Contents
Hello! If a person has good diction, his chances of success are much higher than those of someone who speaks not very confidently, clearly. But not everyone has it as a gift from birth, most people had to sweat a lot to get their speech apparatus working.
In the last article, we looked at what articulation of speech is. This article just shows articulation exercises that will help you beautifully declare poems and toasts during festive feasts. Present a program, a project at work, and in general, talk to people in a well-trained voice. Ready to get started?
Exercises
Tongue Twisters
To work on diction and achieve significant success in the correct pronunciation of sounds, tongue twisters will help you. And the more often you repeat them, the faster you will learn to speak beautifully, and most importantly, clearly.
It is recommended to start with simple ones. Say the chosen phrase slowly, calmly, gradually increasing the pace. At first, you need to sort of “taste it”, learn it well so as not to stumble, forgetting the words. And only after consistently good results complicate the designs.
Have you seen the movie «Carnival»? In it, the main character, Nina Solomatina, dreamed of becoming an artist. But she failed her exams at the theater school and decided to better prepare for the next year. I started with diction improvements. So, in addition to tongue twisters, she used nuts as exercise equipment. Having stuffed both cheeks with them, she tried to pronounce each word beautifully and clearly.
This method is quite successful. Just imagine how much your vocal apparatus will improve if you train to speak, and understandably, with a full mouth.
If you don’t want to use nuts, for hygienic reasons, replace them with wine corks. The main thing is that the items are large, otherwise there is a risk of choking.
Word game
Write down all the vowels and consonants separately on a sheet. Think of any word and play with it by changing the capital letter.
Try to pronounce each word loudly and clearly. Let you say it once, but correctly. Agree, this is better than doing 20 attempts in a hurry. I will give an example to make it clearer. Let’s take the word «pastel», then we will have to pronounce «bastel», «vastel», «gastel» and so on.
After completing this task, you will have to do the same, only with your nose closed. Breathe in more air than usual and proceed.
chest resonator
To save the vocal cords, singers and speakers in everyday life talk with the help of a chest resonator. That is, the sound comes out as if from the chest, and not from the throat. Learning is not difficult, the main thing is to believe that you will succeed.
Just put your hands on your chest and start slowly humming the vowels “a”, “o”, “and” … For a change, you can try to portray a steam locomotive, issuing “choo-choo-choo”. If you feel a slight vibration, then you have successfully activated the chest resonator. Listen to how the voice changes, becomes stronger and louder.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics will allow you to develop the muscles of the speech apparatus. Sometimes only thanks to her a person gets rid of pronunciation defects. For example, in situations where he slightly compresses his jaw when pronouncing a letter, instead of relaxing them. And not every muscle we use in the process of communication, but very much in vain. Exercises will help train them and indicate in which situations it is best to use them.
lips
- Pull them together as if for a kiss and say the letter «U». Then, without stopping, slowly begin to smile, baring your teeth. And return to the original position. So in a circle 5 times.
- Open your mouth as wide as possible and draw in your lips. Try to smile in this state. Take a short break and repeat again.
- Lick them, slowly, trying to get beyond the borders. You can imagine that somewhere there is a crumb from the cake and you need to find it.
- Keeping a relaxed expression, touch your upper lip to your nose.
Language
- Try to portray a clattering horse. Useful for people who don’t pronounce «l» or «r» well enough.
- Run your tongue over your teeth and upper palate, as if describing a circle.
- Make a boat by folding the lateral muscles of the tongue. Even if you fail, still try. So you will adjust the pronunciation of the sound «h».
- Slowly run a tense tongue along the teeth, both from the inside and from the front.
Jaws
- Slowly push the lower jaw forward, to the right and to the left. Gradually try to describe the circle clockwise and counterclockwise. Keep your mouth open to avoid injury.
- Tighten your jaw as if you are pushing away the fists that are pressing on it.
Breath
In order to miss the air during the conversation, which ends unexpectedly, if, for example, a person moves or talks a lot, it is important to learn how to breathe correctly.
In the process of meditation, it is recommended to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. The same system is used for the development of the speech apparatus. Just try to make sounds directly on the exhale, slightly pulling the stomach. Watch the diaphragm, it must be relaxed at the moment you take a breath.
To develop the diaphragm, to increase the amount of air that can fit in it, do the following exercises:
- Take a feather and blow on it without letting it fall to the floor. You can even time yourself and compete against family members and friends. Whoever lasts longer will receive a prize and good diction.
- Blow up balloons. Tight balls are especially perfect for this purpose. In parallel with the diaphragm training, you will massage the cheeks and lips.
By the way, the article, which is located at this link, will be useful to you. In addition to developing proper breathing, you will also relieve yourself of the negative effects of stress.
Recommendations
Pace
Do not rush during the exercise. You will only harm yourself. And also to wait for the results after the first lessons. The muscles of your face must get used to the gymnastics, only then can you relax them.
Remember, if you do one thing for 21 days in a row, then a person will develop a habit? So, be patient and exercise every day for at least a month to get the first clear and beautifully pronounced words.
Mirror
Practice in front of a mirror. So you will see how you look, how your look and facial expressions change in general. No wonder speakers, orators and other individuals who have to speak in public, train at home in front of a mirror. So you will see your image as a whole and you will better understand what else is worth working on, and what is already working out great.
Dictaphone
We hear ourselves a little differently than we actually sound. Yes, and in the process of repeating the tongue twister, we risk not noticing how well we pronounce the sounds. Therefore, use a voice recorder, it will be easier for you to find errors with it.
To hear how your everyday speech sounds, read an excerpt from a book. One small paragraph will suffice. Being in the role of a listener, you will understand how interestingly you can present the material.
Try to listen to the sensations. Is there a desire to switch your attention to something more worthwhile, exciting? If the answer is yes, work on yourself, correcting every slightest speech defect until you get just perfect results.
Self-concept
From a psychological point of view, a person with low self-esteem who does not love himself is simply not able to sound loud. On the contrary, she will strive to be inconspicuous and quiet. Then what good articulation can we talk about?
The one who respects and appreciates himself speaks clearly. He is not afraid to be heard. He is ready to present himself to the world, to declare the right to exist.
Yes, it is a big risk to be visible, but if you want to realize your dreams and plans, you need to be able to fight and defend yourself. And for starters, love. Only then will you open up and feel freedom inside, relaxation. Then the muscles of the face will cease to be constrained, clamped.
Cheerful morning
To make the morning cheerful, and your body is ready for a busy day of work — do exercises. But just by opening your eyes, allow yourself to stretch and yawn with your mouth wide open. To have fun, and not jump up like a soldier in the army from the bed. After sleep, your muscles are still tight, which is why you risk speaking in a nasal voice.
And even during the day, feeling tension in the jaw area, try yawning 5 times in a row. So you relax your face and even your throat with a movable tongue.
By the way, from this article you could learn that it is useful to drink a glass of water on an empty stomach. This will help start the work of the stomach and saturate the body with fluid. But, if you drink in small sips, you will also exercise the palatine uvula. Working to the fullest, it will help to speak clearly.
Frowning in the morning is not the best start to the day. Cheer up by purring your favorite song under your breath. Only with your mouth closed, like you’re trying to learn ventriloquism. That is, to speak without moving your lips, as if in fact you are silent. This technique is used in the circus, puppet theater, creating the illusion that the puppets come to life and can carry on a conversation with others.
Posture
If a person stands with a straight back, he is able to take as much air into his lungs as necessary. And all because the diaphragm that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity is completely free, it is mobile. In its clamped state, it is impossible to make a full inhalation and exhalation. Then what kind of articulation can we talk about?
So always check your posture. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and lower until you feel your back straighten out. If you are used to slouching, it will be difficult and unusual for you to walk and sit upright at first. But over time, you can fix the situation. As a last resort, consult a specialist if there are problems with the spine. For example, scoliosis.
Also, watch your chin. It should be perpendicular to the neck. Because if you pull it up, the neck muscles will stretch and the voice will be “creaky”, and if you pull it down, it will be quiet. There is simply not enough air to form a full-fledged sound, its access will be blocked.
Completion
Communication is a vital need of every healthy person. It is in contact with another that he cognizes the world, himself. And not only cognizes, but also presents.
Therefore, it is important to be able to speak in such a way that you are noticed and believed, and not suffer from boredom while you swallow words or make long pauses due to lack of air during the conversation.
Train, engage in your own self-development, this is an excellent investment in a wonderful future. The more conscious and developed you are, the more opportunities will open up for you. So keep it up! Good luck and interesting studies!
We recommend that you also read the article about universal methods of self-care.
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina