Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Tips for the basics of clear pronunciation
• Part 2 of 3: Train clear pronunciation with exercises
• Part 3 of 3: Practicing other speech techniques
• Tips
• Warnings

Speaking clearly is a skill that can be useful for anyone to practice, especially if you need to give a speech, perform as a singer, or even just participate in a crowded, noisy meeting. With enough practice, anyone can turn a murmur, mispronunciation or lightning-fast chatter into a clear-sounding voice.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Tips for the basics of clear pronunciation

1. Look at yourself in the mirror. Talk in the mirror while observing the movements of your mouth, jaw, tongue, and lips. Make these movements as big and visible as possible. This will improve your articulation and help you discover which sounds are difficult for you. Continue to check yourself in the mirror while doing the exercises below.
2. Show your teeth. Strangely enough, this can help particularly well. Showing your teeth gives your lips more room, tightens your cheeks and creates a larger opening for sound. These changes improve your audibility and intelligibility. And if you don't believe it, try saying "audibility and intelligibility" with your lips together and then your teeth visible.
   • Your goal is a pleasant, happy expression, but not a full smile. Your cheeks shouldn't hurt after a short conversation.
3. Lift your soft palate. That's the soft part at the back of your palate. Singers are trained to raise the soft palate in order to achieve a fuller, more resonant tone. Try to inhale gently while making a "soft k" like sound, and your soft palate will rise. A short yawn without making a sound complements the inhalation by warming up several muscles around the soft palate.
   • Don't yawn or gasp excessively to get this done. Anything more than a restrained effort is counterproductive.
4. Keep your tongue in front and down. Of course your tongue will move while you sleep, but it is still worth practicing a neutral position that does not interfere with the passage of sounds. Try letting your tongue hang out and slowly pull the tongue in until it is just below the bottom teeth, touching the base of the tooth. Your tongue can produce many vowels from this position with minimal movement, usually by raising and lowering the center instead of the tip of the tongue.
   • This is especially important when singing or trying to deal with certain forms of lisp.
5. Stand up straight. This allows you to breathe better. Sound is made by the air being forced out of your lungs, so the clearer your breath, the clearer your speech. Look straight ahead so that your jaw is flat rather than lowered, putting pressure on your throat.
   • When talking to someone your size is about your size, maintaining eye contact is a good way to make sure your chin stays lifted.
6. Speak slowly and at a steady pace. If you speak quickly, you are much more likely to swallow words. Even if you stutter, the best approach is to pause and try the word again, without rushing.

Part 2 of 3: Train clear pronunciation with exercises

1. Go through a few consonant-vowel combinations. This gives you practice in most common sounds and is useful as a "warm-up" for your voice before giving a speech. Try these familiar vowels with a few consonants, or even go through the entire alphabet:
   • "Bah Beh Bee Bih Bo Boo Buh"
   • "Vah Veh Vee Vih Vo Voo Vuh" (etc.)
   • If you want a bit more of a challenge, include the vowel "aw", which is similar to "ah" in most languages, but slightly different from it. You can also use consonant combinations such as "SL" and "PR".
2. Practice diphthongs. Diphthongs are vowels that require your tongue to change position as you pronounce them. Practice pronouncing these words slowly, paying attention to the two mouth positions you use to pronounce this vowel. Then try to speed this up and pronounce the words faster while keeping the movements of your mouth precise. Make the first part of the vowel longer than the second part and your speech will be clearer and more refined.
   • au break ou cold
   • ij time egg own
   • onion garden creep
   • ee leg no
   • oo lot of scrap
   • eu nice dent
   • Don't worry if you don't immediately recognize the sound of the two vowels in these examples. The different dialects within Dutch often pronounce the diphthongs slightly differently, or even as simple vowels.
3. Practice the tongue twisters. Try to articulate all the words in a tongue twister, especially those that you find difficult to pronounce. Start slow and go faster once you can pronounce it perfectly. Below are a few tongue-breaking phrases that use common problem sounds, which you can learn more about here:
   • The cat is scratching the curls of the stairs.
   • It happens that in a robbery robbery a robber falls over a robbery robbery.
   • Clever Sjaantje hit the slow butcher.
4. Make a voice recording of yourself. Read a book (or even this article) out loud and record it on a voice recorder. Try to articulate each sound well so that it can be heard clearly. It can be useful to place the recorder slightly away from you, after which you keep increasing the distance and try to make your voice sound clear every time.
   • There is probably a voice recorder on your computer or something can be found online. Your mobile probably also has a voice recorder, but the quality is probably not high enough to practice your pronunciation.
5. Practice with a pencil in your mouth. Hold a pencil, chopstick, pen or the like horizontally between your teeth and repeat the above speech exercises. By making your tongue and mouth work harder with something that makes this a lot harder physically, speaking clearly will be a lot easier without anything getting in the way of your speaking.

Part 3 of 3: Practicing other speech techniques

1. Vary your speaking speed. People often find it difficult to understand someone who speaks too quickly or swallows words because your tongue cannot keep up with the words. Read aloud while focusing on the flow of the content, slow down to emphasize important points and speed up something during exciting pieces.Children's books (with full paragraphs) are a good choice because they tend to focus on emotions and the style is easy to follow.
   • You can also try to make a recording of yourself talking out loud, which you use by the minute. Although what constitutes a "normal" speed varies by region, culture and other variables, most people speak at a rate of 120-200 words per minute.
2. Bring breaks on purpose. Read it aloud again at a slow or moderate pace, this time focusing on the punctuation. Pause at commas and periods, and take the time to clear your throat or take a deep breath at the end of a paragraph. Try to include these intentional pauses in your speech as well, so that the listener has time to digest what you just said. You also prevent stumbling over your words.
   • If you are inadvertently pausing to gasp for breath, there are methods of public speaking to get it under control.
3. Speak loud and clear. It is an art to project your voice or increase your voice volume without sounding hoarse or flat. Look in the mirror and place your hand on your stomach, then breathe in and out deeply. Inhale from your diaphragm, under the stomach, not from the top of your lungs. If your shoulders don't lift during this exercise, then you did well. Maintain this form of breathing as you practice greeting yourself in the mirror from an increasing distance, or just keep increasing your volume without applying force or having a grating sensation in your throat.
   • Focus on this exercise if people ask you to speak louder or if you have to repeat something over and over, or if you are practicing giving a narration presentation.

Tips

• It is not necessary to completely change your accent for clear pronunciation. If it is a second language you should focus on pronunciation, while if you move to another region you may just need to adjust the speed of your speech to match the local accent.
• These exercises work best if you do them once or twice a day.

Warnings

• Don't overload your vocal cords. Make sure to give your voice a rest when it starts to hurt.