4 Tips to Speaking Clearly |
Posted: May 17, 2018 |
You’re scheduled to give an important speech for work. You want the audience to like your speech and more importantly, to respond. To get the right results, the audience must be able to understand what you’re saying. To accomplish your goals, you should follow these tips.
Enunciate Your Words
Many people take shortcuts when talking. They skip over sounds and even entire words. The result is that often no one understands what they just said. While you may be able to do this in a one-on-one conversation and still be understood, you won’t get the same results when speaking to a group.
If you have trouble with enunciation, you can learn with the help of a business speech coach. You can hire a speech coach to teach you how to say your words correctly so that you’re more easily understood.
Choose the Right Words
What you say is just as important as how you say it. You should make sure to use words that are easy to pronounce. You may think that by using big words, you sound more like an expert. However, most people will prefer shorter, simpler words that are easy to understand.
Another issue with using technical or complicated language is no one will know what you’re talking about. Present your information in layman’s terms so that everyone in the audience can understand what you’re talking about. Even people in the same industry may not always know all the technical jargon, so it’s best to keep things simple.
Speak Slowly
If you’re nervous, you may be tempted to talk fast. You’re more likely to mumble your words and even skip over some in your hurry to finish. Instead, take a deep breath, pause at certain points, and try to maintain an even flow to your speech.
You may need to practice your speech several times to get the right speed. Get comfortable with speaking slowly so you can do it when it’s time to give your speech in front of others.
Don’t Let Your Accent Derail You
If you travel to give speeches, you may find you have a different accent than your listeners. A strong accent can make it difficult for others to understand what you’re saying. You may want to consider hiring an accent reduction coach to help you speak more clearly.
An accent reduction coach works with you to help you learn how to enunciate your words without an accent. They can teach you the best way to speak so anyone can understand what you say regardless of where they’re from.
Speaking in public can be challenging, but the goal is to be heard and understood. No matter how fancy your presentation or how interesting your topic, you won’t get the results you want if people don’t know what you’re saying. Learn how to enunciate your words, speak slowly and use words that everyone can understand. Don’t be afraid to hire professional help with a speech coach so you can improve your ability to be understood.
Claudette Roche is a speech coach in the Vero Beach, FL area. She teaches foreign and American accents to actors and business persons/executives. In 2010 she was named as one of The Top 5 Voice Coaches by Hollywood Weekly Magazine.
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