How to practice speech diction. How to develop clear speech: basic techniques and exercises

By nature, only a few have clear, correct pronunciation. In childhood, almost every second child faces a speech problem, but it is much easier to solve. An adult thinking about how to improve diction is faced with his own habit of speaking incorrectly. This makes it more difficult to work on yourself, and correcting your speech takes longer. "EasyUseful" offers you 5 steps to improve your speech quality. If you decide to work on your speech, you should fight the desire to put it off until later: only frequent practice will give results.

Step 1: train the organs of articulation

These exercises were developed by speech therapists and are aimed at correcting children's pronunciation deficiencies. But they act no worse on adults. The organs of articulation include lips, teeth, jaws, palate, alveoli, and tongue. Repetition of exercises: for children – 5 times, for adults – 25-30 times.

  • open our mouth as wide as possible, straining the muscles of the face and neck, hold it and close it on the count of “5”;
  • fold your closed lips into a tube, stretch them forward, hold for 5-10 seconds;
  • game of “snake”: quickly show and hide your tongue, smiling;
  • show your tongue, “pull” it through closed teeth back and forth, massaging it;
  • alternately inflate your cheeks and tap them with your fingertips, massaging;
  • “explore” the mouth with the tongue: move the tip along the palate, cheeks, teeth;
  • swing: open your mouth wide, smiling, on the count of “one” - lower your tongue to the lower jaw, “two” - lift it to the upper teeth;
  • hold your tongue protruding on your lower jaw motionless and relaxed for at least 5-10 seconds.

For an adult, this training is not as difficult as for a child. If the baby is tired and does not want to perform the required number of repetitions, you can continue after a couple of hours. You cannot force them to study: this will only aggravate the situation, and the child will simply close himself off from you.

Step 2: advanced articulation training

All classes are performed at home and are suitable for adults and children. If your child already knows how to read or recite poetry, you can adapt all the activities for him.
Reading aloud to improve speech clarity is great, but for better practice of sounds, it is recommended to use a regular stopper. We bite it with our teeth (no need to force it, just hold it) and read the book out loud, sing our favorite song, repeat after the audiobook announcer. The lips should be tense. It is enough to practice 10-20 minutes a day.

We read a poem or book out loud, trying to pronounce all sounds clearly, and perform physical exercises. Running, squats, swinging legs and arms are suitable. It is important that your breathing begins to falter. Then it will become harder to pronounce familiar words, and additional effort will be required. You can't imagine better gymnastics.

This exercise is only for adults, as it is not recommended for children to lick small objects. You need simple, smooth, clean stones. These can be bought or found in the river and boiled.
We put a few stones in our mouths to make it difficult to speak, and we begin to read and talk to ourselves. This activity is great for improving your pronunciation clarity.

Pronunciation of strange nonsense gives excellent results. “BDTTTRZ, VVGGRRRRHS, MRTTSEPN” - it is important to pronounce the middle of these words well and not swallow the ending.

This exercise allows you to quickly improve your diction. For a child, we can also advise you to put clean mother’s beads on a thread around your neck, take the lower end of them into your mouth and move the beads with your tongue, first in one direction, then in the other. Many parents make special beads for this exercise, stringing beads of different textures and sizes.

If a child speaks very poorly for his age, do not rush to take him to a neurologist. Visit your dentist to examine your mouth and measure the frenulum under your tongue and lips.

Step 3: speech therapy massage

Massage will increase blood flow in the speech organs, improve diction and clarity of speech. By working every centimeter of the tongue, we increase blood flow and force even the weakest parts of the muscle to work. Massage can be done for adults, the main thing is to know how to do it correctly.

  • for young children, it is important to carry out massage with communication, an interesting fairy tale, in order to prevent rejection;
  • maintain a smooth transition from massaging the face and neck to working with the tongue;
  • the movements are soft, gentle: alternately stroking and tapping with your fingertips to create vibration;
  • You can use a spoon or toothbrush to massage your tongue;
  • With your thumbs we make circular movements on both sides of the tongue, draw figure eights;
  • A handkerchief or napkin is placed under the tongue to prevent dripping saliva.

Step 4: tongue twisters

A lot has been written about speech exercises using tongue twisters. It’s a pity that many stubbornly ignore this simple training of the speech apparatus. Even a few repetitions a day will help improve articulation. By adding an exercise with pebbles in the mouth or a cork, you can double the effect of the tongue twister.
The main rule for choosing a text for a lesson is to focus on the sounds with which the child has problems. To improve your lessons, you can come up with your own tongue twisters.

Step 5: Watch your breathing

To find out how things are going with improving speech, it will be very useful to record the story on video or audio. Sometimes it seems to us that we speak purely, but others do not think so. To correct speech errors, it is important to learn to breathe fully. It happens that words and letters get confused because a person is used to speaking while swallowing half the words. Train yourself to maintain even breathing while speaking.

How quickly we speak determines how others understand our speech. With children, this problem is solved by the example of adults. If everyone in the family speaks correctly and measuredly, then the child will have the right example before his eyes.

Don't neglect the opportunity to improve your speech and the speech of your children. The ability to clearly, clearly, and understandably express one’s thoughts will be useful in all life situations. I wish you success!

Beautiful, clear speech is not only pleasing to the ear, but therefore creates affection for a person who can speak well. In some cases, it is absolutely impossible to do without this skill. For example, it is difficult to imagine a central television announcer who is unable to pronounce sounds clearly.

Good articulation will be useful to anyone who has to speak a lot for a wide audience: lecturer, teacher, politician, YouTuber. By regularly performing diction exercises, you can achieve noticeable success in the first weeks of classes.

Diction is not directly related to the voice, its innate characteristics. Diction is something that can and should be “improved” through regular training and special exercises. By “correct diction” we mean the clear and sonorous pronunciation of all phonemes that corresponds to the accepted norms of the language. To a large extent, it depends on the correct position of the organs of articulation (lips, tongue), and on the ability to breathe correctly. Expressiveness and rich emotional coloring of speech have an impact.

Attention! To achieve a lasting effect, diction training must become a habit, since without regular repetition of exercises the skill is quickly lost.

Slurred pronunciation, swallowed sounds - they say about such a person “he has porridge in his mouth.” The meaning of the spoken words is difficult to understand, the necessary expressiveness and motivating intensity are lost. In professions that require frequent public speaking, this is simply unacceptable.

If the voice is not a working instrument, mastering the skill of beautiful speech is no less useful. Being able to express your thoughts out loud clearly, intelligibly and easily, it is much easier to win over a business partner, employer, win a competition or get a desired place in a casting.

Types of exercises for developing diction and clarity of speech

Where should I start, how to improve my diction and clarity of speech? There are several different techniques that allow you to achieve amazing success with careful and regular exercise. Among them:

  1. - probably the most famous, widespread way of combating speech defects, which consists of quickly repeating phrases and rhymes composed in such a way as to train the clarity of articulation of difficult-to-pronounce sounds and sound combinations.
  2. Pure twisters - have a similar function to tongue twisters; their pronunciation also contributes to the development and consolidation of the skill of pronunciation of complex phonemes, however, they differ in form, representing a set of rhymed lines.
  3. – a set of speech therapy exercises to develop the mobility of the lips and tongue, with the goal of “teaching” them to take the correct position for clearly pronouncing syllables.
  4. Breathing exercises - the endurance of the lungs and vocal cords, the uniformity of breathing have a great influence on speech in general, therefore, when mastering the skills of correct speaking, one should not neglect the training of these instruments.

Important! When performing exercises for diction and voice training, it is useful to record the practice process on a voice recorder. This measure is needed in order to monitor the correctness of execution, record errors, problem areas that still need to be worked on.

Features of the exercises and how to perform them correctly

It should be remembered that starting to work on pronunciation even as an adult is associated with a number of difficulties. It is quite difficult to get rid of habits that have developed over the years and change the entire speech system from the ground up.

Experts recommend starting with developing articulation, training muscle endurance, training the speech organs to be in the correct position, and improving the timbre and tone of the voice. The following exercises are perfect for this and can be performed at any time and anywhere, the more often the better:

  • as a warm-up, it is recommended to make a long, drawn-out moo;
  • elements of breathing and articulation gymnastics contain an exercise during which you should make various sounds by hitting yourself in the chest with your palms;
  • clearly, with expression, pausing, read the poetic lines, changing the tone of the voice - raising and lowering it alternately;
  • read the texts of poems and prose at the same time as jumping rope, while running, trying to keep your breathing as even as possible;
  • pronounce words and whole sentences, stretching the facial muscles in a smile, maintaining clarity of pronunciation;
  • read aloud, after holding a small oblong object between your teeth, for example, a fountain pen; during the exercise, strive to clearly pronounce syllables and sounds;
  • The use of small round objects (for example, walnuts) placed behind one or both cheeks while reading poetry and literary texts helps develop articulation and train muscles.

Much attention should be paid to daily gymnastics of the speech organs, since it is impossible to develop speech and diction independently without this:

  1. opening your mouth as wide as possible, move the lower jaw forward, backward and to the sides;
  2. with your mouth open, stick your tongue out to its maximum length, folding it into a “sting”;
  3. slightly parting your jaws, smile broadly, run your tongue along the upper and lower rows of teeth, touching each tooth in succession with the tip;
  4. With the tense tip of your tongue, touch the inside of both cheeks, first with your mouth open, then with your mouth closed;
  5. stick out the most relaxed tongue from your slightly open mouth with a “spatula”;
  6. fold your arms on your chest, lean forward, in an inclined, slightly bent position, pronounce vowel sounds in the lowest possible tone: “o”, “y”, “u”. Having finished pulling one sound, straighten up and bend down again to perform the next approach.

Important! The duration of one exercise is at least 10 seconds. During one lesson, 4-5 approaches are performed.

The formation of correct pronunciation is inseparably linked with breathing, since without it speech itself is impossible. The air stream, touching the tense ligaments, produces a sound, the shape of which a person gives to other organs of the speech apparatus. Therefore, the answer to the question of how to improve diction, among other things, includes training the lungs and developing the diaphragm.

The ability to breathe is an integral part of life, but not everyone knows how to do it correctly. The following set of exercises will help strengthen your voice and give it a more pleasant, melodic timbre:

  • take a comfortable body position - lying, standing or sitting, press your left palm to your stomach, your right palm to the lower part of the sternum on the side, draw in air through your nose, controlling the expansion of the diaphragm with your hands, slowly exhale until the end;
  • slowly inhale through your nose, hold the air for a couple of seconds, exhale through your mouth;
  • inhale briefly, while exhaling, stretching as much as possible, pronounce any continuous vowel sound;
  • count as you exhale from 1, trying to pronounce the maximum number of numbers without haste;
  • while exhaling, pronounce combinations of vowel sounds, for example: “ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


Since it is impossible to develop diction in one day, when starting training, you should be patient. At the very beginning, it will be useful to draw up a lesson plan, outlining the range of problems that will have to be eliminated in order to obtain the desired effect. As your speech improves, correct and supplement the original sketch with new details.

You should not neglect any opportunity to perform exercises, since it is in their regularity that the key to success lies.

Reciting poems, pronouncing tongue twisters and tongue twisters will help you quickly “warm up” before a performance when you have a long and important conversation ahead. They must be learned and spoken out loud at least several times a day.

Acting or rhetoric courses will provide invaluable assistance with correct pronunciation.

Classes in stage speech, supported by diction exercises, among other things, will add sonority and charm to the voice, making it more expressive.

People with naturally clear diction are extremely rare. But don’t assume that diction cannot be improved. Each of us can improve our pronunciation. Correct diction can be achieved not only in childhood, but also in an adult. We will talk about special techniques and techniques in this article.

Diction is the clear pronunciation of sounds and words. Clear and beautiful speech has a positive effect on the perception of the person who has it. Therefore, not only the announcer of central television, but each of us must have clear and intelligible diction.

If you want not just to speak, but to make sure that your interlocutors understand you, you need to work on your diction. Especially if she needs it.

What does diction consist of:

Clear articulation(Correct and clear pronunciation of sounds). It is thanks to clear articulation that the speaker’s speech is legible and his interlocutors easily understand what he wants to convey. Violation of this indicator of diction may occur due to the physiological characteristics of a person. You can improve the clarity of pronunciation of sounds by training your tongue and lip muscles.

Correct articulation(Coordinated movement of the muscles of the articulatory apparatus). Malocclusions, frenulums, etc. have a negative effect on articulation. With such physiological deviations, burr and nasal sound may appear.

Timbre. Often, the manner of pronunciation is influenced by a person’s temperament. The speaker may tend to monotony or speed up his speech. Often it is haste that occurs in people with poor diction. But, as practice shows, almost anyone can “defeat” this problem.

Intonation. As for intonation, it is formed primarily from the ability to clearly pronounce vowel sounds and stress. You can set intonation with the help of some breathing exercises and reading aloud. Improving intonation is very difficult and painstaking work.

Is it necessary to read aloud to develop diction?

Every speech therapist will tell you that one of the best exercises for diction is reading aloud. At the same time, it is not the number of words read that is important, but the articulation and clarity of pronunciation of sounds.

When using this technique, do not forget that reading has other useful qualities. A pleasant “bonus” of this technique for improving diction will be an increase in vocabulary, improved imagination, and memory development.

Many people love to read, but their diction leaves much to be desired. That is why you need to read it out loud. Try to pronounce the letters and words written in books clearly and with expression, and paint your speech with emotional colors.

Regular reading aloud will help get rid of tongue-tied speech, slips of the tongue, hesitations and other things that negatively affect diction.

Since the text of books, especially in classical literature, is very different from the way we speak in everyday life, it will help you not only express yourself beautifully, but also shape your speech according to the literary language.

When reading aloud, do not rush. Sit in a comfortable chair and grab a book. It is advisable that this be one of your favorite books. Of course, militants or Russian “detectives” are not suitable for such practice. Difficult scientific literature too.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy has a very beautiful style. But his main work, War and Peace, contains too much French. Therefore, this work will not suit you. Practice on his earlier stories.

Soviet science fiction is very good for reading aloud. Especially the works of the Strugatsky brothers. Unfortunately, their modern followers have simplified the genre too much and are unlikely to be suitable for reading aloud.

Read the chosen work expressively, marking the accents and making the necessary pauses. If we return to the Strugatskys, then listen to the audio books of these authors, recorded by Vladimir Levashov. Take his diction as a standard and try to repeat it.

You can take it a step further and add a little artistry to your read-aloud. Try to imagine the characters of the work, their appearance and character. Then add individual notes to their remarks. But, of course, you shouldn’t forget about the most important thing – diction training. There is no need to overdo it with artistry.

Once you become confident in reading aloud, you can increase your reading speed a little. But it is important to pronounce sounds and words clearly and distinctly. As you increase your reading speed, you must avoid monotony and excessive acceleration. Even if on the next page of the book you find out the outcome of the event.

For reading aloud to be effective, it is important to read for at least 30 minutes a day. And within a month you will be able to achieve noticeable success. And in order to be absolutely sure that your diction is progressing, record on a voice recorder how you started reading aloud and how you read after some time of such regular training.

How to improve diction for an adult or a teenager?

WALNUTS. A good way to improve your diction is to use walnuts for this. They need to be placed behind the cheek (one on each side) and the tongue twister must be spoken for several minutes. After which you need to remove the nuts and say the same tongue twister again.

PENCIL IN THE TEETH. Hold a pencil between your teeth and read a poem from memory with expression.

IMPORTANT: Both methods can be used by both children and adults. With their regular use, you can improve your diction and make your speech more relaxed and free. This technique can be used even in cases of speech impairment due to a stroke.

RECORDING ON A DICTAPHONE. This technique can be combined with reading aloud, which we described above. Turn on the recorder before you start reading aloud and record a fragment of any text you read. Then you need to listen to the recording and mark the sounds that you pronounce incorrectly. When you read books aloud later, try to pay special attention to problematic sounds.

TONGUE TWISTERS. Perhaps the most famous way to improve your diction is tongue twisters. Repeat these rhythmic phrases daily. Pay special attention to the pronunciation of problematic sounds. If your diction suffers from incorrectly pronounced hissing or whistling sounds, then you can solve this problem with the help of a tongue twister:

ARTICULATORY GYMNASTICS. There are a lot of exercises to improve diction, which are included in the concept of articulatory gymnastics. With their help, you can significantly improve the pronunciation of an adult. We will talk about them in the section “Exercises for diction and articulation.”

BREATHING EXERCISES. Many people underestimate proper posture and breathing when communicating with other people. But without this it is impossible to have correct diction. Entire courses in the study of acting are devoted to correct inhalation and exhalation. And if you want to speak like Andrei Mironov or Vasily Livanov, then be sure to devote a few minutes a day to breathing training.

  1. Stand straight, place your hands on your waist and your feet shoulder-width apart
  2. Inhale slowly through slightly parted lips
  3. Then try also inhaling air while reading the text out loud
  4. Then make the task even more difficult: move around the room, take a breath and speak
  5. As you exhale, rise up and stretch the letter “mm-mm”

Warm-up for diction

Pencil in teeth is a great exercise for diction

Before public speaking, it is imperative to warm up your diction. To do this, you can use the methods described above. For example, take a pencil between your teeth and read a few tongue twisters. After which you need to say the same thing without a pencil.

Try saying complex words from the text you want to convey to your audience several times. Read your favorite poem from memory. A few minutes of this warm-up will be enough to stretch your vocal cords, facial muscles and prepare yourself for the performance.

You can also stretch your diction using the following exercises:

Stick it out and hide it We push the tongue forward as far as possible, then hide it back. We move our tongue forward and then back. Exercise duration - 2-4 minutes
Poking cheeks with tongue We begin to prick our cheeks with our tongue one by one. First we prick the left cheek, then the right. Exercise duration 3-5 minutes
"Teeth cleaning" Rotate your tongue in a circle in your mouth. The mouth must be closed. We do 15-20 rotations clockwise and vice versa
Circular movements We stretch out the tongue and twist it in a circle. We make 10-15 circles clockwise, then counterclockwise
"Tube - smile" We stretch our lips forward, after 3 seconds you begin to smile as widely as possible. First the lips forward, then back. We do this exercise for at least 3 minutes.
"Bubble" First we inflate one cheek, then the other. Duration 2 minutes

Working on diction and pronunciation

Oratorical talent is extremely rare. Almost all famous people intensively prepare for every public appearance. It is known that Cicero could not utter a single word without preparation. And he is still held up as an example as a great rhetorician.

There are many exercises with which your speech can become clear and beautiful. There are both universal exercises and those that are designed to help correct a specific problem. For example, a whistling “S”, an indistinct “L” or a violation in the pronunciation of the sound “R”. In order to solve these problems you will have to work.

Exercises for diction and voice

When speaking in public or during normal conversation, we use the muscles of the tongue and throat. It is logical that in order to speak beautifully, you need to “pump up” these muscles. But, unlike the biceps and pectoral muscles, we do not need sports equipment.

1. You can pump up the muscles involved in producing sounds by regularly pronouncing "A-E-O". At the same time, it is important to try not to open your mouth too much. The effect can be achieved by pronouncing sounds as deep as possible in the oral cavity.

2. A very good effect can be achieved in diction and by training your lips. To do this you need to say:

  • "GL", "VL", "VN"- for the upper lip
  • "KS", "GZ", "VZ", "BZ"- for the lower lip

3. You can also shape your tongue into a shovel shape and say "AND" And "E" repeatedly. Now let's give the tongue the shape of a hook and at the same time say "ABOUT" And "U".

4. We continue to “pump up” the muscles of the tongue. We close our mouth and, using internal movements of the palate, cheeks and lips, draw out the sound "M".

By performing these diction exercises, you can feel the results after just a few regular sessions.

Exercises for diction and articulation

Since the tip of the tongue “works” very actively in clear pronunciation, there are several exercises that will help improve its activity.

1. Imagine that your tongue is a hammer and hit your teeth with its tip. During such blows, “pronounce” yes-yes-yes-yes. Then try to pronounce the letters clearly "T-D".

2. For clear pronunciation of letters "TO" And "G" you need to “pump up” your larynx. To do this, inhale through your nose and completely empty your lungs through your mouth. The release of air through the mouth should occur sharply and resemble the sound "Ugh". Do this exercise several times.

3. If you notice that you have problems pronouncing letters "P" And "B", then train your labial muscles. To do this, you need to puff out your cheeks and release the air from your mouth with a vigorous clap.

4. It is also very important to learn how to control the amount of air. To do this, you need to use breathing exercises and practice in front of a mirror. Try reading a short text at normal volume. As a rule, you can easily control your voice. Now, do the same, but increasing the volume. There must be problems.

By regularly declaring the text at an increased volume, you will soon be able to control the amount of air needed and will be able to successfully speak in front of a large audience.

5. There is another exercise to improve articulation. Take a few lines from your favorite poem. Then eliminate the consonants from these lines and sing only the vowels. Then insert consonants and pronounce them loudly without changing the style of vowel pronunciation.

Articulation can also be improved with the following exercises:

If you notice that you are swallowing the endings of words, then read any text, emphasizing the endings of the words written in it. This needs to be done daily, and after a while you will be able to forget about this problem with your diction.

If you have a problem with the pronunciation of any particular letter, take an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language and clearly read all the words starting with this letter. Do this regularly. If desired, record this exercise on a voice recorder.

Tongue twisters for the development of diction

The most popular way to improve your diction is tongue twisters. They can also be used as a warm-up before a public speaking. In general, get into the habit of saying several tongue twisters every day. This training will help you overcome problems in pronouncing certain sounds and will make your speech more convincing and beautiful.

You don't need to set aside time for this type of training. You can repeat tongue twisters while getting ready for work. Experts believe that three weeks of using tongue twisters will make your speech smoother and your diction clearer.

Here are the most popular tongue twisters that will help improve your diction:

Christina. I’m from the South of Russia and used to often “ghekala”. When I studied in St. Petersburg I was very embarrassed about this. I searched the Internet and found a simple way to get rid of this speech defect. You just need to pronounce phrases containing the sound “Ge”. It is necessary to focus on this sound and pronounce it clearly. Within two weeks I began to pronounce this sound correctly and forgot about this problem.

Yuri. Even as a student, he participated in the drama club. Our leader tactfully hinted that my diction was not the best. And she asked me to read books out loud at least 30 minutes a day. I liked this exercise so much that I began to devote even more time to it. And the diction became noticeably better.

Video. A diction exercise that will make your speech beautiful in a week

You can't help but pay attention to your speech. In the vast majority of cases, when people begin to study this issue, they are horrified by the way they talk.

This refers specifically to pronunciation. After all, we all grow up in a certain language group, where a specific local dialect or outright Surzhik predominates.

For this reason, we have prepared a short material on the topic diction development. We were prompted to do this by the indignation caused by such words of some TV presenters as: “pasatrel” instead of “looked”, “skaal” instead of “said”, etc.

But at all times, clear diction and correct speech were considered a sign of a person’s education and development.

This is why you can’t be or count on it if such simple things as diction are at an indecently low level.

By the way, we have already talked about. Pay attention to them.

Let's make one last digression. You've probably heard the saying: “You are greeted by your clothes, but you are seen off by your mind”. This is a largely fair remark. The same goes for diction.

When you first meet a stranger, the first thing he will notice is your appearance and the way you speak.

If your words are chaotic, and their sound resembles a tape jammed into a tape recorder, then it is unlikely that a person will like or trust you after the first communication.

Therefore, the importance of good diction for any person is difficult to overestimate.

How to improve your diction

Before moving on to specific tips, you need to find out the meaning of the term itself.

Diction(from Latin dictio - pronunciation) - clear pronunciation of sounds in accordance with the phonetic norms of the language.

Today, in many large cities there are various organizations offering courses to improve diction and voice production.

Perhaps for some this is the only option to work on themselves. However, we are confident that with a little effort of will, you can correct pronunciation problems even at home.

The main thing here is to have perseverance, a desire to change, and regular practice. Everything else is a matter of time.

Therefore, we offer you the most effective methods for improving diction. Check them out and start taking action now.

Diction exercises

A classic example of working on oneself is the ancient Greek orator Demosthenes. This outstanding Greek had very poor pronunciation and was extremely ashamed of it.

It must be said that this was a time when oratory, rhetoric and eloquence were valued as perhaps the highest personal values.

To overcome himself and achieve success, Demosthenes put small stones in his mouth and tried to recite famous poets out loud as clearly as possible.

Then he ran up the steep climb of the mountain, and when he was completely out of breath, he again recited poetry, making incredible efforts on himself.

His last exercise was to shout over the surf. When the waves hit the shore, he spoke as loudly as he could to an imaginary audience, continuing to tell them poems.

These amusing and seemingly stupid activities led to the fact that Demosthenes became one of the most prominent and famous orators. Today, not a single book about the art of eloquence is complete without mentioning it.

So no matter how bad your speech is today, you can improve it, so go for it!

Now let's move on to the exercises themselves.

Articulation apparatus training

  • “Fence” - clench your teeth and smile widely. Hold this position for ten seconds and return to the starting position. Make sure that the upper and lower rows of teeth are clearly visible. Repeat the exercise several times.
  • “Tube” - without opening your teeth, stretch your lips forward. At the same time, you can drag out the sound “oo-oo-oo-oo” for ten seconds. Repeat the exercise.
  • “Needle” - open your mouth and extend your sharp tongue as far as possible. Hold this position for five seconds. Then relax your muscles. Repeat several times.
  • “Damn” - show your tongue to your reflection by placing it on your lower lip and making it as wide as possible. Repeat.
  • “Lick your lips” - relax your lower jaw and try to keep it in one position. Lick your upper lip, extending your tongue as far as possible. Repeat the same action with your lower lip.
  • “Swing” - touch your upper and lower lips with your tongue alternately. Perform the exercise at a slow pace and try not to move your chin.
  • “Hamster” - close your lips and press the inside of your tongue onto your cheek for five seconds. Repeat the manipulation with the other cheek.

Breathing training

Therefore, pay at least a little attention to this, especially since there is nothing complicated here. There are hundreds of breathing exercises; which one to choose is up to you.

  • Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. Take a deep breath, and then, slowly exhaling the air, calmly read any quatrain. Repeat several times.
  • Learn to breathe with your belly. We will not go into the intricacies of the physiological structure of the diaphragm, but simply explain: when inhaling, imagine that the air is entering the stomach, and not the lungs. This is a very important, and perhaps the main point in breathing exercises.
  • If you walk a lot, try reciting poems as you walk without your breathing bothering you. The body itself will tell you the right rhythm.
  • This exercise can be done in any body position. Take a deep breath, and then, slowly exhaling the air, make the sound “mm-mm-mm.” Alternate it with the sounds “m-m-m-e-e-e”, “m-m-m-o-o-o”, “m-m-m-u-u-u”, “m-m” -m-a-a-a”, “m-m-m-y-y-y”, “m-m-m-i-i-i”.

Here it is important to understand that when doing exercises for diction, breathing does not play some mystical role, but a completely physiological one. Therefore, the most important thing is for you to understand the importance of breathing exercises.

By observing your breathing for at least a few minutes a day, you will be surprised at the results you get.

Tongue twisters for the development of diction

Tongue twisters that are used to develop diction are very different. You can find a lot of them on the Internet. In principle, it doesn’t matter much which tongue twisters you use.

The main thing is that they practice pronunciation of all letters of the alphabet.

Below we present classic tongue twisters that activate all the muscles of the speech apparatus of a Russian-speaking person.

Keep in mind that all pictures are optimized for social networks, so you can safely save them to your wall.

By the way, you might like the popular tongue twister about the Japanese: . Be sure to read it!

And for real connoisseurs, we have prepared it in Russian.

Finally, here is a poem by the famous poet Valery Bryusov, which is often used by announcers to prepare for a performance. It includes hard-to-pronounce words that help to do high-quality gymnastics of the speech apparatus.

And if you don’t like tongue twisters, then to develop your diction it will be enough to read this verse regularly.

Storm from the shore

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Correct speech and correct pronunciation are rare among “mere mortals” in our time. It happens that a person chatters so much that you think he’s a foreigner, and then it turns out that you speak the same language.

Good diction is a quality needed, first of all, by people: politicians, journalists, speakers, call center operators. However, if you want to be successful, then you will also have to work on your speech.

Strengthening muscles

To prevent your tongue from getting twisted, you need to train it! And besides the muscles of the tongue, you also need to train your lips, lower jaw and proper speech breathing. That's where we'll start.

Speech breathing exercises

  • Developing the diaphragm: take a position that is comfortable for you - standing, sitting, lying on your back - place one hand on your stomach, the other on your chest. Inhale through your nose, allowing your chest and abdomen to expand. Then - calmly exhale through the nose, the stomach and chest take the initial position.
  • Inhale quickly through your nose, hold your breath for 2-3 seconds and exhale slowly through your mouth.
  • Open your mouth wider and take a quick breath. As you slowly exhale, pronounce one of the vowel sounds (a, o, u, e, s, i).
  • Count to five on one exhale. If this exercise is easy for you, count to ten. Is it still easy? Count backwards!
  • Read sayings and proverbs in one breath. To avoid going too far, here are some examples:
  • "Moo"! Close your lips and make a sound m, changing the intonation and volume of your voice.
  • "Growl"! This time you don't have to close your lips. Play with sound R– also change the sound volume and intonation.
  1. There is grass in the yard, there is firewood on the grass: one firewood, two firewood - do not cut wood on the grass of the yard.
  2. They build with their right hand and break with their left.
  3. Don't spit in the well - you'll need to drink the water.
  4. Whoever lied yesterday will not be believed tomorrow.
  5. Toma cried all day on a bench near the house.
  6. How thirty-three Egorkas lived on a hillock: one Egorka, two Egorkas, three Egorkas... (You can count Egorkas as long as your breath allows!)

Exercises for the tongue, lips and jaw

  • Place a mirror in front of you and show yourself your tongue for five minutes: stick it out as far as possible, then quickly hide it back behind your teeth, then stick it out again and hide it again.
  • Touch the tip of your tongue to the inside of your left cheek, then your right. Repeat these movements for 7-10 minutes.
  • Starting position: mouth closed. “Polish” the teeth from the inside - 20-30 circular rotations clockwise and counterclockwise.
  • Stick out your tongue and begin to rotate it in the air 15 circles clockwise and 15 counterclockwise.
  • Pull your lips together and then stretch them into a smile. Repeat the combination for 7 minutes.
  • Puff out your cheeks. Start moving the air (with saliva) first clockwise, then counterclockwise.
  • Make a little face at yourself - it will warm up your facial muscles and lift your mood.

We speak correctly

In order for your pronunciation to be beautiful and correct, learn a few simple rules:

  • Don't "swallow" the endings of words! Very often, when speaking quickly, people miss endings. To learn how to avoid this, recite the following series:

PTKA - PTKO - PTKU - PTKE - PTKI - PTKY

TPKA - TPKO - TPKU - TPKE - TPKI - TPKY

KPTA - KPTO - KPTU - KPTE - KPTI - KPTY

BI - PI - BE - PE - BA - PA - BO - PO - BU - PU - BU - PY

PI - BI - PE - BE - PA - BA - PO - BO - PU - BU - PU - WOULD

MVSTI - MVSTE - MVSTA - MVSTO - MVSTU - MVSTY

ZDRI - ZDRE - ZDRA - ZDRO - ZDRU - ZDRY

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