Exercises for Pronunciation, Articulation, and Diction

Found some great exercises and suggestions for pronunciation – articulation and diction, useful for public speaking, improving English, etc. I haven’t seen some of these written out before, I like it. A few of the exercises will be pasted up on my wall to get things warmed-up for the day. Wiki How has posted some very helpful suggestions though I noticed one of them is to practice full-on vocal scales. Some singers do warm ups like these for at least 30 minutes to an hour or more on a daily basis. I’m not sure that it’s practical to expect oneself to remain committed to training the voice on a daily basis unless you’re a performer. I think this requires a certain amount of concentration that may preoccupy a person with their ‘vocal temple’ or perhaps even one’s ‘craft’ and things of that nature. However, increased breath support can make communicating effortless, like butter, and who knows? Starting the day out (with Broadway) could be just the thing…

·         SAY:

      You know New York, you need New York, you know you need unique New York. (Repeat).

·         Red leather, yellow leather. (Repeat).

·         While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash Washington's windows with warm washing water.

      

      SAY:

Unvoiced
Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pah
Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Paw
Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Poo
Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pee
Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pa Ta Ka Pay

Voiced
Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Bah
Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Baw
Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Boo
Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Bee
Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Ba Da Ga Bay

SAY: 

la la la la
lala lala lala
lalala lalala lalala
Then change the initial sound L, T, D, K, G etc.

Get your hands involved. Massage the cheek muscles, the masseter, the lips and everywhere you dare to go. Holding and stretching the tongue can also be a great way to warm it up. Underneath the tongue is also another tension spot.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS:

---

     Read aloud. If you’re reading a book or even just the news in the morning, practice reading it out loud. Doing this will help you become more familiar with how you sound when you speak.

Practice speaking with a cork in your mouth. Many actors and voice actors do this exercise to increase clarity and diction, especially when it comes to something like Shakespeare.^[5]By putting a cork between your teeth and speaking aloud you train your mouth to work extra hard to really pronounce every syllable, and the cork will also prevent your tongue from tripping you up on certain words.

·        

Practice jaw exercises to enhance clarity of speech. Relax your jaw to make your speech a lot clearer with some exercises.

Watch your posture. Just like breathing, your posture plays a large role in your speech clarity, and it’s something that we sometimes forget to take into account.

http://www.stagemilk.com/articulation-exercises/
https://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Clarity-of-Speech