How to IMPROVE DICTION – techniques and tips!

If you wonder how to improve diction and speaking, the first step is to do some breathing exercises. And there are many people who feel like they are drowning when they talk for several minutes, a problem that is almost always caused by nerves.

To avoid these inconveniences that make speech difficult, it is necessary to perform breathing exercises. If you have to speak in public for a long time, try these techniques 15 minutes before your intervention:

1. Stand up straight, and place your left hand on your belly and your right hand on your stomach, applying slight pressure.
2. Breathe in slowly through your nose to inflate your rib cage and contract your belly.
3. Then slowly breathe out through your mouth, emptying your diaphragm and relaxing your abdomen.
4. Complete 10 repetitions and then do the same exercise but, when inhaling and exhaling, keep your mouth open and your teeth together, without clenching them. In this way, when you breathe, you will relax your vocal cords.

By completing these simple exercises you will notice how, when you begin to speak, you are much more relaxed. When you speak, remember to take air through your nose and out through your mouth, breathing continuously.

Among the most useful techniques to learn how to vocalize better we find the modulation exercises; Many people have a voice that is too low and it is difficult for them to project their voice. Many others, on the contrary, have such a strong timbre that it is difficult not to disturb the listener.

With modulation exercises you will perfect the rhythm and intonation speech, detecting the pauses and inflections necessary to make your way of expressing yourself more understandable and attractive.

1. To warm your throat, rehearse syllables that include open vowels (a, e, o) and the consonants ese (s) and erre (r). For example: bra-bre-bro; rae-rea-roa; ere-era-ara; that-that-bear; asa-ase-ose … Repeat each combination 5 times for 2 minutes.
2. Continue with words that also include the consonants ese (s) and erre (r). For example: glasses-hugs-shortcuts; forks-modulator-repeaters; supervisor-organizer-articulator … repeats each combination 5 times, rehearsing for 2 minutes.
3. Finish the round of exercises by reading a text of approximately 200 words in one minute. Thus, in just 5 minutes, you will activate your tongue, throat and lungs to correctly modulate speech.

When you propose to learn how to improve diction, the modulation of the vowels is essential. If you don’t properly pronounce open or strong vowels (a, e, o) or weak or closed vowels (i, u), you will undoubtedly have serious diction problems.

A good exercise for practice vowel modulation It consists of repeating combinations of the three open vowels and the two closed ones, gradually increasing the speed in the repetition of the phrases.

1. For example, you can start by repeating the combination aea three times.
2. Then, you alternate to the order eae and continue with the sequence aoa and oao.
3. To end with the strong vowels, repeat the sequence eoe and oeo.
4. Before saying each phrase, breathe in through your nose, and when you pronounce the vowels, breathe out through your mouth.
5. For weak vowels, simply alternate the sequence iu and ui several times in a row.

The fundamental advice if you don’t know how to improve diction and how to improve public speaking is to read aloud, well without realizing it. Similarly, the timbre and intonation of the voice are essential, so you should modulate the voice volume according to the context.

If, for example, you are in a chat with friends, it is not necessary that you speak very loud, but if it is a public event, you will need to raise the decibels.

Read aloud for 10 minutes at home, in front of family and friends. Try to find simple readings first (news, literary texts), which do not include too complex terms. This will improve the intonation and articulation of the words. Then you can move on with more complex readings.

A recurring problem in the diction of many people is that, without realizing it, omit the pronunciation of letters consonants at the end of a word. This happens mainly with the letter ese (s), although it is not strange to find other examples.

It is also common to hear the articulation of erroneous terms such as “vusté” (you), “haiga” (haya), “hubieron” (there was).

A good way to correct these problems and learn how to vocalize better is to read aloud separating the words into syllables. For example: “el-á-gil zo-rro sal-ta”. Reading each sentence slowly and breaking the words down into syllables will help you memorize the correct spelling and pronunciation of each word.

To avoid all these common mistakes, the main thing is to know the spelling of words and the basic characteristics of Spanish grammar. A good review of the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy will allow you improve your vocabulary and expand your knowledge.

It is not about learning unusual terms to appear cultured, but learning the essential terms that you need to use when expressing yourself in public, especially in formal situations. This article on How to expand my vocabulary can be of great help to you.

Another essential point to learn how to improve diction and speaking is knowing how to combine the spelling rules that govern your language with the peculiarities of the native accent. Good diction does not mean losing the originality and essence of your native language.

The idea is to make you understand in the best way, combining your natural accent with a standard vocabulary, that is, without abusing colloquialisms. To do this, listen to cultural radio programs and detail the way in which the announcers in your country express themselves.

If you are still not clear how to vocalize better, the tongue twisters are of great help. Search the Internet and start with simple tongue twisters, gradually increasing the difficulty.

One of the most common problems when speaking in public is feeling choked on a word. The ele (l), the erre (r), the pe (p) and the ese (s) are some of the letters that cause the most problems. Some good examples are:

• The sky is bricked, who will unroll it? The unpaver who desenladrille, unpaver be good.
• Three sad tigers swallowed wheat in a wheat field, in three sad junk, three sad tigers swallowed wheat.

Like breathing, the speed of speech makes a big difference. If you speak very slowly, you will bore the audience, but if you speak too fast, no one will understand you.

If you wonder how to improve diction, keep in mind that experts recommend saying approximately 180 words per minute, that is, 3 words per second. In this way, the diction will be dynamic and efficient, articulating words and phrases clearly and precisely.

The key is that you feel comfortable with your speech and that you have self-confidence.

Record yourself while you practice and watch the video to detail how do you get on in public (gestures, gestures, fillers …). Then, listen carefully to the audio to detect errors in modulation, pronunciation and breathing.

You can read for 10 or 15 minutes in front of your family and friends and later correct the mistakes that you have not been able to control.

To improve this point, we recommend you take a look at this article on How to use your body and voice for a presentation.

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