05: How to Enunciate and Speak Clearly

It’s time for some verbal weight training to strengthen your speaking voice. Elaine A. Clark shows you ways to achieve clearer enunciation by practicing with added resistance. Use these tricks before delivering a speech, going to a meeting, recording your voice, or when you want to wake up a lazy speech pattern so it’s clearer and easier to understand.

In Real Talking Tips Episodes 2-4 you warmed up your resonators so they have a little bit of a buzz, strengthened your vowels by adding a downward musical progression supported by a full deep breath from the ground up, and tapped your articulators to add tempo, melody, and crispness to your speech.

Now it’s time for some Verbal Weight Training.

I’m Elaine Clark, voiceover performer and speech communication coach for over 40 years, author of There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is and Voice-Overs for Podcasting, app creator of Activate Your Voice and Adding Melody To Your Voice, and host of the Real Talking Tips podcast where we explore ways to strengthen the speaking voice and improve the way we interact with people through speech, movement, and body language.

Clearer Enunciation can be achieved by adding Resistance.

By adding resistance, the tongue and lips have to work to produce each letter and letter-sound. Think of it like running with ankle weights. It’s harder with added resistance and easier when the weights are removed. When you practice reading or speaking with a pencil, pen, chopstick, finger, thumb, or cork in the mouth or putting your top and bottom teeth together, the tongue and lips have to stretch, bend, and work harder to complete the sounds. When the resistance is removed, the mouth naturally opens more and the lips and tongue muscles become more active.

Take the Enunciation Challenge!

Enunciation is the fourth and final section of the Elaine Clark voice and diction app: Activate Your Voice. Watch the YouTube Real Talking Tips Episode 5 video, listen to the podcast, and practice along on this elaineclarkvo.com/podcast website.

I wrote this little tongue twister to challenge and improve speech and tie together the other three speech components – Resonators, Strengthen and Articulation – that we practiced in Real Talking Tips Episodes 2-4.

1. With our teeth together or adding another form of resistance in your mouth like a pencil, cork, chopstick, or thumb, read each WORD separately, making sure ALL of the sounds are clear.

How much curry can a great chef add if the
kitchen is all out of curry? Not enough curry
to satisfy the chef who must have curry in
a hurry.

2. Still with the added resistance, read each PHRASE making sure ALL the sounds in the phrases are clear.

How much curry
Can a great chef add
If the kitchen
Is all out of curry?
Not enough curry
To satisfy the chef
Who must have curry
In a hurry

3. The third time, still with added resistance, read the Whole Tongue Twister.

How much curry can a great chef add if the kitchen is all out of curry?
Not enough curry to satisfy the chef who must have curry in a hurry.

4. Finally, Remove the Resistance, and read it again.

How much curry can a great chef add if the kitchen is all out of curry?
Not enough curry to satisfy the chef who must have curry in a hurry.

Did your mouth spring open? If you formed all the sounds, the tempo, melody, and tune of the message would shift to accommodate the added sounds that may have be missing from your normal speech pattern.

Congratulations! You now completed the 4-part ‘The VOICE’ mini-series. Tune in to Real Talking Tips Episode 6 for tips on how to stop the uptalk and land the message. I would be ever so grateful if you’d take a moment to Share This Episode using the links below. Together, let’s spread the word and improve speech communication!

Elaine-Clark-VO-Real-Talking-Tips-Logo