How to improve diction and clarity of speech for adults and children: 5 powerful exercises + books and training

Hello dear readers! Lyudmila Redkina is with you. Take your time, you are walking along the embankment and a lebenak approaches you. He shouts: “Auntie/uncle, mother, how I am doing!” Give me some kaaku!” Which means: “Aunt/Uncle, watch me play! Give me some candy!” It’s probably unusual for you to read such words, right? And hearing them is even more fun! Today we’ll talk to you about how to improve your diction and clarity of speech, so that there won’t be something like this: “password”, “do you have a muse? - but I don’t have a muse, that’s such a bad thing in life!”, “girl, huh?” do you like Kafka?, – yes, especially Grefneva…” and so on.

COMPLETE LIST OF HUMAN SKILLS

Why do you need good diction?

First, let's figure out what diction is and why we should care about it.

Diction is a clear, clear pronunciation when a person pronounces words and phrases clearly and legibly. A person with good speech does not “suffer” from a lisp, nasal tone, or stuttering.

Good diction is not a requirement only for TV presenters and teachers. Everyone needs it in life and everyday life. We all get a job, communicate among our circle of acquaintances, we don’t know, in the end, where we will be “taken”, where and with whom we will interact.

A very striking example of a person with “good” diction was from 2021 to 2019 in the Supreme Council of Ukraine - A.V. Parubiy. Everyone who could laugh at his speech, because it’s not often that you hear a SPEAKER (from the word “speak”) of a country’s council with such diction! This is exactly what I mean: we need to take care of improving the quality of speech now, learn to speak beautifully, so as not to make people laugh later...

Use cards

If you can’t remember a very complex and interesting word, use the flash card method. Many people have been familiar with this method since school.

On one side of the card you write the word, on the other - its meaning. First you need to try to remember the answer yourself, and then turn the element over and test yourself.

This method is very simple and effective: the memorization process begins with preparation. Therefore, it is better not to use applications, but to create cards yourself and write on them by hand. And you can take a small stack with you anywhere.

Exercises to improve diction and speech clarity

Philologists have studied the issue of the development of diction and come to the conclusion that many people need to improve the articulation of speech of the Russian-speaking population. This is due to the fact that the Russian language is distinguished by “lazy” articulation, unlike English, for example.

There are even certain ways to check if you have good articulation for clear speech:

1. Take a mirror and, looking into it, pronounce vowel sounds (a, o, i, e, u, s). Do your lips change position and shape? If they move well and change shape, then you are on the right track.
2. Tongue mobility is important for good articulation. Roll it up into a tube. If it does not work out, it is due to muscle weakness or a congenital feature. But you can develop!
3. It is also important to open your mouth well. To check this, prepare your palm without the thumb. Then open your mouth as much as possible, slide 4 fingers inward between the upper and lower jaw. If you managed to do this, then your mouth opens without clamps, which means the muscles are ready to work.

So, we’ve sorted out the diagnostics, now let’s decide what to do to develop speech and improve articulation. I present to you several effective exercises to help you achieve your goal.

Warm-up

Take a pen or pencil between your teeth and say any sentence or phrase of 10–15 words. In this case, the pencil must be squeezed as hard as possible. Then take out the stationery object and say the phrase again. You will hear the difference immediately! The entire articulatory apparatus will be tuned to correct speaking, precise and accurate.

It is enough to warm up with a pencil for up to 5 minutes before exercises; this exercise is necessary to “pump up” the articulation muscles.

You can also warm up with nuts. Demosthenes in Ancient Greece developed a unique method of training speech with stones. On the seashore, he picked up a mouthful of stones and shouted words into the stormy sea, trying to pronounce them clearly. Practicing with nuts does almost the same thing. You put them in your mouth and try to pronounce the speech-improving words as best you can.

Warm up with a pencil

Tongue Twisters

At home, you can perfectly improve your speech pronunciation, because everyone has pencils and access to tongue twisters. This is the minimum set of articulation development. But let's move on.

Tongue twisters are used for children aged 4–6 years. This is a very effective way. Tongue twisters are also used to improve the diction of adults; below I will write the most effective of them. In addition, with such phrases you improve not only your speech, but also your vocabulary. Select the tongue twisters you need, just focus on working out all the letters and their combinations.

Listen to a recording of your voice

Oh, I don’t really like listening to my records. I remember how I once heard my childish and funny voice on the recorder, and I was saying quite serious things... I and all my friends laughed at the recording.

But for the development of clear and competent speech, listening to your voice on a recording is a very useful activity. Almost every person will want to change it, work on diction. You need to do it this way: you take some passage from the text, then clearly try to read it, recording it on a voice recorder. If you didn’t like the entry, repeat reading. And so on until you perfect your pronunciation.

The same can be done to improve your English speaking. You can also bring in a good friend who speaks English to listen to an “expert” opinion.

A prerequisite is diaphragm training.

For vocalists and people who stutter, the diaphragm is a condition for success. Who would have thought that some kind of bridge over the stomach determines a lot of money in show business! But for correct speech and singing, mandatory training of this very diaphragm is necessary. A trained diaphragm makes it possible to finish a phrase and finish singing it.

You can train it this way: take a deep breath, then draw out the vowel sound until there is no breath left at all.

When you reach 25-30 seconds of this “pulling”, change the pitch of your voice, try to draw out the sound in a thinner voice.

When and under this condition you stretch the vowel to 25-30 seconds, proceed to inflating balloons. It’s good for your body, and you’ll please those around you! Well, jokes aside, inflating balloons very well develops the diaphragm and increases lung volume.

Combination of different sounds

In addition to tongue twisters, correct speech and diction can be achieved using special combinations of sounds. These combinations use consonants and vowels. By repeating them 5 times, you practice diction. Well, competent speech is added by the experience of reading different books (I’ll give a list below). What combinations will be useful:

• bgi-pki, bga-pka, bge-pke;
• vzdri-fstri, vzdro-fstro, vzdry-fstro;
• stri-ztri, stra-ztra, stro-ztro;
• gkru-khkru, gkro-khkro, gkra-khkra, etc.

Breathing exercises

To improve your diction and clarity of speech, you need to learn how to breathe correctly. The following exercises will help with this:

1. We stand straight. Feet shoulder width apart. Palms lie on the belt. Inhale freely. We exhale air through pursed lips so that its resistance is felt. This exhalation must be done while moving. Imitate working with a scythe, an axe, cleaning the house with a broom/vacuum cleaner, and similar movements. You need to learn to exhale evenly, without tension (tension should be felt in the lower costal muscles).
2. As you inhale, slowly bend forward. The back remains straight. Then we straighten up. We exhale and begin to draw out the word “gimmmm”, while simultaneously walking in place.
3. As you inhale, slowly lean forward, spread your arms to the sides, and close them behind your head (at the back of your head). We straighten up as we exhale and chant the sounds “GN”, walking in place.
4. Mouth closed. We take a short breath through the nose. While exhaling, tap your fingers along the edges of your nostrils. Exercise improves nasal breathing. Now we add a new element: while exhaling, we make the sounds “M” and “N”.
5. The mouth is open. We inhale through the nose. Exhale slowly through your mouth.
6. Self-massage. With a little effort we press through the intercostal muscles, then move on to the abdominal area. This helps stimulate local blood circulation.

Recommendation from the author of the blog – Pavel Butor

Friends, if you want to learn how to sell coolly through voice, then you need to go to Mikhail Kravchenko. He is an expert in the art of public speaking.

I met Misha on Fr. Bali in January 2021 at the Accel anti-conference. Incredible charisma, voice and presentation. He instantly captured our attention - we met and talked.

Me with Mikhail Kravchenko on Accel

I'll tell you what Mikhail will teach. You will never again:

• be afraid to go live;
• worry about speaking in public;
• prohibit yourself from speaking confidently;
• sell for small checks;
• Drain audiences on webinars;
• eat words;
• avoid recording videos and Stories;
• be ashamed of your own speech.

Why doesn't your webinar bring in 1 million?

And if it brings, then why doesn’t it bring 2, 3, 5?

Most experts lose money right here, on the webinar! Weak engagement, retention, completion, low number of registrations and, as a result, shortfall in payments.

No one comes to a topical webinar if they are not interested in the topic and are not ready to buy. And then the question is only for you: “Why did 100 people come to the webinar and buy 10, and not 50, for example?” Mikhail also has such cases.

It's all about you. More precisely, in your sale. Submission. The ability to involve, grab the audience “by the metaphorical balls” and bring it to the end - to the offer. After all, this is obvious: in order for your offer to interest a potential buyer, he must first hear it.

Mikhail Kravchenko helps experts and online schools with a turnover of 1 million rubles increase audience engagement and retention at webinars and increase conversion to applications and payments up to +30% in 2 months through voice training and detailed development of a sales speech.

Misha will teach you to speak in such a way that people, listening to you, will not only stay until the end of the webinar, but will not even leave the computer to go to the toilet. So that they feel as if “an angel has descended from heaven” and is whispering in their ear. Not less.

It will reveal your individuality, charisma, natural charm and magnetism. Will teach you how to control your voice in order to better convey key meanings to the audience. Your performances will have a hypnotic effect.

Mikhail works with the best and only individually. His clients:

• Nikolay Mrochkovsky is one of the founders of the online education market in Russia and the holder of the Guinness record for the largest online business training;
• Vitaly Kuznetsov – founder of the Federation of Online Business and the best expert on startups in Russia;
• Sergei Teplykh - man of the year according to JQ, performed at the Olympic Stadium for 25 thousand people;
• Ajit is the highest paid tantra trainer in Russia and the founder of LYAM-DOM.

All of them are participants in Misha’s individual coaching “Voice in a Million”.

After all, a webinar that brought in 5 million can bring in 10. And voice is one of the most important criteria that most players in the market do not take into account. But the best ones are used.

Your voice and its sound are your personal signature. This is a brand that is expensive. This is a status that inspires trust.

Sign up for a consultation in the header of Mikhail Kravchenko’s Instagram profile.

What does it mean to “speak beautifully” and why is it important to learn it?

We all want to communicate freely with other people, easily convey our thoughts to them, be able to interest the interlocutor and look decent in his eyes. This helps us achieve a certain level of success and become popular.

Let's describe a well-delivered speech:

• leisurely;
• easy, without long awkward pauses and unexpected hesitations;
• it does not contain profanity or filler words;
• the narrative can be called meaningful;
• accompanied by moderate gestures and facial expressions;
• sounds emotional, not monotonous.

The ability to speak clearly, consistently and convincingly will be useful in all areas of life and will help out in any situation. Whether you are a professor at an institute or a teacher at school, a businessman, a sales manager - with the help of speech you can attract the attention of the audience or get an important contract signed.

The art of eloquence is useful to any person. It allows you to influence people, control their actions and actions, and charge the audience with your energy and mood. Ultimately, having mastered this art, you will easily become the life of the party, be able to speak brilliantly in front of people and successfully negotiate.

For a speech to sound beautiful and convincing, the speaker himself must be an energetic, educated, well-read and self-confident person. Only in this way can he captivate the audience, inspire trust and sympathy, penetrate human souls and motivate people. And it’s good if a person knows how to develop charisma. Then listeners will certainly want to make their secret dreams come true and begin to take active action.

But this is the emotional side of the issue. It is often discussed at various motivating and inspiring trainings, where they teach how to become a leader. However, sometimes a person simply needs to deliver a clear, intelligible, confident speech with a competent and logically structured narrative. It includes the following required elements:

• diction (clear pronunciation of sounds);
• pace (the ability to speak slowly or quickly, without slowing down or chattering);
• voice volume;
• intonation;
• literacy;
• rich vocabulary;
• purity (absence of parasitic words);
• accuracy (use of the most appropriate words to express thoughts, structured narration without “water”);
• expressiveness (metaphors, comparisons, synonyms, figurative expressions and other linguistic means).

A person begins to develop speaking skills from birth. Parents constantly communicate with the child, read fairy tales to him, teach him poetry - all this contributes to the formation of correct and beautiful speech. But an adult will have to develop his speaking skills on his own.

The most effective tongue twisters for improving diction in adults

I wrote above about the importance of tongue twisters for the development of ideal diction for an adult. I will only note that after recording your voice, you must decide which speech sounds do not suit you. Perhaps it will be hissing or “l-r”, or other sounds. And in accordance with your observations, select tongue twisters that work specifically on them. And for prevention, you can train them all.

• The Ligurian traffic controller regulated in Liguria.
• The protocol about the protocol was recorded by the protocol.
• Don’t smoke, Turk, pipe, better buy a pile of peaks, better buy a pile of peaks.
• The angry widow put the firewood into the barn: once firewood, two firewood, three firewood - all the firewood could not fit, and two woodcutters, two woodcutters, for the emotional Varvara, expelled the firewood across the width of the yard back to the woodyard, where the heron withered, the heron withered, the heron died .
• Just as you can’t ring all the bells, you can’t beat them again, you can’t beat all the tongue twisters, you can’t speed them up, but trying is not torture.

Well, something easier.

• Tell us about your purchases, about which purchases, about your purchases, about your purchases, about your purchases.
• The bull was blunt-lipped, the bull was blunt-lipped, the bull's white lip was dull.
• The pig snouted, white-nosed, blunt-nosed, dug up half the yard with its snout, dug, dug.
• Advertising for grips has seams with coverage, but potholders without coverage have been snatched up.
• In the shallows we lazily caught burbot, in the shallows we caught tench.
• Their pesticides are not comparable to ours in terms of their pesticide effectiveness.
• We ate and ate ruffs at the spruce tree, we barely finished them off.
• Appreciates the flail cut by the braid.
• The hedgehog has a hedgehog, the snake has a squeeze.
• From the clatter of hooves, dust flies across the field.

Tongue twisters are good for developing memory and attention in adults, in addition to speech.

Tongue twister to improve diction

The medical side of the issue

Speech defects such as burr or lisp may be associated with congenital diseases. And these shortcomings are the first thing that needs to be eliminated in order to develop speech. Therefore, before you become interested in how to develop beautiful speech, you need to visit a speech therapist to eliminate possible defects. On our website you can find out answers to questions - how to stop lisp and how to stop burr in more detail.

Sometimes the patient is prescribed a surgical operation, after which the person will be able to use his speech with maximum efficiency. After eliminating all physical obstacles, you can already think about how to improve your speech and make it varied and exciting.

Books that improve speech and vocabulary

To improve your speech, you need to read texts on different topics. In this situation, speech is enriched with new words, logic appears in statements, and speech literacy improves. You won’t find a professor who couldn’t connect two words or said “here”, “there”, “tuta”, “Thursday”, “sERtse”. This is because books improve the rhetoric of speech and help formulate thoughts.

I have made a selection of books that can become for you lessons in the Russian language, literature, as well as an excursion into linguistics and other philological sciences.

1. Vadim Khrappa “From Adam’s apple to the apple of discord.”
2. Korney Chukovsky “Alive as life.”
3. Larry King: How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere.
4. Nigel Brown "The Oddities of Our Language"
5. Natalya Rom “I want to speak beautifully! Speech techniques.”
6. Victoria Volodina “Album on speech development.”
7. Lev Uspensky “A Word about Words.”

These books will help you improve your spoken Russian, and with their help you will determine how to use unfamiliar words for their intended purpose.

Ventriloquist

Close your lips. And start actively pronouncing the text. Any.