Is the speech correct? Speech technique - the art of speaking beautifully

Competent oral speech will greatly help you in life when speaking in public or in personal conversation, when finding a job and defending your diploma. Poor vocabulary and difficulties in expressing thoughts coherently, on the contrary, can do a disservice.

Any skill, like the skill of competent conversation, can be acquired. Reading quality literature helps with this. You should not rely on reading material consisting of ephemeral books. Their authors, at times, themselves suffer from illiteracy. You should focus on reading the classics, on the works of the world's best authors.

Retelling books or films that have sunk into the soul helps to acquire speech literacy. Try to make the retelling detailed and watch those listening to you so that they do not get bored. If this suddenly happened, it means you failed to convey to them your impressions of the film. Perhaps the listener is confused by the personal pronouns with which you are trying to make a point. He no longer understands who “he” or “she” is and why there are so many of them.

Extra words that clog speech need to be removed from use. They make no sense and do not contain useful information. Examples of such words and expressions are the tautology: “minute of time”, “raise up”, “not the month of May”. After all, May cannot be an hour or a year, so why use the extra word “month” next to it?

Tautology is an unnecessary repetition of words that are close in meaning or have the same root. Vivid examples of tautology: “ask a question” and “oil”. Try not to use such expressions. Watch the speech of TV presenters, politicians or your closest friends. Analyze their mistakes, try to find a replacement for their unsuccessful turns. Then it will become easier for you to catch speech incidents in your conversation.

Try to avoid words whose meaning is unclear to you. Otherwise, you will be like Shchukar, who believed that a modest girl is called a “lampshade,” and a girl of easy virtue is called a “curb.” A dictionary of foreign words and an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language perfectly enrich the lexicon. But don't forget about the correct stress in words!

Slang, both professional and youth, is not always appropriate. If it is acceptable at work or among friends, then it is hardly worth using in official conversations.

Constantly monitor your speech, and then it will gradually become beautiful and competent.

Isn't it nice to listen to radio announcers or television show hosts who speak clearly and correctly? It turns out that anyone who is willing to work hard on their sound can become such a speaker. For a beautiful story, you will have to learn the rules of the language in which communication takes place. But mere truisms about grammar, vocabulary, and phraseology will not be enough. What else is missing from correct speech? How can I make it improve?

Train speech breathing

Good speech (phonation) breathing is the key to the correct placement of pauses in the story and the optimal duration of spoken phrases. Training the chest and abdominal muscles increases endurance, energizes you and even has a positive effect on your vocal abilities. One of the most effective exercises of this technique is done in this order:

take a comfortable lying position;
relax all your muscles, concentrate on your breathing;
try to inhale so that the chest does not rise - switch to abdominal breathing;
exhale slowly;
repeat the steps until you feel that it has become easier to breathe through your “stomach” (and not your diaphragm).

“Adjust” volume

A speaker speaking from the podium speaks loudly and boomingly. In everyday communication, the sound is different - more even, calmer. If you reverse the situations, you get absurdity. No one will hear the quiet rhetorician. A listener who suddenly begins to sharply raise his tone will most likely not understand such a change and will be offended.

In a normal conversation with friends, colleagues, and loved ones, a softer tone is used, without exaggerating emotions. The story from the stage, on the contrary, sounds a little theatrical, loud. How to train your speaking voice:

read prose or drama out loud, trying to present the climactic moments as vividly and sonorously as possible;
start speaking a long phrase almost in a whisper, and end with almost a scream and vice versa;
try to display the volume of heard sounds;
experiment with timbre, parody the voices of famous people.

Correct breathing, described in the first tip, also helps a lot in setting the volume of the sound.

Watch your speech rate

The speaker took the stage. He is dressed in a clean, neat suit. On his face one can read the readiness to encourage action, determination. The gait is confident. The audience holds its breath. Stopping at the microphone, the speaker greets the audience. Everything is going according to plan, nothing should interfere with success.

But the whole process is disrupted by one ill-considered detail..

No, these are not problems in the text of the speech, not a sudden breakdown of the microphone. The announcer suddenly starts talking like a fifth grader who doesn’t like reciting poetry. He chatters, “swallows” the endings of words, and often misspeaks. There is a feeling that he is trying to get rid of the public as quickly as possible. And the audience doesn't like it. The listeners don't even understand what we're talking about. The speaker stubbornly ignores the problem

It's actually simple. Performing is stressful. When a person is nervous, all processes in his body instantly accelerate. Speech tempo is no exception. How to cope:

10 minutes before going on stage, start speaking very slowly and draw out your sentences;
do articulatory gymnastics - it will help you pronounce every word clearly even in a stressful environment;
during a speech, ask a question to a person from the audience, tune in to the pace of his answer, or better yet, even slower;
at home, voice out the story using a stopwatch and counting how long it takes to play each block. Take a stopwatch or timer with you to the event to refer to.

In everyday life, the temperament of the interlocutor also plays a role. Melancholic and phlegmatic people love leisurely, long conversations. Cholerics and sanguine people prefer to find out everything as quickly as possible. By catching and adopting the conversational style of a friend, you can better convey information to him.

Work with intonation

A completely neutral tone is only acceptable in a scientific report. In other situations, conveying emotions improves the story.

The correct change of intonation ensures a smooth transition between semantic blocks of speech and creates an impressive effect of contrast and surprise. The liveliness of the sound affects the audience better than the most reliable facts or arguments. To train intonation background, as well as for the voice, reciting works is suitable.

Improve diction

“Chewed”, “swallowed”, distorted sounds will not decorate either a public speaker or a simple storyteller. Good diction can be achieved in several ways:

pronounce tongue twisters, practice chants, sing ditties;
pronounce complex combinations of consonant sounds (dbdi-dbde-dbda, rzh-rsh-shr-zhr, skrpo-skpro);
do speech apparatus gymnastics;
study dictionaries to identify the correct stress in words;
read texts aloud with a wine cork, marble or stone clamped between your front teeth.

You can use these methods separately, but together they will have a much greater effect.

Clear tongue

vulgarisms, rudeness, especially obscene language;
borrowed lexemes where the native language can be used;
aimless tautologies - repetitions of the same words or phrases;
inappropriate terms, jargon, professionalism, slang;
inversions - incorrect word order.

Wait a second and a half before answering

This simple rule solves several problems at once. It allows you to make sure that the interlocutor has finished his remarks, which means he will not be interrupted by an answer. Politeness and knowledge of the rules of etiquette are just as important as diction or literacy.

At the same time, a second’s pause gives you the opportunity to collect your thoughts and start a new phrase clearly, organized, and clearly. It only takes a second and a half for the brain to start building logical chains. An instant response does not have this advantage. This pause will not be too long, and for the interlocutor, it is quite possible that it will remain completely unnoticeable.

Ask for help

Sometimes tackling a task on your own seems like an impossible task. Asking for help in such cases is normal. Who should I contact?

To friends. You can ask loved ones to listen to everyday conversations or the text of a speech and point out mistakes. Speech defects, its paucity, frequent repetitions, deviations from the main topic, an insufficiently sharpened sense of humor - these are what friends or relatives can identify.

To the specialists. Courses in public speaking, speech culture, and diction will help develop communication skills. In addition, visits to:

personal development coaches (a confident person speaks accordingly);
speech therapist;
neurologist (prescribes medications to improve brain activity and blood circulation);
a psychologist or psychotherapist (as in the example with a coach, only everything is on a deeper level).

To the Internet. If you don’t want to pay for success, you can try the option with YouTube channels. A large number of bloggers will gather here and share their “recipes” for improving speaking skills. However, there is a minus - sometimes serious mistakes appear in the speech of these “specialists”. Therefore, it would be better to find the website of a recognized expert and look for videos on his blog. Sometimes online webinars are held free of charge on such platforms.

A good voice recorder can also help. It will be enough to record your recitation and then listen to it carefully, identifying errors, and then carefully working through them.

Correct speech is not delivered in a matter of minutes. To master the art of communication, you will have to practice diligently and daily. However, after the time and effort spent, a worthy reward will come. Those around you will listen to the speaker’s stories, greedily “swallowing” every word. The train of thought will speed up. People will begin to listen to advice or suggestions more often. A good reputation will be strengthened. Competent sound is a reliable attribute of success.

Beautiful, literate speech is an indicator of education, a guarantee that you will be understood correctly. Therefore, the phrase “who owns the word, owns the world” is still relevant in our time. After all, literacy and figurative speech are a characteristic feature of world leaders, diplomats and other personalities. Therefore, if you can correctly and clearly convey thoughts and ideas to others, then professional career growth is guaranteed to you.

Competent, beautiful speech helps us establish full communication with our interlocutor. And incorrect speech delivery with a large number of stylistic errors will negate all efforts, for example, when communicating with a boss or in a conflict situation in the family.

In addition, literacy is incompatible with swear words; even a good-looking person uses open swear words in his speech, but he still will not become a cultural intellectual. Therefore, good speech and verbal abuse and swearing are incompatible.

Moreover, literacy is not only the ability to accurately and clearly express thoughts, but also to speak to the point so that everyone can understand everything.

Trying to make your conversation literate, pay attention not only to your vocabulary, but also to culture. To do this, speak taking into account the rules and norms of punctuation, as well as the style of the Russian language.

Literacy is compliance with the rules of stress placement, the ability to raise or lower the tone at the right moment, maintain intonation, and the ability to withstand pauses.

Criteria that determine speech literacy

Speech culture:

relevance;
literacy of voiced information;
accessibility of expression;
use of epithets, metaphors and phraseological units;
variety of speech without tautology;
aesthetics.

The paucity of vocabulary and illiteracy repels the interlocutor and irritates. Even if you allow yourself to be tongue-tied at home, it is unlikely that you will conduct a business conversation correctly and will be able to express yourself competently when talking with your boss. And over time, when you have children, they will pick up illiterate words from you.

How to improve your speech

During the conversation, maintain a friendly tone and change your intonation depending on the situation. To make your tone and intonation richer, learn to read with expression.

How to develop speech correctly

Those who require literacy for professional growth will not be able to cope without specialized literature. In this case, use the works of Radislav Gandapas and the manual by I. Golub and D. Rosenthal “Secrets of Stylistics”.

Help from professionals

If you need a teacher, then a highly qualified teacher will give you a competent speech. But where can you find it? Contact your school teacher or a philologist you know, and if the opportunity allows you to take lessons from a teacher specializing in rhetoric, then you should take advantage of it.

Making your speech literate is no more difficult than losing weight, but to achieve this you just need to want it.

We all know how to talk. But still, not everyone expresses their thoughts beautifully and correctly: some are pleasant to listen to, while others cannot convey their thoughts to the listener and attract attention. How to learn to speak correctly? This is quite possible if you put in the effort and act purposefully.

Why speak correctly?

Why is correct speech needed? In general, conversation is the main communication tool of intelligent people; with its help they express their thoughts, transmit and receive information, achieve goals, that is, in essence, interact with each other. Although, of course, even incoherent phrases are quite understandable, but will the one who utters them be taken seriously? Surely not.

So why do we need correct speech?

To communicate and be understood. If you express yourself clearly, you will be able to convey your thoughts faster and get answers to questions.
To learn and develop. Currently, educated people are valued, and in order to become just such a person and achieve the perception of oneself as an accomplished person, you need to learn to speak correctly.
To achieve success in your professional activities. An employee who cannot speak and express thoughts competently is unlikely to build a career, especially in a large organization. But a skillful and talented speaker will certainly show his best side and become successful.
To educate the younger generation. Children absorb everything like sponges, and if parents use foul language or do not have proper speech skills, then the child will probably not learn to speak correctly.
To be proud of your language, because everyone is beautiful in their own way.

The essence of the concept

What is correct speech? This concept does not have an exact definition, but it is completely logical that it implies the ability to speak competently, clearly and beautifully, to express and convey one’s thoughts, to construct phrases and sentences. It would seem that we are taught all this from childhood, but this does not mean that everyone will be able to conduct a competent conversation. To learn to speak beautifully and correctly, you need to have a sufficient vocabulary, think logically and form chains of words, and use the components of speech appropriately and gracefully.

Components of competent speech

The technique of competent speech includes several components:

Diction, that is, the correct and clear pronunciation of all sounds. Without this component, you will simply “distort” the words.
Breath. If you do not learn to breathe correctly during a conversation, then your speech will not be properly constructed and convincing enough. In addition, long sentences will automatically cause discomfort.
Precise, concise and understandable presentation. You should not oversaturate your speech with unnecessary words: drawn-out sounds, introductory phrases, interjections and other not the most important, and sometimes completely unnecessary elements.
Content is the topic of conversation, that is, what you are talking about. You must initially define the essence and stick to it so that your idea is clear and understandable.
Logic is about correctly constructed phrases and sentences, as well as appropriately used individual words. Competent speech must be logical in order for the speaker to be understood.
Vocabulary is the words you know and can use. If the idea is complex, then it is unlikely to be conveyed using a limited number of concepts.
Oratory skills are what make a speech interesting, filled with meaning and emotion. Talented speakers used to be worth their weight in gold, and in modern life such skills will come in handy in many situations.

How to learn to do it correctly?

If you still don’t know how to speak competently and beautifully, then start correcting the situation as soon as possible. You'll see, this will do you good.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the gift of eloquence, but this does not mean that this skill cannot be developed in oneself. We all know that you can listen to a person who can speak beautifully for hours! And yet, it should be taken into account that there are a considerable number of different nuances that are important to take into account when developing the skill of rich conversational speech.

It is important to breathe correctly when speaking Surely, while listening to the smooth speech of an announcer or some charismatic presenter, you caught yourself thinking that you yourself would like to be able to speak like that. Of course, this can be achieved if you develop your speaking technique. However, first of all, for this you should learn to breathe correctly - deeply, calmly and imperceptibly. Please note that speech breathing differs from normal breathing. This is a controlled process. As you know, diaphragmatic-costal breathing is considered the most convenient for speech. In this case, inhalation and exhalation are performed using the diaphragm and intercostal muscles. The most capacious part of the lungs (lower) comes into activity. At the same time, the shoulders and upper chest remain practically motionless. You can learn to control your breathing on your own. Place your palm between your stomach and chest - on the diaphragm area. When you inhale, the abdominal wall will rise slightly and the lower part of the chest will expand. Exhalation will be accompanied by contraction of the abdominal and chest muscles. When speaking, the inhalation should be light and short, but the exhalation should be smooth and long (the ratio is approximately one to ten). When the process of speech occurs, the importance of exhalation increases to a large extent. Before speaking, you should take a quick and deep breath, which is taken both through your nose and mouth. Meanwhile, during speech exhalation, only the mouth is involved. Correct speech breathing can be called the basis for a beautiful sounding voice. If you breathe incorrectly, this will lead to instability of your voice. Speak confidently, clearly and clearly When speaking, try to avoid muttering - speak clearly, distinctly and confidently. Practice reading books out loud - do it slowly and with expression, sometimes speed it up, but continue to speak with expression. Gradually, you will develop the skill of speaking this way in everyday life. You need to constantly train your gestures and facial expressions Gesticulation and facial expressions can be called non-verbal means of speech, which should also be trained. Try speaking in front of a camera or mirror to see if you are gesturing too much and “out of line.” At times, this can greatly distract the interlocutor from the topic of conversation. It is also important to observe your facial expressions - both an indifferent facial expression and excessive expression of emotions are unacceptable. In the second case, it may simply look ugly. Your gestures and facial expressions should look harmonious, smooth and natural, and only sometimes emphasize the meaning of what was said. It is important that the listener still focuses on the meaning of the text, but not on your face or hands.