The voice determines the speaker's identity. If we are happy, sad, in a hurry, confident in ourselves, the voice is the main indicator of our condition. How does the voice so clearly reflect what is happening inside the person?
In the course of our evolution, certain parts of the human digestive and respiratory systems have adapted to the production of speech, creating our speech apparatus. However, since this apparatus is generated by our body, any physical or emotional problems will immediately affect our voice.
Breathing
The first thing you have to do in order to speak well is to breathe properly. Very often, speech and breathing are not synchronized, and this causes noticeable disturbances in voice production. Some people talk when they breathe and continue to talk even when they have no air in their lungs. This means that they do not take advantage of the air column, which should be formed by the lungs, and this requires additional effort from the terminal parts of the voice system.
The best way to breathe during a performance is by breathing in with a diaphragm and exhaling your stomach. This is how babies breathe, especially in their sleep.
A very simple exercise to improve breathing in order to improve the voice is daily reading for a few minutes of newspapers and magazines.
Diction
A useful exercise to improve diction is to read aloud with an object in your mouth, such as a pencil or index finger inserted horizontally, or any other object that makes pronunciation difficult. Ultimately, this will help to improve the articulation, as you will learn how to make the best use of your lip muscles.
But always be careful not to lose your naturalness. Keep practicing until you can pronounce your words correctly and effortlessly, as individual speech problems are always preferable to artificial speech.
speed
Another question that people often ask is how fast you need to talk during a speech: fast, very fast, very slow or very slow. Each speaker and each topic needs its own speed of speech: it depends on the breath, emotions, clarity of pronunciation and the message the speaker carries to the audience. If you say, "It happened at lightning speed," then your speech should be faster than normal. However, if you say, "He was moving slowly like a night shadow," you should do it slower than usual.
Make sure you have a clear diction
If you learn to pronounce words clearly, even if you speak quickly, people will understand your message and follow it.
Pause at the end of each argument
When you're done with the conclusion, pause and change the height of the voice to show you're done. This will allow people to digest the information they receive.
Repeat the important information
Develop a habit of repeating important information using different words to increase the listeners' chances of understanding your message.
If you pronounce words clearly, pause correctly and repeat important things, even if you speak quickly, you can turn this feature into an effective communication style.
Keep looking at your listeners
When you pause, keep looking at the audience. This way, your connection with them will not be broken.
Keep talking, with more emphasis
When you start talking again after a long pause, put a little more pressure and energy into your words to show that you are carefully choosing the information you are going to convey to your listeners and avoid the impression that you have a memory failure.
Make the necessary breaks
When you pause, accentuate it with your tone to show that you are going to continue your presentation, and when you do, stop.
Get rid of "uh" and "mmm" during breaks
Learn to be patient and wait for the right words in silence. In this way, you will get rid of the most common sin of slow-moving people.
If you take all these precautions, you can continue to speak slowly, turning this feature into a positive aspect of your communication style.