Dear Reader, lack of Speech Clarity is the most common problem I come across and I urge you to read below and have a go.
Free Lesson on Speech Clarity (my recent newsletter)
Okay, so the most common problems that people arrive with, either in person at my flat, or on the screen, that are holding them back from speaking clear, well enunciated English, for conversation, or public speaking, are the following …
Speech Clarity Inhibitors
- The jaw is held too tightly, ie the upper and lower jaw are held too closely together,
- the tongue is held too far back in the mouth
- and the lips stay in a nearly closed, letter box shape.
Speech Clarity Solutions
If you were to alter these 3 simple things – you would improve your diction and clarity immediately.
An Important Note
To enable this to happen without you feeling like you look like one of the muppets with a wide gaping orifice every time you speak – you need to develop the elasticity of your lips.
Example
For example: try saying ‘We’
The Method
- For a really good ‘w’ you need to contract your lip muscles into a rose bud shape with a tiny hole in the middle.
- For the ‘ee’ sound, you need to let the corners of your lips spread outwards towards your ears, into a wide (not deep) smile and keep your tongue down and forward, making sure your tongue tip, is touching the back of the lower front teeth.
- The ideal gap between your upper and lower teeth is your little finger – especially and even – when your lips are pouted for the ‘w’.
Speech Clarity Summary
- When you are talking, your teeth should always be at least the depth of your little finger’s width, apart.
(Apart from when you’re making an ‘s’ when the teeth are closer)
Focus on the back teeth being apart, especially where the hinge of your jaw is. If you think about keeping your furthest back molars (the big teeth) apart, this really helps. - Your lips need to be elastic and move a lot, to help the sound project out of your mouth by either not blocking the breath or blocking or channelling the breath through a specific shape, to make precise consonants like ‘w’
- For all of your vowels and the different sounds that are made from them (and some of your consonants) always keep your tongue down and forward so that the tip of your tongue touches the back of your lower front teeth.
Learning Videos
If you would like to see videos that relate to these three important tips for speech clarity and that can dramatically improve your confidence – please click here
My Promises
In my experience, no voice problem is too hard to solve and no speech habits, however entrenched, are too hard to change. © Rachel Preece 2025.