How to Speak Effectively
Be knowledgeable about language., Use proper and smooth articulation and pronunciation., Make use of inflection., Speed up and slow down., Practice the PAIR.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Be knowledgeable about language.
You are or you've been in school.
The first step to being a good speaker is to be knowledgeable about your language (presumably, English, in this case).
Study English, especially grammar, so that it will be natural for your tongue to speak English.
To be fluent and accurate, understand the structure of the language, as well as its proper usage.
You can't be good in English if you don't know about it.
If you are a student, pay attention to your English class.
Surround yourself with English.
Read English books, and watch English movies. -
Step 2: Use proper and smooth articulation and pronunciation.
A clear and correct pronunciation is appreciated and easily understood.
However, bad pronunciation is like an annoying monotonous sound of a machine.
Familiarize yourself with phonetics.
Phonetics is concerned with the production of speech sounds, and their representation in writing.
For example is the sound as the "u" in "but." The as in the "a" of "apple." Moreover, in articulating, freely move your mouth; jaw, tongue, and cheeks, to produce sounds.
Don't just speak with a small mouth.
If a sound is a stretched sound, stretch your mouth.
If the sound is short, keep it short.
Aspirate sounds that are meant to be.
In English, a letter can have two or more sounds.
Also, there are sounds that have long and short sounds.
For example, "feet" and "fit"
"pool" and "pull." The way you pronounce words may vary the meaning.
Check how different pronunciations give different meanings.
Short sounds vs.
Long Sounds: pill – peel –> pill is a medicine. (To) peel is to remove the skin of a fruit or something. nit – neat –> nit is the egg of louse, neat means clean. mill – meal –> mill is a building with machinery, meal is food.
Common Spelling for short and long sounds of "i" and "u" Short hit, captain, chocolate, cabbage, necklace Long she, me, sweet, believe, receive, meal, people Short book, stood, would, full, pull, bush Long tooth, group, truth, womb, blue Don't let the "a" of "car" and "apple" sound the same way. "Car" has a broad "ah" sound , while "apple" has the sound between "ah" and "eh" .
Some vowels are solid sounds "o"
and others are soft "ow." See the difference between "ball" and "bowl." Pronounce soft "th" as in "thin"and hard "th" as in "they." "Thin" is different from "tin"
so are "they" and "day." To pronounce soft and hard "th"
place the tip of your tongue between your upper and lower front teeth.
Relaxing your tongue, let the air come out of the space between your front teeth to make the soft "th." To make the hard "th"
voice out the sound.
Practice some tongue twisters.
Give your mouth exercise.
These are important so you won't sound strange and to avoid having hard accent.
Do some exercises for pronunciation.
Remember to articulate but don't exaggerate it. , Don't worry if you speak too high or too low sometimes.
Effective speaking is also like singing.
If the sound is not varying of high tone and low tone, it will sound dull, boring! Intonation helps you show your feelings about what you speak.
Thus, you can have emotional relationship with your listener or audience.
Intonation indicates you are sure about what you say, if you are asking, angry, commanding, suggesting, and so forth.
Try to speak with variations of pitch.
As you speak, discourse in normal tone, then shift to high tone for some emphasis, and low tone for a serious tone that can make your listener listen more attentively.
You must not stick to one tone.
But, make sure that you use intonation appropriately to match what you are saying.
Use of inflection makes your talk interesting, climactic.
Again, we have three pitches in speaking, the middle or normal, high, and low.
There is no such perfect pitch in speaking.
Play with your pitches when speaking. , The rate, or how fast or slow you speak, is also important.
Avoid speaking with one tone and one rhythm.
Aside from inflection, your rate in speaking makes you sound enthusiastic.
Speaking too fast, but still understandably, will make you sound alive.
Your listeners will focus more to what you say, because the fluctuation in speed gets their heed, and they will try to catch your words.
Speaking too slowly makes you sound serious and emphatic.
Listeners will hear each word and understand it.
When you give a pause, at the moment of silence, they will reflect on what you said.
Thus, your listeners will feel they are really involved, and they will come to think on the subject being talked about. , Don't only study those, but apply and practice.
Pronunciation
- Articulation
- Inflection
- Rate.
With your knowledge of how to use good English, complement it with the skills mentioned above.
Speak with good articulation.
Speak with the appropriate volume.
Speak clearly.
This way, you will sound educated and skilled.
Combine inflection and rate to create a melody as you speak, and so your listener will get hooked.
As you boost your PAIR, you will sound interesting, confident, smart, skilled, charismatic, and effective.
Get some articles/texts in books and read them.
Then, read it viva voce (orally) and apply the PAIR.
Record yourself speaking and check if you did it well.
Practice! -
Step 3: Make use of inflection.
-
Step 4: Speed up and slow down.
-
Step 5: Practice the PAIR.
Detailed Guide
You are or you've been in school.
The first step to being a good speaker is to be knowledgeable about your language (presumably, English, in this case).
Study English, especially grammar, so that it will be natural for your tongue to speak English.
To be fluent and accurate, understand the structure of the language, as well as its proper usage.
You can't be good in English if you don't know about it.
If you are a student, pay attention to your English class.
Surround yourself with English.
Read English books, and watch English movies.
A clear and correct pronunciation is appreciated and easily understood.
However, bad pronunciation is like an annoying monotonous sound of a machine.
Familiarize yourself with phonetics.
Phonetics is concerned with the production of speech sounds, and their representation in writing.
For example is the sound as the "u" in "but." The as in the "a" of "apple." Moreover, in articulating, freely move your mouth; jaw, tongue, and cheeks, to produce sounds.
Don't just speak with a small mouth.
If a sound is a stretched sound, stretch your mouth.
If the sound is short, keep it short.
Aspirate sounds that are meant to be.
In English, a letter can have two or more sounds.
Also, there are sounds that have long and short sounds.
For example, "feet" and "fit"
"pool" and "pull." The way you pronounce words may vary the meaning.
Check how different pronunciations give different meanings.
Short sounds vs.
Long Sounds: pill – peel –> pill is a medicine. (To) peel is to remove the skin of a fruit or something. nit – neat –> nit is the egg of louse, neat means clean. mill – meal –> mill is a building with machinery, meal is food.
Common Spelling for short and long sounds of "i" and "u" Short hit, captain, chocolate, cabbage, necklace Long she, me, sweet, believe, receive, meal, people Short book, stood, would, full, pull, bush Long tooth, group, truth, womb, blue Don't let the "a" of "car" and "apple" sound the same way. "Car" has a broad "ah" sound , while "apple" has the sound between "ah" and "eh" .
Some vowels are solid sounds "o"
and others are soft "ow." See the difference between "ball" and "bowl." Pronounce soft "th" as in "thin"and hard "th" as in "they." "Thin" is different from "tin"
so are "they" and "day." To pronounce soft and hard "th"
place the tip of your tongue between your upper and lower front teeth.
Relaxing your tongue, let the air come out of the space between your front teeth to make the soft "th." To make the hard "th"
voice out the sound.
Practice some tongue twisters.
Give your mouth exercise.
These are important so you won't sound strange and to avoid having hard accent.
Do some exercises for pronunciation.
Remember to articulate but don't exaggerate it. , Don't worry if you speak too high or too low sometimes.
Effective speaking is also like singing.
If the sound is not varying of high tone and low tone, it will sound dull, boring! Intonation helps you show your feelings about what you speak.
Thus, you can have emotional relationship with your listener or audience.
Intonation indicates you are sure about what you say, if you are asking, angry, commanding, suggesting, and so forth.
Try to speak with variations of pitch.
As you speak, discourse in normal tone, then shift to high tone for some emphasis, and low tone for a serious tone that can make your listener listen more attentively.
You must not stick to one tone.
But, make sure that you use intonation appropriately to match what you are saying.
Use of inflection makes your talk interesting, climactic.
Again, we have three pitches in speaking, the middle or normal, high, and low.
There is no such perfect pitch in speaking.
Play with your pitches when speaking. , The rate, or how fast or slow you speak, is also important.
Avoid speaking with one tone and one rhythm.
Aside from inflection, your rate in speaking makes you sound enthusiastic.
Speaking too fast, but still understandably, will make you sound alive.
Your listeners will focus more to what you say, because the fluctuation in speed gets their heed, and they will try to catch your words.
Speaking too slowly makes you sound serious and emphatic.
Listeners will hear each word and understand it.
When you give a pause, at the moment of silence, they will reflect on what you said.
Thus, your listeners will feel they are really involved, and they will come to think on the subject being talked about. , Don't only study those, but apply and practice.
Pronunciation
- Articulation
- Inflection
- Rate.
With your knowledge of how to use good English, complement it with the skills mentioned above.
Speak with good articulation.
Speak with the appropriate volume.
Speak clearly.
This way, you will sound educated and skilled.
Combine inflection and rate to create a melody as you speak, and so your listener will get hooked.
As you boost your PAIR, you will sound interesting, confident, smart, skilled, charismatic, and effective.
Get some articles/texts in books and read them.
Then, read it viva voce (orally) and apply the PAIR.
Record yourself speaking and check if you did it well.
Practice!
About the Author
Betty Mendoza
Committed to making hobbies accessible and understandable for everyone.
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