How to structure a speech for a presentation correctly? I share my secrets...
The structure of your speech for public speaking has some similarities with the construction of a house:
What does it cost us to build a house?
Let's draw - we'll live...
or
What should we build a speech -
We took the topic and went to the people...
Here, as when building a house, a strong and deep foundation is needed, otherwise speech can crumble like a house of cards. The foundation is your knowledge, and the cement is your oratory skills, your facial expressions, gestures, posture, movement around the hall or stage.
4th Secret of Relationship Speaker/Listeners:
1. Imagine that You are an excellent speaker, but you have absolutely no knowledge of the topic that you should cover in your speech. It’s the same as if I were brought on stage to talk about the influence of the Earth’s magnetic field on the reproduction of rabbits in the lands of New Zealand. No matter how super-duper advanced speaker I am, the public will not hear anything useful from me - I have no knowledge on this issue.
2
. The second case is that you know very well all the nuances of the reproduction of these same New Zealand rabbits under the influence of a magnetic field, because you yourself participate in this process 
….But you have no speaking skills, you don’t know how to convey information to listeners. And they will not be able to find out about your competence - you are not a speaker and cannot cover this topic.
3. You have excellent speaking skills in front of an audience, you are a professional in your stated topic, but the audience in the hall was not the target audience, which is not interested in your rabbits at all. How will the audience receive your performance? At best, indifferent...
4. The following example: you are an excellent speaker, you are a professional in your chosen topic, and your target audience is sitting in the hall, who is waiting - can’t wait for you to reveal to them your secrets in breeding rabbits in the conditions listed above. And only in this example everything that is necessary for you to perform well and the audience to receive you well coincides. And only in this example will your house of speech construction be strong and durable...
Bottom line: Before you even choose a topic for your speech, think about these 4 points.
— The degree of your competence in the chosen topic. Remember the words of Socrates: if you do not have in your heart what is on your tongue, then no one will believe you.
— Your level of professionalism as a speaker– only daily training turns an amateur into a professional.
— Who is your target audience for the stated topic.
— How interesting is your topic for the target audience? or how you can attract and keep her attention. Always work in the audience's area of interest.
Secret Recipe for Making Speech
Every housewife knows how to bake a layer cake: prepare three layers (more are possible) and spread them with cream or something else.
Exactly the same principle for preparing your speech: bake three layers (introduction, main part and conclusion) and smear them with whipped interest, fudge from attention, adding candied humor and raisins of emotional openness.
As you can see, the layers are different. Let's look at the recipe for each of them.
Layer No. 1. Introduction.
1.It is advisable to carefully think through the introduction, as well as the conclusion, down to the smallest detail. The first impression you make on the public determines whether the audience will listen to you attentively or continue to do other things. Did you arouse interest and trust in her or not.
2. The most important thing is to win the attention of the public. You went out in front of the audience, did not hide behind the podium, but positioned yourself so that everyone could see you from the audience and paused. At the same time, calmly, but demandingly, you look into the hall, gradually examining the entire space and all the people sitting. And only when there is COMPLETE silence do you smile at the audience and pronounce your first phrase.
I emphasize - do not speak until everyone closes their mouths and stops rustling and whispering. Only then do you open your mouth...
3. Come up with an intriguing opening. You shouldn’t start with ordinary phrases: “Today I will tell you this and that.” It is best to start with a question to the audience - this will attract their attention. Personally, I love provocative questions:
“Tell me, how did you manage to leave the comfort of your home chair in front of the TV and come to this room to listen to a person completely unknown to you?! What made you do this?
I listen carefully to one or two answers and smoothly move on to a compliment: “I admire you: only such focused people achieve success in any endeavor! Let's greet each other with loud applause!"
This way you killed several birds with one stone:
— easily caught the attention of the audience;
- the audience started talking, which means they established contact;
- complimented the audience;
— showed that you know how to lead the audience and gently forced them to fulfill your demands (applaud).
4. If you are afraid that no one will answer you - Start your speech with a quote from a famous person. For example: “Suvorov said: hard in training - easy in battle! And therefore I declare our teaching today open!”
Alternatively, you can start with a story from personal experience, but light and short.
5. Specify the time frame for the event. If it is long and with different speakers, it is better to hand out a schedule of all speeches and break times at the entrance.
6. Required state the purpose of your speech and what useful things the listeners will get from it. In other words, what will you feed and treat them with today? If you have several goals within the same topic, feed them one by one.
Be sure to separate explicit goals - you will tell them to the public, and hidden goals - you will say them only to yourself. Example of a hidden goal: improve the quality of pauses during a speech.
7. Remember that only a hungry audience can swallow everything, and a demanding one will want to wash down their food with a compote of emotions. Therefore, get ready for an emotional striptease - open up to the public, share yourself, your attitude towards it and what you are talking about, to whom you are talking and how you are talking. Share your emotions - they have a much greater impact than words!
Layer No. 2. Main part.
1. The main thing is don’t overdo it with the number of topics you want to dump on your listeners’ heads. Let it be less, but better, better quality!
After all, if you bake a real layer of pie, you don’t throw everything you have in the house into it: from honey to red caviar. You make a layer with one main ingredient, for example, nuts and 2-3 additional ones (raisins, vanilla, candied fruits). It’s the same when speaking – in the main part you reveal the main, key idea and several additional ones (2-3).
2. Don't forget to include a short story relevant to the topic. By doing this, you achieve the acceptance of the facts stated in history by those who do not agree with your point of view.
3.Think about how best to arrange the modules in a logical order, which reveal the topic.
4. Use diagrams, pictures, graphs and diagrams as technical supplements to your presentation. Present them through slides onto the screen. Be sure to write a caption under each slide, but don’t read it out loud.
5. When moving from one module to another, use pauses, thereby attracting the attention of the audience. Learn to use the appropriate tone to emphasize the most important sentence or idea. Just don’t be too harsh, the listener may get scared...
6. Make yourself a card with theses and look at it from time to time. Also, keep an eye on the time. Nobody canceled the regulations, and you yourself stipulated them at the beginning of your speech. Be kind - stick with it!
7. It is in this part of the speech that it is important to disturb the listener from time to time with an unexpected statement or a funny proposal - attention weakens every 15 minutes and your task is to catch him again.
8.Self Confidence- this is your look into the audience, your even posture with your shoulders slightly raised and pulled back, your free gestures and movement around the stage. This is a measured pace of speech and the ability to switch the listener’s attention at any moment to what you need to show or say at the moment.
9. Be attentive to the hall. Be pleasant to the audience. Love your listeners and give them the opportunity to feel it. Love questions - it means that you were heard, and not just listened to.
10. Don't pull the cat's tail! If you have the opportunity to clearly and concisely express your thoughts, do it! People get tired of a lot of unnecessary words. Listeners are not a mill to which water needs to be poured.
11. From time to time, ask your listeners questions:
- What do you think?
- Do you agree with me?
- How can you hear me in the back rows?
- Who has questions?
- Whoever understands, please raise your hands! - and you raise yours first...
— Who has questions on the topic?
Layer No. 3. Conclusion.
1. The conclusion plays as big a role in your speech as the introduction. Having covered the topic in the main part, you are in conclusion sum up what you revealed in your speech.
2. You list point by point what useful things you shared with your listeners today. Again talk about why this material might be useful to them and where they can apply what they learned from you. I think this point is very important!
3. End your speech with a short story or funny sentence. Give a compliment to the audience for the fact that she was attentive during your speech and received you warmly.
4. If there is an opportunity on the topic of the speech - make a call to action. For example, on this topic I can make the following call:
Remember, speakers are not born, they are made! Practice, practice and more practice! He who speaks, controls people! I wish you to perform as often as possible! Constantly improve your skill of attracting and holding the attention of listeners!
5. Try not to use words that you have finished your speech here. The call to action itself speaks to this. There are speeches when a call is not appropriate - Invite listeners to simply thank each other with applause.
Today in the comments they left me a link to the story Irakli Andronikov “First time on stage”, and since there is one continuous sheet, I’m not sure that people will read this creation to the end.
Therefore, I give the opportunity to read an excerpt where the boss describes his vision of everything that happened on stage... I read it - and cried!!! Here is this piece of text:
If you really don’t remember anything, let me remind you of some episodes. At that moment, when the inspector led you to the double bass, you suddenly kicked him, and then threw your leg forward, like in a ballet, and flirtatiously put your hands on your hips. After that, he patted the double bassist on the back of the neck, saying: “Don’t be afraid, yours is coming!” - and drove his elbow into the cellist’s face. Wanting to show that he had received a well-known upbringing, he turned and shouted: “Sorry!” And he caught on the violin bow. Here an episode occurred that, as they say, should have been “filmed.”
You took the bow away, but the violinist did not give the bow. But you managed to snatch it away, showed the audience that you, they say, are stronger than any violinist in the orchestra, gave up the bow, but at the same time shook the notes off the music stand. And along the narrow path between the cellos and violins, which you had to walk along with your hand on the hem of your jacket so as not to get caught, you walked with some kind of cheeky, small and nasty gait.
And when he got to the conductor’s stand, he began to roll up his pants, as if he was wading into cold water. Finally he perched himself on the stand, looked around the hall stupidly, grinned impudently and, shaking his head, said: “Well, well!” After which he turned his back to the audience and began turning over the sheets of the conductor’s score so that some thought that you would conduct the symphony, and Gauk would say the final word about it.
Finally, someone from the orchestra suggested to you that it would be a good idea to turn your face to the audience. But you didn’t want to turn around, but argued with the orchestra members and at the same time cleaned your shoes on your pants - your right shoe on your left leg - and at the same time told the orchestra members: “All this is my business - not yours, when I want, then I’ll turn around.” Finally, you turned around. But... you better not turn around! Here your appearance has become completely vile and completely disgusting. You blushed, threw the drops from your forehead into the first row with two laborious movements and, clasping your short arms, shouted: “Oh my God!”
And then your left leg began to make some strange movement. You began to shake it, twirl it, twist it, rubbed the cloth of the conductor's stand, jumped up and danced on the very edge of this tiny space... Then you changed your leg and kicked it in the opposite direction, which caused the first violent reaction from the audience. At the same time, you writhed, backed away, grinned, bowed... The audience craned their necks, unable to comprehend how you managed to stay in this limited territory. But then you started waving your right hand.
He waved and waved and succeeded a lot! After a while, the audience watched your hand with bated breath, as if it were flying under a circus big top. The faint of heart closed their eyes: it seemed as if your hand would come off and fly into the hall. When you had sufficiently enjoyed the suffering of the crowd, you put your hand behind your back and very deftly caught yourself with your right hand by the elbow of your left and, moreover, pulled it with such force that the crunch of bones was heard over the silent hall, and one could think that a very old bear was eating a very old and therefore very smelly goat.
Finally you said: “Unfortunately, Sergei Ivanovich is not among us today. And he is not a member of the Composers’ Union.” And at the same time you made some incomprehensible movement with your hand so that everyone turned to the entrance doors, believing that the frightened Taneyev had gone to the lobby to drink a glass of soda and was already returning. Nobody understood that you were talking about the late classic of Russian music. But then you started talking about his work. “Taneev didn’t solder pots,” you said, “but created creations. And here is his best brainchild, which you will now hear.”
And you hit the cello accompanist, the venerable Ilya Osipovich, on the bald head several times, so that everyone thought that this was the favorite brainchild of the great musician, however, illegal and therefore bearing a completely different surname. Nobody understood that you were talking about a symphony. Then you decided to clarify and shouted: “Today we are playing the First Symphony in C minor, tse-mol! The first, because he had others, although he wrote the First first... Tse-mol is C minor, and C minor is Tse-mol. I say this to translate you from Latin into Latin.” Then he paused and shouted: “Oh, what is this, why am I talking? I hope they don’t kick me out!..” At this point the audience felt sick with joy and embarrassment at the same time. At the same time, you continued to jump.
I wanted to run out onto the stage and exclaim: “Play allegro vivace from Swan Lake - Spanish Dance...” This was the only thing that could justify your strange body movements and gestures. I also wanted to shout: “Our lecturer is from the Caucasus!” He is suffering from tropical fever and is having a seizure. He is delusional and has no authority to make the statements he makes on our behalf.” But at that moment you finished and did not let me challenge you publicly...
Why didn't you tell me anything? Didn’t I warn you that you have some kind of stump instead of a tongue? That you can't talk, walk, or think? It turned out that you have a Toricelli emptiness in your head. How can you tell this? Incomprehensible! You have let me down terribly. I don't want to have anything to do with you! I'm outraged by you!..
And at this time they played the first part of the symphony, which I loved terribly. Then suddenly I hear that the first topic has appeared again; it already foreshadows the ending. There was applause in the hall, Gauk entered the living room, very pleased... I began to look around to hide somewhere. And I didn’t have time.
The room was filled with musicians and they began to ask: “What happened to you?” I wanted to answer, but Sollertinsky whispered: “Never indulge idle curiosity.” Nothing depends on these individuals. Second: science has not yet explained what happened to you. And thirdly: we have not yet figured out how to get you fired of your own free will. I don’t remember clearly what happened next.
I only know that sitting next to me is a man whom I had probably seen no more than twice before - the now famous art critic Isaac Davidovich Glikman, whom I have since counted among my best friends. He pats me on the shoulder and says that I’m not the only one, but the Philharmonic is also to blame. They should have listened first, and not let the person out like that. And he winked at Sollertinsky. And Sollertinsky was already laughing and, wanting to console me, said:
- Don't be so upset. Of course, theoretically it can be assumed that things could be worse. But you should be proud that so far nothing worse has happened. The hall in which Mikhail Glinka and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt gave concerts - this hall does not remember such a performance. I'm not sorry for you. It’s a pity for the State Circus - their best program was held with us. We have already sent them a telegram expressing our condolences. Besides, I feel sorry for the director. He is still sitting in the hall. He can't come in here: he can't vouch for himself. Therefore, let’s clear the room, come to me and drink a bottle of Kakhetian wine, which I have saved in case of your triumph. If I had known that a historical event would happen today, I would have prepared a tank of strong drink. But, sorry, I didn’t have enough imagination!..
Sincerely,
Many consider competent speech to be a talent that is given to a select few and is necessary only in some areas of activity. In fact, everyone should think about how to develop speech. After all, good diction makes you listen to the person speaking and trust his opinion more. In addition, such a skill often contributes to career growth, especially if performing job duties requires frequent communication with people.
Basic techniques and exercises for speech development
Below we present the most effective exercises to improve your diction. Clear speech and a well-trained voice are the result of long and hard work on oneself. Therefore, it is necessary to perform these exercises regularly, and not occasionally, because this is the only way you will make progress in the development of your speech.
Warm-up for the articulatory apparatus
Before performing any exercises aimed at developing diction, short warm-ups will help you to prepare yourself for clarity of pronunciation. One of her options is to tightly clench a pencil with your teeth and say a phrase approximately 10-15 words long. Then take out the pencil and say the same phrase again. In order not to think about choosing a text every time, you can use any poem when performing this exercise.
Exercises aimed at improving their mobility and accuracy will also help you begin to speak better and strengthen the muscles of the organs involved in the speech process. After all, these are the characteristics that are required for the development of diction and high-quality pronunciation of sounds.
As you know, the most mobile organ of articulation is the tongue. Therefore, most of gymnastics is connected with it. There are many exercises, the regular implementation of which will eliminate the need to think about the question of how to develop speech. For example, you can stick out your tongue and try to reach it first to the chin, and then to the nose. Or, as if using a brush, use smooth movements to draw lines from the teeth to the larynx.
Pronouncing phrases with artificially complicated articulation
Tongue twisters for developing diction are considered a classic training option. With their help, you can practice clearly pronouncing different consonants in a calm environment. To achieve excellent results, it is enough to devote at least 5-10 minutes to exercise every day. However, to develop good diction there is one important rule: each phrase must be pronounced at a slow, medium and very fast pace.
You can start training with the simplest sentences, which teach you to clearly pronounce one or two sounds. For example, these could be:
There are also more complex phrases that help you understand how to learn to speak words clearly and quickly, in which the pronunciation of two or more sounds in difficult combinations is practiced:
- The talker said to the talkers: “I said, don’t tell the talker that the talker has started talking,” the talker has a talker. The talker began to speak, and the talker’s throat began to talk slightly, and then the talker said finally: “Stop talking, talker talker.”
- The commander spoke about the colonel and about the colonel, about the lieutenant colonel and about the lieutenant colonel, about the lieutenant and about the lieutenant, about the second lieutenant and about the second lieutenant, about the ensign and about the ensign, about the ensign, but was silent about the ensign.
- There is firewood in the yard, firewood behind the yard, firewood under the yard, firewood above the yard, firewood along the yard, firewood across the width of the yard, the yard cannot accommodate firewood! We'll probably move the wood from your yard back to the wood yard.
- The cap is not sewn in the Kolpakov style, the bell is not poured in the Kolokolov style, the cap needs to be re-packed, re-capped, re-forged, re-capped.
- The snake was bitten by the snake. I can't get along with the snake. From horror it has become narrower - the snake will eat it for dinner and say: “Start over.”
Pronouncing tongue twisters
There are also special tongue twisters for developing diction and eliminating problems with the pronunciation of certain sounds. A good way to figure out what exactly needs to be corrected is to listen to your own speech from the outside. Once the problems have been identified, you can begin to work on developing your diction.
First you need to learn how to pronounce an isolated sound correctly. Then it is necessary to achieve differentiation in speech of similar sounds, for example, “s” and “sh” or “r” and “l”. A significant help in correcting your speech can be pronouncing special phrases, for example:
- Lara played the lyre.
- Forty mice walked and found forty pennies, and two poorer mice found two pennies each.
- The Ligurian traffic controller was regulating in Liguria.
- A Cossack with a saber galloped towards Sashka to play checkers.
- Sasha walked along the highway and sucked on a dryer. Beavers wander into the cheese forests. Beavers are brave, but they are kind to beavers.
- The bull is blunt-lipped, the bull is blunt-lipped, the bull has a white lip and is blunt.
- There was a white-winged ram, which killed all the rams.
- I was at Frol’s, I lied to Frol about Lavra, I’ll go to Lavra, I lie to Lavra about Frol.
You should move on to working on the next sound only after you have achieved the correct pronunciation of the first sound.
Reading aloud
In addition to speaking tongue twisters, it is also useful to read aloud to develop diction. Recording your voice on a voice recorder can be a good incentive. Few people, having heard their speech, would not want to improve it. By reading passages from books and making audio recordings, you can practice your pronunciation until it becomes almost perfect.
How to learn to speak so that it is really pleasant and interesting to listen to you? When reading aloud, avoid monotony and change your intonation. In addition, it is worth changing the volume and speed of reading, learning to highlight the most important points with pauses. But at the same time, control your speech so that such pauses are appropriate and not too long.
Also, do not lose sight of the fact that a calm and confident voice is best perceived by others. Whether he will be like this largely depends on the mood and internal state of a person, his ability to control emotions. However, by developing diction, you can learn to speak calmly and convincingly. For example, why not imagine yourself as a politician and talk about the state of the economy in the country while sitting in front of a mirror?
Vocabulary expansion
Another important aspect that needs to be taken into account is the need for constant intellectual development and vocabulary replenishment. A well-developed person can carry on a conversation in any situation and find the right words. To become just like this, you should read more, solve crossword puzzles more often and attend various trainings on.
If you devote even a few minutes every day to working on improving your diction, within a few months you will begin to speak well, and your voice itself will be transformed beyond recognition. Moreover, all the efforts made will undoubtedly be rewarded over time.
Diaphragm training
In the question of how to deliver a speech, a very important aspect is the ability to control breathing. Without it, the text may be interrupted by pauses and breaths in places where this violates its meaning or worsens its emotionality. As a result, speech will become abrupt, and the meaning of what is said is perceived worse.
Therefore, one of the first exercises to develop diction should be training to develop proper breathing:
- Place your feet shoulder-width apart, straighten your spine, place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Inhaling through your nose, push your stomach forward. Then calmly exhale air through a small hole in your lips, returning your chest and stomach to their original position.
- To start speaking better over time, you can make the exercise more difficult. To do this, try to maintain proper breathing and at the same time walk, run in place, imitate chopping wood or sweeping the floor.
- You can improve the development of diction with the help of the following exercise. To begin, inhale calmly, and as you exhale, hold out any vowel for as long as possible. When you can hold a vowel for more than 25 seconds, try changing the tone of your voice.
Main causes of speech problems
It is impossible to achieve positive results in the development of diction if you do not understand the causes of speech disorders. Only rarely are they associated with health problems and develop, for example, due to an abnormal jaw structure or a short frenulum of the tongue.
For many people, speech problems are caused by incorrect pronunciation of whistling and hissing sounds, as well as the absence of the “L” or “R” sounds, or a violation of their pronunciation. A weakened articulatory apparatus may also be the cause.
Even if a person can speak well, pronouncing all sounds correctly, in particularly significant situations his speech may become slurred and unclear. After all, when pronouncing words, the articulatory apparatus needs to very quickly switch from one movement to another. This can only be achieved through active and intensive work of the muscles that need to be trained, for example, by regularly pronouncing tongue twisters for diction.
However, the main reason for slurred, quiet speech is a person’s shyness and lack of self-confidence. In such a situation, the development of diction is a secondary problem. First of all, you need to work on your own character and fight complexes.
Isn't it nice to listen to radio announcers or television show hosts who speak clearly and correctly? It turns out that anyone who is willing to work hard on their sound can become such a speaker. For a beautiful story, you will have to learn the rules of the language in which communication takes place. But mere truisms about grammar, vocabulary, and phraseology will not be enough. What else is missing from correct speech? How can I make it improve?
Train speech breathing
Good speech (phonation) breathing is the key to the correct placement of pauses in the story and the optimal duration of spoken phrases. Training the chest and abdominal muscles increases endurance, energizes you and even has a positive effect on your vocal abilities. One of the most effective exercises of this technique is done in this order:
- take a comfortable lying position;
- relax all your muscles, concentrate on your breathing;
- try to inhale so that the chest does not rise - switch to abdominal breathing;
- exhale slowly;
- repeat the steps until you feel that it has become easier to breathe through your “stomach” (and not your diaphragm).
“Adjust” volume
A speaker speaking from the podium speaks loudly and boomingly. In everyday communication, the sound is different - more even, calmer. If you reverse the situations, you get absurdity. No one will hear the quiet rhetorician. A listener who suddenly begins to sharply raise his tone will most likely not understand such a change and will be offended.
In a normal conversation with friends, colleagues, and loved ones, a softer tone is used, without exaggerating emotions. The story from the stage, on the contrary, sounds a little theatrical, loud. How to train your speaking voice:
- read prose or drama out loud, trying to present the climactic moments as vividly and sonorously as possible;
- start speaking a long phrase almost in a whisper, and end with almost a scream and vice versa;
- try to display the volume of heard sounds;
- experiment with timbre, parody the voices of famous people.
Correct breathing, described in the first tip, also helps a lot in setting the volume of the sound.
Watch your speech rate
The speaker took the stage. He is dressed in a clean, neat suit. On his face one can read the readiness to encourage action, determination. The gait is confident. The audience holds its breath. Stopping at the microphone, the speaker greets the audience. Everything is going according to plan, nothing should interfere with success.
But the whole process is disrupted by one ill-considered detail..
No, these are not problems in the text of the speech, not a sudden breakdown of the microphone. The announcer suddenly starts talking like a fifth grader who doesn’t like reciting poetry. He chatters, “swallows” the endings of words, and often misspeaks. There is a feeling that he is trying to get rid of the public as quickly as possible. And the audience doesn't like it. Listeners don't even understand what we're talking about. The speaker stubbornly ignores the problem
It's actually simple. Performing is stressful. When a person is nervous, all processes in his body instantly accelerate. Speech tempo is no exception. How to cope:
- 10 minutes before going on stage, start speaking very slowly and draw out your sentences;
- do articulation gymnastics - it will help you pronounce every word clearly even in a stressful environment;
- during a speech, ask a question to a person from the audience, tune in to the pace of his answer, or better yet, even slower;
- at home, voice out the story using a stopwatch and counting how long it takes to play each block. Take a stopwatch or timer with you to the event to refer to.
In everyday life, the temperament of the interlocutor also plays a role. Melancholic and phlegmatic people love leisurely, long conversations. Cholerics and sanguine people prefer to find out everything as quickly as possible. By catching and adopting the conversational style of a friend, you can better convey information to him.
Work with intonation
A completely neutral tone is only acceptable in a scientific report. In other situations, conveying emotions improves the story.
The correct change of intonation ensures a smooth transition between semantic blocks of speech and creates an impressive effect of contrast and surprise. The liveliness of the sound affects the audience better than the most reliable facts or arguments. To train intonation background, as well as for the voice, reciting works is suitable.
Improve diction
“Chewed”, “swallowed”, distorted sounds will not decorate either a public speaker or a simple storyteller. Good diction can be achieved in several ways:
- pronounce tongue twisters, practice chants, sing ditties;
- pronounce complex combinations of consonant sounds (dbdi-dbde-dbda, rzh-rsh-shr-zhr, skrpo-skpro);
- do speech apparatus gymnastics;
- study dictionaries to identify the correct stress in words;
- read texts aloud with a wine cork, marble or stone clamped between your front teeth.
You can use these methods separately, but together they will have a much greater effect.
Clear tongue
- vulgarisms, rudeness, especially obscene language;
- borrowed lexemes where the native language can be used;
- aimless tautologies - repetitions of the same words or phrases;
- inappropriate terms, jargon, professionalism, slang;
- inversions - incorrect word order.
Wait a second and a half before answering
This simple rule solves several problems at once. It allows you to make sure that the interlocutor has finished his remarks, which means he will not be interrupted by an answer. Politeness and knowledge of the rules of etiquette are just as important as diction or literacy.
At the same time, a second’s pause gives you the opportunity to collect your thoughts and start a new phrase clearly, organized, and clearly. It only takes a second and a half for the brain to start building logical chains. An instant response does not have this advantage. This pause will not be too long, and for the interlocutor, it is quite possible that it will remain completely unnoticeable.
Ask for help
Sometimes tackling a task on your own seems like an impossible task. Asking for help in such cases is normal. Who should I contact?
To friends. You can ask loved ones to listen to everyday conversations or the text of a speech and point out mistakes. Speech defects, its paucity, frequent repetitions, deviations from the main topic, an insufficiently sharpened sense of humor - these are what friends or relatives can identify.
To the specialists. Courses in public speaking, speech culture, and diction will help develop communication skills. In addition, visits to:
- personal development coaches (a confident person speaks accordingly);
- speech therapist;
- neurologist (prescribes medications to improve brain activity and blood circulation);
- a psychologist or psychotherapist (as in the example with a coach, only everything is on a deeper level).
To the Internet. If you don’t want to pay for success, you can try the option with YouTube channels. A large number of bloggers will gather here and share their “recipes” for improving speaking skills. However, there is a minus - sometimes serious mistakes appear in the speech of these “specialists”. Therefore, it would be better to find the website of a recognized expert and look for videos on his blog. Sometimes online webinars are held free of charge on such platforms.
A good voice recorder can also help. It will be enough to record your recitation, and then listen to it carefully, identifying errors, and then diligently working through them.
Correct speech is not delivered in a matter of minutes. To master the art of communication, you will have to practice diligently and daily. However, after the time and effort spent, a worthy reward will come. Those around you will listen to the speaker’s stories, greedily “swallowing” every word. The train of thought will speed up. People will begin to listen to advice or suggestions more often. A good reputation will be strengthened. Competent sound is a reliable attribute of success.
Competent speech is the key to success in life. After all, people are judged not only by their clothes, but also by their ability to correctly convey thoughts and write correctly. A person who knows how to express his thoughts simply, concisely and clearly, and construct sentences correctly, is always perceived more positively. Interlocutors, listening to competent speech, automatically assign a completely different, higher level of life competence to a person.
Have you ever lost or failed to get a job because you had too many writing errors or had to clearly explain why you were the right person for the job? The development of competent speech is one of the basic tasks of every self-respecting person. Even if you don't speak in public, the ability to speak beautifully and clearly is valued by everyone. So, how to develop competent speech?
Read fiction
Reading high-quality fiction can hardly be called a waste of time. In the modern world, we are exposed to a very large flow of information; we mainly listen to news or read it on the Internet. But the Internet, entertaining reading and business literature cannot replace good books by recognized domestic and foreign authors.
Reading novels helps to intuitively write correct, beautiful sentences and develops a sense of language. By reading fiction and scientific articles in special publications, a person expands his horizons and vocabulary. If you want to make your speech more lively and imaginative, read poetry. Identify the rhythm, metaphors and figures of speech that you would like to use.
Use dictionaries
Look for new words. If you hear or read a word whose meaning is unfamiliar to you, feel free to take a dictionary and find out what it means. The origin of words is a very interesting science. What if this becomes one of your hobbies?
In addition to the usual dictionary, there are dictionaries of metaphors, foreign words, special terms, even dictionaries dedicated to a particular science. Use them all - and your vocabulary will begin to grow quickly. You can always find the most accurate word and apply it in conversation.
Play educational games
As you know, children acquire almost all their knowledge of language before the age of seven. A child develops competent speech with the help of the people around him. There are also many games and techniques that allow you to develop your imagination, expand your vocabulary and learn to speak beautifully.
If possible, listen to yourself from the outside. Make an audio or video recording of your voice. If you are afraid to speak into a voice recorder or get an inaccurate result, ask someone close to you to record you during a normal conversation.
Evaluate your speech. Competent speech is always free from all unnecessary things. How accurately did you convey your message to others? Was she clear? Could it have been said shorter, clearer, more understandable? Are you pausing in the wrong places? Are you constructing your sentences correctly? Are your thoughts confused, are you jumping from thought to thought, confusing your listeners?
Watch the accents. Incorrect accents (call, jalousie and other tricky words, of which there are many in the Russian language) reveal an illiterate and ill-mannered person. There are two options: do not use these words or open the dictionary, textbooks and remember them firmly.
Edit what you've written
Have you written a letter, a message to a friend, a report to management or an artistic essay? Whatever it is, review the text as carefully as possible and try to give it a critical assessment. This is great speech training. If you practice “cleaning” your writing, you will see results very soon. In addition, spoken language will also change significantly!
Once you've written something, try to "switch" to something else (at least go and make yourself a cup of tea), and then return to the text with fresh eyes. Imagine that this is someone else's text. Does it have errors? How accurately is the thought expressed? Is everything clear to you as an outside reader? Is it possible to formulate this idea more clearly and concisely?
Correct speech and competent speech are always bright, expressive and understandable. Get rid of words that do not carry any semantic meaning. They often take up a third of the text, which is why your idea definitely loses. If you can use a simpler and shorter word, use it. You can also try reading it out loud (be sure to do this if you are preparing a speech that you will give).
Develop your voice
Not only grammatically and lexically correct speech is important for communication. Proper communication also includes using your voice. If you have applied all the methods outlined above, but at the same time express your thoughts in a monotonous voice, devoid of any intonation, listening to you will be unpleasant and not very interesting.
It's worth developing your voice. Do exercises, listen to speakers and try to repeat after them. Sign up for a public speaking course. Even with little effort, the results will please you, and your interlocutors will stop yawning.
Results
Competent speech is not given at birth. You need to work on this constantly, throughout your life. But even if you devote very little effort and time to developing your speech, but reading becomes your good habit, a more interesting and successful life is guaranteed to you.
The ability to speak beautifully and meaningfully is not given to everyone. This is preceded by long studies, great desire and patience. If you consciously decided to find the answer to the question: “How to develop clear, beautiful, concise speech at home?” – then the tips and steps described in the article will lead you to good results and lay the foundation for public speaking.
Before starting classes, you need to know the requirements and program of action. This simple scheme will develop a beautiful and complete speech, raise you in the eyes of your friends, and make you speak accurately about any text you read. To learn how to translate thoughts into words and formulate them into beautiful expressions without much difficulty, you should follow these points.
For lessons on improving speech you need:
- Great desire;
- Perseverance;
- Allocation of time and space;
- Confidence in the final goal;
- Support from loved ones.
The program, the points of which you will adhere to, is quite simple and interesting. Taking it as a basis, you can see its effectiveness and feasibility in a short time. This:
Classics are useful and irreplaceable
Classical literature contains beautiful and rich speech. The dialogues of the characters and their reflections contribute to the speaking of correctly constructed phrases. The verbal expressions sung by the authors reflect not only the era of time, the plot and the dynamics of development, but also the inner world, overflowing with morality and a high idea.
Any work that is a classic enriches the vocabulary. Beautiful words encourage the development of imagination; there is a desire to learn how to play with expressions built according to the rules, so that the listener receives not only useful information, but is also satisfied with the communication and does not regret the time spent.
The importance of pace
A thoughtful presentation involves content, timing, and pacing. Monotony, even with exceptionally ideal material, creates boredom, monotony and rejection. Learning to pause is no less important than the chosen topic and selected information.
Slow or fast speech is fraught with a lack of contact with the audience. Without understanding the content, the audience will simply stop responding to the performance. Then beautifully prepared information will turn into a mournful song or a complex tongue twister. Of course, over time this problem will cease to exist. The experience of speaking and feeling the public comes in the process of many days of work on oneself.
Adding flair
A dry text, full of necessary information, will be boring and uninteresting. When lively expressions, confirmed phrases of famous personalities, wise sayings and light humor are present during the conversation, the conversation will find a response from the listeners and the speech will be useful for everyone.
After several successful attempts, the annoying thought of how to quickly develop vivid speech and at the same time be sure to learn how to form phrases, speak richly and beautifully will be forgotten as unnecessary. Communication will bring emotions and satisfaction. There will be an opportunity to develop your thinking and develop your own style.
Mandatory practice
You will never achieve success in public speaking if you refuse to speak in front of strangers. The practice of speaking in public shows the shortcomings of prepared information, thoughtful speech and its quality, your ability to communicate and try to find like-minded people.
If you have a fear of public speaking– practice more often and it should go away. Also, there are special techniques and entire systems (such as Turbo-Gopher) for overcoming fears. For example, Turbo-Suslik can give: a feeling of inner freedom, ease both in communication and performances. There, of course, the results are more serious and more interesting, but this is for those who want a lot and are ready.
Learning to express what you think and feel gives you strength to move forward. Feedback from others revives forgotten ideas and goals. You find understanding in communication, check your life program and are reborn as a person. The ability to formulate thoughts beautifully adds confidence and significance in life.
Notebook - assistant for analysis
Train yourself after every important conversation to analyze its results. Write down your speech of condemnation or approval in a separate notebook, highlighting mistakes and successes. Don't be afraid to speak your thoughts out loud, as if you were in front of a responsible commission for improving education. Reduce and eliminate your own shortcomings.
Wishes
There are little tricks for understanding how to consolidate the acquired skills and further develop your competent speech, continue to speak beautifully and meaningfully.
- Be sure to think about every word, savoring and falling in love with it. Gradually, speech will turn into a beautiful, reimagined game in which there is text and feeling.
- It is necessary to memorize key phrases from films, books, programs and speak in public, confirming your erudition.
- Decipher the meaning of unknown words to learn the correct pronunciation, stress, and position in a sentence.
- Insert the beautiful phrase you like appropriately and correctly. Otherwise, there is a danger of exposing yourself to ridicule.
Systematic, daily exercises will develop speech that any listener will enjoy. Once you receive approval, you will want to speak and perform more.
When you set an important goal - to learn to speak your native language and develop communication abilities, then, undoubtedly, new opportunities and meaning in life will open up.
Anyone can learn to convey inner feelings through beautifully spoken words if they want to create the prerequisites for life balance and creative potential. The resulting harmony between a person and the environment will make you feel happy, successful, and recognized. Go and enjoy your success.
