Tuesday, February 3, 2015

'CONNECT' 20: Tips on Public Speaking: Avoid Mumbling.....


Communication is a skill that you can learn. It's like riding a bicycle or typing. If you're willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.
Brian Tracy

Have you heard of the word 'mumbling'? Mumbling is saying something very quietly and indistinctly. When we mumble others will find it very difficult to hear what we say. It is also called murmuring or muttering.

The major cause for mumbling is not opening the lips adequately. We have to pronounce the vowels and consonants properly. When we speak with a closed lips, we will not be able to pronounce the vowels and consonants distinctly and this will affect our articulation.

You can correct mumbling through some simple exercises.

Stand in front of a mirror and whisper the vowels a , e , i , o , u and notice how your lips move.  Open your mouth and exaggerate as you shout these vowels sounds. Again notice how your lips move when you shout these sounds. Repeat this exercise and practice speaking with your mouth open.

You can try one more exercise. Take a pencil or pen and bite it between your molar teeth and speak! Read a paragraph from a book. Practice this exercise for about five minutes.


This will relax your lips since you cannot move your jaws in this position.

Try these exercises and you will notice your diction and articulation improve.

N C Sridharan

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