The ability to speak clearly and convincingly is needed not only for those who speak at conferences or defend projects. Any life situations like a declaration of love, a discussion of plans or a spontaneous dialogue in the store require that others listen carefully, and you get the desired result from this conversation. And the key to mutual understanding will be correct and beautiful speech. Here's how to make it better.
Extra words appeared in your speech for a reason: they all serve some purpose. Here's how to isolate them and understand why they are needed:
Modern communication is filled with speech cliches and foreign slang, and some professions abound in their own modern terminology. That's why we pick up verbal garbage so easily. But you can get rid of it. Here's how to do it.
This is very important, because most often we pronounce them on the machine. Here's what you should do:
Take one of your catchphrases — for example, "shorter". And start to pronounce it deliberately loudly and often. Try to use it at least five times in one or two sentences: "In short, I heard here that, in short, there will be an interesting webinar tomorrow, in short, on the topic of correct speech, in short! We need to go, in short!"
It sounds ridiculous, but it is important to make this word jarring. After all, you often pronounce it without noticing it yourself. Now it will become easier to control your speech.
It only seems at first glance that when a person is silent, he has nothing to say. In fact, there is a huge power in speech pauses: this is a way to make you listen to yourself, to attract attention and make others wait for what you will say next.
After all, pauses give the interlocutor an opportunity to digest what you just said. And if a person fills them with mumbling, "uh..." or "I'll tell you now," then interest in the conversation is quickly lost.
To learn how to pause, try this method. Take any book, preferably a work of fiction, and start reading. After each word, pause for 2-3 seconds. During them, keep your lips closed. At the same time, you need to read with an expression, and not monotonously mumble.
Pronouncing one word, set the intonation of the continuing thought after a pause — so you will train to read with an expression. This activity will probably seem boring, but it's worth it: one page a day, and you will begin to notice changes.
You will realize that 2-3 seconds of silence is not so scary and even useful. Pauses can beautify and enrich speech — this is a great cure for "uh..." and "mmm..." or chatter incessantly. Believe me, nothing is more annoying than the abundance of unnecessary sounds and words in the speech of other people.
There are many ways to do this. Here are the main ones:
The speed of thinking shows how quickly a person is able to process information and react to it. We have been training this skill since childhood: games that develop fine motor skills, finger paints, modeling, assembling a pyramid and a constructor — all this activates the work of the brain. However, even in adulthood, do not forget about simple exercises that help you think faster.
One of the options is to perform asynchronous movements. For example, when we draw a circle with one hand and draw a line with the other. Or when we show "OK" with the left hand (a circle of fingers), and with the right — "Great" (thumbs up). And vice versa.
Mimicry exercises also work well: stretch a smile, shift your gaze from side to side, raise your eyebrows, stick out your tongue as much as possible, make faces, depicting different contrasting states, from positive to negative. A living face is the key to living thinking.