation more often than talkative people. Although it is not entirely clear what comes first: poor speech, which does not provide the opportunity to develop pronunciation, or problems with diction, which provoke complexes and force a person to remain silent.
In any case, this vicious circle needs to be broken. If it is not yet possible to increase the amount of live communication with your active participation, start talking to yourself.
Learn poems and recite them in front of the mirror. Read books out loud. Give presentations to an imaginary audience.
Some people find it difficult to overcome the internal barrier and start talking to themselves. You can resort to cunning and appoint your pet or some inanimate object as an interlocutor.
Watch your speech rate
I remember when we were reciting poems in a literature lesson as a child, the teacher made a remark to every second student about the speed of speech. “Where are you rushing,” she said, “it’s as if a wolf is chasing you.”
The habit of speaking quickly and fussily greatly affects the quality of speech. Endings are lame, prepositions and conjunctions are lost, intonation suffers. Therefore, make sure that the pace of speech is normal, that is, not too fast and not too slow. You can use the speech of a famous person as an example: an actor giving an interview, a stand-up comedian performing on stage, a motivational speaker, etc.
I used to suffer from this feature too. She spoke in tongue twisters, although it seemed to me that I had a normal speech speed. Digging deeper, I came to the conclusion that the culprit was problems with RAM. I simply couldn’t hold the thought in my head for more than 5 seconds, so I tried to express it as quickly as possible. Memory development classes helped solve this problem.
Watch how others talk
Unfortunately, very few people can boast of good diction. But in a sense, this plays into our hands. It is much more difficult to notice your own mistakes than others. Therefore, make it a rule to listen to other people's speech and note imperfections.
When communicating with your interlocutor, ask yourself what you would change in his speech to make it more beautiful, eloquent and persuasive. This could be tempo, intonation, volume, pronunciation of individual sounds. Try to simulate what an ideal speech would sound like from the lips of this particular person.
Study the norms of orthoepy
Orthoepy is a branch of linguistics that studies the norms of pronunciation of sounds, their combinations and stress placement in words. If you want to work on your diction, you need to know them.
In the Russian language, unlike, for example, English and French, pronunciation standards are quite unambiguous and transparent. However, there are points that are worth paying attention to.
Read the following words aloud: scrambled eggs, of course, night owl, eyeglass case, on purpose. If in all words the letter “ch” before the letter “n” sounds like “sh” to you, then congratulations! And if not, then you definitely need to make friends with a spelling dictionary.
Record your conversations with a voice recorder
The voice sounds different inside the skull than outside. Therefore, to most people their true speech seems alien and unpleasant. But you must admit, you don’t want to improve something that irritates you. Therefore, first you will have to get used to hearing yourself the way other people hear you.
Start getting to know your true voice today. Choose any passage from the book and read it while recording. Then listen and notice what impression it makes on you. If, in general, your speech evokes positive emotions in you, then this is already good. If the impression is rather negative, then listen to the recording several more times until you begin to perceive it calmly.
When the sound of your voice no longer makes you want to turn off the recording, you can start working on the shortcomings. Highlight all the weak points in your speech and try to improve them. Perhaps you pronounce some sounds unclearly, eat up endings, or place intonations incorrectly. Having worked out the shortcomings, record the same passage on the recorder again and note whether there is any progress.
Get rid of colloquial abbreviations
Very often there is a temptation to use their abbreviations instead of frequently used words. For example, “hello” instead of “hello”, “finally” instead of “in general”, “right now” instead of “now”. Try not to do this.
Firstly, it makes speech lazy and slack. The desire to strain the speech apparatus to pronounce the remaining words immediately disappears. Over time, this develops into a stupid habit. You've probably met people who seem to be chewing gum all the time while talking. Their speech is like a raw, unformed mass.
Secondly, all these abbreviations do not make the most pleasant impression on the interlocutor. A person who constantly uses them in his speech seems frivolous and does not inspire confidence.
Watch your breath
Breathing plays a primary role in the speaking process. It is very important to be able to correctly distribute the air for each phrase so as not to be interrupted and not to lose some sounds.
Make sure that your exhalation is several times longer than your inhalation. Every time you have a free minute, practice slow exhalation. Take in more air into your lungs and gradually exhale it, trying to stretch out the exhalation as long as possible. Try to make it at least 25–30 seconds.
I recommend paying attention to our selection of exercises for developing speech breathing.
How to make your voice louder?
The volume of our voice depends on resonators.
The resonator is the volume of air enclosed in the oral cavity.
Therefore, if these same resonators are punched, the voice will sound louder and more evenly. They make their way in a very simple way: we pull the sound “mmm” to the point above the nose between the eyebrows (it is also called the “third eye”). At the same time, you need to tap your fingers on this place. Most of this is visualization, so imagining the process will make it much easier for you.
Exercises to develop diction
So, we've sorted out the tips. I hope you will not neglect them and introduce at least a couple into your daily life. Now let's move on to specific practical exercises. They are suitable for adults and children from 7–8 years old. You can perform them at home.
Tongue Twisters
Tongue twisters are great for training the pronunciation of sounds and clarity of speech. As a rule, each tongue twister is aimed at practicing a specific sound or combination of sounds. Therefore, I recommend that you first work with those sounds that have problems in pronunciation, and then train all the others.
Here are a few short tongue twisters:
- The crab made a rake for the crab and gave the rake to the crab. Rake the gravel, crab.
- Grass in the yard, firewood on the grass. Don't cut wood on the grass in your yard.
- Advertising for grips has seams with coverage, but potholders without coverage have been snatched up.
- The Queen gave the gentleman a caravel.
Conversation with obstacles
Squeeze the pencil tightly with your teeth and say 10-15 phrases. Try to speak as clearly as possible.
You can also use unshelled walnuts or champagne corks instead of a pencil. Place one nut on each cheek and try to make a small speech. You can recite your favorite poem or read an excerpt from a book.
After this exercise you will immediately feel the effect. Speaking with a free mouth will become much easier.
Voice acting
Actors who voice characters in films and cartoons have excellent diction. Try yourself in this interesting role. Take a short clip of the film and learn the characters' lines. Then play this passage on silent and voice it. Be sure to record the voiceover on a voice recorder.
It is unlikely that you will be able to voice it properly the first time. Try until you achieve perfect pronunciation and expression.
Pronouncing difficult words
By difficult words I mean words with a combination of letters that is difficult to pronounce. When you encounter them for the first time, it will be very difficult for you to read them without errors right away. But once you have thoroughly practiced the pronunciation, you will no longer have problems with these words. Say them slowly at first, and then as quickly as possible.
Here is a list of words for example:
- who took advantage
- P.S,
- illustrated
- phantasmagoric,
- disheveled,
- reverb,
- over-anxious,
- counter-breakthrough
Start with this list. When you can pronounce all the words clearly and beautifully without a single hesitation, make a new list.
Practicing the sounds Ж and Ш
Say the following pairs of words as clearly as possible: “fat - wide”, “heat - ball”, “frog - hat”, “live - sew”, “creepy - joke”. Then read the tongue twister: “The crane Zhura lived on the roof of Shura. The crane Zhura lived on the roof of Shura.”
Practicing sounds K and G
Repeat the following pairs of words until you can pronounce them quickly and clearly: “year - cat”, “Gesha - Kesha”, “goal - stake”, “guest - bone”, “bend - whip”, “goal - stake”. Then read the tongue twister: “Klusha Glasha prepared porridge with pear. And Glasha treated Klusha to yogurt.”
Practicing sounds Z and S
Read the following words: “gaze - rubbish”, “tooth - soup”, “zev - sow”, “green - salty”, “Zoyka - jay”. Then say the tongue twister: “The snake snaked, the snake laughed, the snake laughed, the snake laughed.”
Practicing sounds B and P
Read the following pairs of words: “bar - steam”, “ball - fell”, “pain - field”, “bravo - right”, “board - port”, “white - sang”. Read the tongue twister: “The bull is blunt-lipped, the bull is blunt-lipped, the bull has a white lip and is blunt.”
Practicing the sound C
Repeat the pairs of words: “heron - saber”, “street - fox”, “color - light”, “clack - juice”, “circus - cheese”, “target - mudflow”. Read the tongue twister: “The prices of valuables are priceless for valuables from antiquity.”
Prepositions
Combining prepositions that end with a consonant with words that begin with a consonant is a weak point for many. You need to learn to pronounce them clearly and articulately.
Read the following phrases out loud until your pronunciation is perfect:
- to Boris, to Makar, to Gordey, to Katya, to Galina, to Trofim, to Glasha;
- from the road, from the sidewalk, from Broadway, from the platform, from the tree, from the bird market;
- over the village, over the firewood, over the grass, over the steep, over the brother, over the test tube, over the door;
- under the block, under Tver, under Torzhok, under the sleepers, under the helmet, under the drill, under the building;
- in a crow's nest, in a lantern, in troubled times, on sale, in adulthood, in a vase, in physics.
Endings
Another common problem among Russian speakers is swallowing endings. Learn to pronounce endings as clearly as the rest of the word. When reading aloud, make a special emphasis on them. You can even raise your voice slightly, since most often we pronounce endings more quietly than necessary.
How to make your voice pleasant?
Alas, you won’t be able to make your voice pleasant in one lesson or after one workout. As in any business, it requires consistency and perseverance.
It doesn’t matter what topic this book will be on, be it culinary or a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. Read with feeling, sensibly, with order , as your favorite literature teacher taught you.
It is better to record yourself on a voice recorder to hear speech errors.
By doing this every day, you will achieve success and learn to read with different intonation and speed, highlighting the necessary words with logical accents and correctly placing accents.
And one more life hack: try to speak “vertically” rather than “horizontally”, that is, pronounce letters with a more rounded mouth. This way the letters will tend towards the sound “A” rather than “E”.
Weekly program of classes to improve diction
I know firsthand how difficult it is to apply other people’s advice in life, even if it’s at least three times brilliant and super useful. Within an hour after reading the article, only 40% of the information received will remain in your head. This means that 6 out of 10 tips and exercises will be unclaimed.
To avoid this, I created a mini-program for working on diction. Copy it somewhere or save the article to your bookmarks so you can do the exercises every day.
Monday:
- Talk for 15 minutes with a clenched pencil in your teeth, walnuts or a cork in your mouth;
- read aloud an excerpt from a book of about 1 page;
- perfect the pronunciation of one tongue twister;
- practice the sounds K and G.
Tuesday:
- Talk for 15 minutes with a clenched pencil in your teeth, walnuts or a cork in your mouth;
- recite any poem you know by heart;
- voice an excerpt from your favorite cartoon;
- practice the sounds Ж and Ш.
Wednesday:
- Talk for 15 minutes with a clenched pencil in your teeth, walnuts or a cork in your mouth;
- record any passage on a dictaphone, listen to the recording and note all speech defects;
- correct them and record the passage again;
- practice the sound C.
Thursday:
- Talk for 15 minutes with a clenched pencil in your teeth, walnuts or a cork in your mouth;
- read any passage out loud as slowly as you can;
- practice pronouncing difficult words;
- practice the sounds B and P.
Friday:
- Talk for 15 minutes with a clenched pencil in your teeth, walnuts or a cork in your mouth;
- learn by heart several complex tongue twisters;
- practice the sounds Z and S.
Saturday:
- Talk for 15 minutes with a clenched pencil in your teeth, walnuts or a cork in your mouth;
- practice pronunciation of prepositions ending in a consonant.
Sunday:
- Talk for 15 minutes with a clenched pencil in your teeth, walnuts or a cork in your mouth;
- read 2 pages of any text, clearly pronouncing the endings.
How to make your voice softer?
Often the speaker has a desire to make his voice softer, but it suddenly becomes thinner and breaks down, that is, it sits on the ligaments.
Unfortunately, not our entire body can sound, so there is a way to feel it, open the resonators and strengthen the voice. The exercise is called “saber-checker” (spoiler: it’s about visualization).
We stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. On one side we present a saber in a sheath, on the other a saber. We alternately “take out” either the saber from the sheath with a clear “s” sound and raise it above the head, or the saber with the “sh” sound. Then we increase the pace.
