Voice and speech training courses. Always train your chest resonator

With the help of words, a person expresses his thoughts, which means that if his speech is confused, does that mean there is a mess in his head? So? Not exactly, but this is exactly the impression that his interlocutor gets about the speaker. Some people simply do not know how to speak beautifully, although their inner world is very rich. There can be many reasons for such trouble: embarrassment and complexes, impaired diction, an unpleasant sounding voice, a quiet or loud sound, a repulsive manner of narration (tediousness, imposition, unkindness, sullenness).

If at the first meeting it is enough for you to speak in general phrases, talk about nothing, laugh it off or smile sweetly, then at subsequent meetings this will not be enough. You will be expected to have depth of thought, meaningful topic of conversation, breadth of outlook, interesting presentation, and versatility of views. There has also been a trend in demand for reading poetry to the opposite sex. Many young people learn huge portions of Shakespeare's literary works in order to captivate their companion with reading them. Romantic lines seasoned with acting skills captivate you from the first sound.

Voice and speech lessons in Moscow

In this and many other cases, stage speech classes will be useful. Orators of the ancient world were trained in speech techniques in the most extreme conditions. They rehearsed standing on the edge of a cliff, shouting above the sound of the waves and the cries of seagulls. All aristocrats were trained to speak beautifully. Now the ability to speak competently and beautifully has ceased to be a supernatural gift. This is simply a must if you want to be successful, so we highly recommend speech technique courses in Moscow, for 8 lessons!

Every day we need to prepare presentations, speak at meetings, communicate with clients and colleagues. Therefore, classes and lessons in stage speech techniques do not seem to be such a whim of the “bourgeois”. Residents of the capital are excitedly looking for voice and speech training courses in Moscow.

Speech technique and voice training classes

Based on the fact that the public reacts more to how you say than to what, and seeing how at some speeches the speaker's monotonous voice puts you to sleep, public speaking training is primarily based on working on your voice.

But even here, not everything is so simple. The fact is that the sound of the voice depends on breathing, articulation and even the psycho-emotional background of the speaker. Public speech and oratory are comprehended through the study of how sound production occurs, how to articulate, and how to breathe correctly. This includes daily work on your voice, speaking tongue twisters and performing special acting exercises. This work is not easy for self-study, which is why stage speaking courses in Moscow are so in demand.

Teachers note that recently many students have been dealing with the problem of rapid speech. Its reason lies in the speaker’s excitement; sometimes it is perceived as a desire to close the topic or an outright lie. Also, fast speech is very difficult to understand, it quickly tires and repels.

In voice production and speech technique courses, you should not rush to achieve results. It should be understood that this work is painstaking, regular and there are a lot of exercises. At master classes you will learn about the existence of separate exercises for breathing, diction, articulation, and sound.

The study of rhetoric begins with the basics: from the rules of constructing a speech, preparing it, conducting it and answering questions about it. With hands-on stage lessons, you'll gain confidence and become more comfortable performing in front of strangers.

Many people are afraid of public speaking because of the “sensitive” questions that follow. It should be remembered that only a question to which you do not know the answer can confuse you, so get ready for public speaking. Come up with answers to all the questions and accusations that may be thrown at you and then you will be able to worry much less before going out to the public.

The art of speech, rhetoric and oratory skills will help you make new acquaintances, meet more influential people, climb the career ladder, stand out among your colleagues, and become the soul of the campaign.

High culture of speech and oratory art is conquered only by those who are not afraid to try and make mistakes. The more in theater acting courses public speaking, the faster you will learn to speak beautifully, and the more free and attractive your demeanor on stage will be.

Take heart: water does not flow under a lying stone!

Correct speech is one of the most important signs characterizing a well-mannered, cultured person. Unfortunately, we must admit that now the beautiful speech has lost its ground. But if you want, you can learn to speak correctly and beautifully.

Brevity, simplicity, literacy

These are the basics of correct speech and competent speech. People have forgotten how to speak correctly over time for a number of reasons, starting with the widespread decline of culture in the 90s. This needs to be learned again. At least because competent speech not only characterizes a person positively, but also helps in communicating with other people. Imagine: you are talking with a person who abuses vulgar, slang words. Do you want to continue communicating with him? Hardly.

Every person can learn to speak beautifully. The richness of the language allows us to describe any objects with extreme accuracy. It is not at all necessary that the speech be verbose. After all, too long a narrative, even a beautiful and imaginative one, is very tiring and sometimes annoying. Therefore, you need to remember that one of the main requirements for correct and beautiful speech is brevity. It is necessary to quickly move on to the main essence of the issue, not to delay the introduction, and not to be distracted by unnecessary trifles. Then your story will have the desired effect.

Of course, you need to speak competently. A person who often makes mistakes in accents or uses words incorrectly is absolutely unattractive. For example, all business speech can be crossed out with the word “lay down”, instead of the correct “put down”. In the same way, a boss who incorrectly places stress on words "document", "quarter", is unlikely to inspire favor and trust among business partners.

Techniques for correct speech production

For those who want to speak beautifully, various techniques provide every opportunity to:

• Correct breathing. By taking a deep breath, you will master breathing support while pronouncing vowels and consonants at a slow pace, pronouncing each syllable and each word. This helps to use all shades of language.
• Oratory. Smooth speech, correct articulation, and clear sound make the listener listen even more attentively to the narrator. Properly delivered speech includes training using patter, whispering, and artificially fast pronunciation.
• Brief, precise summary. Practice expressing your thoughts concisely.
• Logics. When communicating or speaking, you need to follow the logic of the narrative and cause-and-effect relationships. The logic of thinking and storytelling is based on general education and a broad outlook.

Using language training exercises, you will automatically expand your communication, gain confidence in the professional field, and learn the art of persuasion and easy manipulation of listeners.

Exercises for staging correct and beautiful speech will be useful in staging breathing, voice, controlling resonators, strengthening vocal strength and endurance, enriching intonation, and practicing the correct tempo of diction. How can you learn to speak great? The answer is simple - patiently practice the technique.

Lessons for establishing proper breathing

Phonation breathing is an important factor in correct speaking. The diaphragm is responsible for inhalation - the muscle that separates the thoracic region from the abdominal region and the muscles that control the movement of the ribs during breathing. The most natural position for comfortable breathing is lying on your back with completely relaxed muscles.

Make yourself comfortable by lying on your back. One hand on the stomach, the other on the chest. Try to inhale so that your chest remains motionless and your stomach rises. Exhale slowly and repeat this exercise until abdominal breathing is easy and without strain. This kind of breathing needs to become a habit. Moreover, such an exercise will well invigorate you from sleep.

Of course, to achieve the dream of word beauty, just correct breathing is not all you need. Most often the problem lies on a psychological level. This could be a fear of the public, residual memories from visits to a speech therapist in childhood, or simply the inability to interest the interlocutor.

You can easily cope with all this with the help of simple lessons on correct speech:

If you feel unsure of yourself, it is quite difficult to communicate and open up in front of your interlocutor.

There are several steps you need to take to free yourself from fear:

• acknowledge the presence of difficulties and prepare for the long work of getting rid of worries;
• understand the reason (you may even have to resort to a psychologist);
• survive a difficult situation, let go of the past forever and enjoy the present;
• start communicating - only methodically overcoming your fears will allow you to learn to communicate with people (you can mentally come up with plans, for example, 10 long conversations and 20 short conversations on public transport or in a queue);
• if it is difficult to immediately start conversations in a company, you can first communicate by phone (at least there will be no external manifestations);
• When training goes smoothly, you can take the initiative in meeting the opposite sex.

But there are still people who are naturally modest, and there is no need to suffer because of this. Modesty is not a vice! Work on yourself, on personal development, improve your skills of correct speech when communicating, try to be open and sociable.

Surely you want to be listened to with an enthusiastic look and an open mouth? Or maybe your field of activity is unthinkable without public speaking, in which voice training and precise pronunciation are so important? But due to the lack of certain skills and knowledge, you don’t even try to improve yourself? Next, we will tell you how, with the help of simple voice training exercises, you can hone your speaking technique, which will help you achieve success both in the professional sphere and in your personal life.

Speech technique is a science in the field of speech production, articulation, diction, intonation, facial expressions and other elements. People of certain professions need to study this science throughout their lives. Their task is to make their speech technique correct, beautiful and understandable.

A significant indicator that characterizes the quality of a person’s speech technique is diction (this is how clearly he pronounces sounds). This element of speech is comparable to handwriting. A message written in crooked, illegible handwriting will be incomprehensible and uninteresting to the addressee, just as a crumpled, inarticulate speech is unlikely to interest the listener or will raise a lot of counter questions. Next, we will tell you how to strengthen your voice and improve your pronunciation with the help of regularly performed exercises.

One of the methods was used by the main character from the film “Carnival”; she honed her speech by repeating the tongue twister about the cuckoo, while stuffing her mouth with walnuts. In addition, there are a number of breathing exercises, which we will talk about a little later.

Voice

A pleasant voice is one of the main indicators of correct speech. The voice can also be trained and can be mastered. Each person is capable of learning to control the power of his voice, raising or lowering it depending on the situation, sufficiently restraining emotions, being calm and speaking measuredly. An important factor is a healthy throat and you need to quit smoking.

Timbre

The next indicator is voice timbre. In this case, the main thing is not to overdo it, since an excessively low or high voice is perceived as false. To practice the timbre of your voice, the most important point is breathing and you need to work with the diaphragm.

Intonation

Watch the intonation and correct pronunciation; it is important to correctly place emphasis in words and make logical pauses. This gives you the opportunity to take a breath, properly structure your further speech, and also attract the attention of your listeners.

So, before you start doing the exercises, you need to create a working environment. Sit comfortably in front of a mirror in a spare room, remove unnecessary objects and ensure the necessary acoustics. Complete all tasks for about 5-10 minutes, proceed to the next one after you have mastered the previous task. Record a video in order to correct errors in the future.

Lessons to improve speech

Breath

To complete this task, you need to remember to breathe through your nose, this is important!

Practicing breathing:

• Place your feet shoulder width apart;
• Place your palms on your waist and slowly exhale so that you feel the air counteracting your lips (at the same time you need to repeat the quatrain).
• Do the exercise while walking, accelerating into an easy run, imitating cutting grass, chopping trees and sweeping the floor. When performed accurately, the exhalation should be smooth and not stray.
• Keep your back straight, lean forward and take a deep breath.
• When straightening to the original position, exhale and slowly say “gi-mm-mm-mm.” synchronously combining with light running.
• Return to the straight stance position. Taking a deep breath, bend straight and clasp your hands behind your head. In the same position, exhale and straighten up, saying “Gn-n-n...”, combining with light running; Next, you need to complete a task to improve nasal breathing.
• With your mouth covered, take a small nasal inhalation, widening your nostrils, and while exhaling, lightly hit them with your fingertips. Based on the previous example, as we exhale, we slowly pronounce the letters “M” and “N” and lightly hit the nostrils in turn with the edges of our fingers.

Preparing the muscles of the palate

• Say the consonants “K” and “G” three times without stopping. Next, say the vowels “A”, “O”, “E” also three times, but when yawning.
• Inhale the air through your mouth, as if rinsing it. Open your mouth and say: “AMMMMM...AMMMMM”, “A” should be barely audible, “M” should be sonorous, and then do it three times.

Exercise for lips and tongue

• To practice the upper lip, say: “GL”, “VL”, “VN”, “TN”, for the lower lip - “KS”, “GZ”, “VZ”, “BZ”.
• Relax your tongue and repeat the shovel shape, placing it on your lower lip, pronounce: “I”, “E”, five times.
• With your tongue, take the shape of a curved hook and run the tip of your tongue across the sky, synchronously pronouncing “O”, “U”.
• Extend the letter “M” with your mouth closed and your tongue moving towards your lips, cheeks and roof of the mouth.

Exercises to help open and strengthen the voice of the main speech

• Speak a random tongue twister using exclusively consonant letters; the vowels will therefore be dull and long.
• After this, say the same tongue twister, only in a perfect voice. By diligently listening to yourself, you will feel the epicenter of your own speech voice, establish in what state the articulatory apparatus sounds free and genuine. Repeat the exercise with head tilts, alternately back/forward, right/left.
• Read the tongue twister using the indicated technique, but putting your tongue on your lips, lowering it and thereby replacing the pronunciation of vowels.
• Inhale thoroughly and slow down your breathing (you can squeeze your nose with your palms) and read some text out loud. Exhale and inhale through your nose again in those passages of text where this is required by grammar and semantic pauses.

After completing all the work, read the text again, in a relaxed voice, and listening to the sound, understanding the difference in pronunciation before and after completing the tasks.

Exercises to improve diction

These exercises for developing diction are performed only after practicing the tasks described above, which are aimed at eliminating common errors in pronunciation caused by the underdevelopment of the speech apparatus. If you have questions about completing tasks, you can find a video on YouTube and watch it clearly.

Exercises for a weakened lower jaw

• Say “PIE”, “BAY”, “MAY” while holding your chin in a constant state with your palm, your head should lean back. With the sound “Y” it takes on its initial state. Next, do this step in your usual position, comparing whether the feeling of muscle independence has arisen.
• Repeat the exercise, but with your head turned left/right, try to reach your chin to your shoulders. When you hear the sound “Y”, return your head to its original position.

Pliable sky

• Bow your head back and rinse your larynx with air, pronouncing the sound “M” at length, but do not stick out your lower jaw. Try to yawn with your mouth closed.
• Inhale air through your nose and draw in your cheeks, in addition, keep your jaw down and your lips compressed; as you exhale, extend the letter “M”.

Exercises to strengthen your tongue and mouth

Be sure to repeat each of the listed activities three times in a row.

• pronounce “BYA”, placing your tongue on your lower lip;
• pronounce “AS”, actively working your tongue forward/backward;
• pronounce “TKR”, “KTR”, “DRT”, “RKT” in a row, repeat three times;
• in order to correct the activity of the lips, say “MB”, “TV”, “BM”;
• Curl your lips and make the sound “M-M-M-M”, then smile.

Exercises to correct the lack of sound in the speaking oral cavity

• with a straight and direct state of the body, on a leisurely exhalation, say: “SSSSSSSS...”, “SHSHSHHHHHH...”, “ZHZHZHZH...”, “RRRRRRRR”, “RRRRRRR...”;
• in the same position, with a tense, constant exhalation, say: “F!” F! F! F! F! F! F! ", which is transmitted into the unchanged sound "FFFFFFFF...";
• Cover your nose and mouth with your palm, in this position try to pronounce the sound “M”, then remove your palm and read some text with the maximum number of “M”, “N”.

Exercises to develop undeveloped sound in the chest

• Take a comfortable body position, place your palm on your chest to feel the pulsation, and close your mouth with the other to examine your own breathing. Try to make different vowels: a gentle exhalation - a sound ("UUUUUU") - a gentle inhalation. If you do everything correctly, you will feel a desire to yawn and lightness in the throat area.
• The next step is similar, the only thing at the moment of groaning is to try to stretch it out and pronounce the emphasis with a light blow of the diaphragm deep into it, then gently exhale.

Any subsequent task increases the number of stresses by one and, in the same way, you need to bring up to five stresses one after another.

Fighting heavy breathing during a fast-paced conversation

• It is necessary to assume an inclined state and begin to look for an imaginary object, while at the same time reciting a random poem out loud, but watch your breathing evenly.
• Jumping rope with synchronized pronunciation of quatrains so that the jumps correspond to the syllables of the words. If the task, at first glance, seems difficult, speech and breathing will be confused, it is recommended to reduce the speed and step by step increase them, bringing them to the maximum.

Developing range and raising your voice

• Choose some poetic text consisting of eight or more lines, and begin to pronounce it in such a way that the weakest level of your range falls at the beginning of the line and with each line it gradually increases, reaching its maximum at the final one.
• After you have practiced this exercise, start with the highest and end with the low range of your own voice.
• Based on the results of successful performance, increase the number of lines of the poetic story.

This also quite effective technique is called “voice chanting.” Choose and sing any verse you like, first using exclusively vowels, and then only consonants.

Another way (we already talked about it at the very beginning) is to repeat tongue twisters by filling your mouth with walnuts, reciting the text and singing songs using a wine cork, holding it between your teeth. The first time you should pronounce it slowly, gradually speeding up, watch carefully so as not to swallow endings and sounds.

Speech must sound correct and loud, you need to work on it. For this purpose, select your favorite quatrains and read them alternately, one line loudly, the next quietly, then vice versa.

Don’t forget about the intonation of your voice, read the texts with changing feelings, sad, happy, angry, passionate, reproachful, surprised. The more often you do this exercise and the more emotions you work out, the richer your speaking technique will become.

Increasingly, in professional activities, much attention is paid to speech technique; it becomes a kind of tool of labor. Therefore, it is imperative to develop and improve diction, voice production and business and daily communication skills. This way you can create a positive image, because people around you instinctively fall under the influence of a person who knows how to express his speech beautifully and clearly.

You probably understand how important it is to speak correctly and beautifully. Each of us, while studying at school or college, came across a lecturer who read his material in a boring monotonous voice that turned the audience into a sleepy kingdom. But there were also teachers whom you wanted to listen to for hours; they told their story in a bright, memorable voice, with pauses and speech accents. As a result, we vividly followed what was said to us, without being distracted for a minute. The conclusion suggests itself - competent speech production is necessary for every person. It is especially important for those people whose occupation involves public speaking - for artists, politicians, businessmen, coaches, teachers, and even kindergarten teachers! In this article we will tell you about what components make up correct speech and with the help of what exercises you can adjust your speech skills in order to successfully cope with public speaking and communicate freely in everyday life.

The art of speech

The art of speech is a real science, which people in some professions have to study throughout their lives. In general terms, good speech is when everyone around you can hear and understand everything. Although experts include a much larger number of characteristics into the concept of “speech technique”.

The most important characteristic that determines the quality of a person's speech is his diction - the way he pronounces sounds. Diction is like handwriting: if a letter is written illegibly, the recipient will not understand what is being said. It’s the same with diction: slurred speech will give rise to eternal repeated questions or even omissions of information. On our website we have already told you what exercises you can use to develop diction. Perhaps the most famous way to improve pronunciation is to pronounce tongue twisters with objects in your mouth. Remember how in the movie “Carnival”, where the main character with walnuts in her mouth recited a tongue twister about the cuckoo? In addition to speech training, special breathing exercises are useful to improve diction, which we will talk about a little later.

The next characteristic of high-quality speech is a pleasant voice, which can also be “produced.” For example, anyone can learn to speak loud enough to be heard without shouting, change the strength of their voice as needed (speak loudly or softly), and ensure that their voice is not shrill or hoarse. To do this, it is enough to consciously speak calmly and not be nervous, and you also need to always treat your throat on time and quit smoking. An additional characteristic of the voice is its timbre, which is also called the “color” of the voice.

High-quality stage speech should not only be intelligible and pleasant in sound, but also have an acceptable tempo. It is best to speak quickly, without dragging out individual words, but also not to jabber, leaving time for listeners to better understand the content of your words. You also need to make sure that your speech is not monotonous; your listeners will quickly get tired of it and stop listening to you. Consciously smoothly and gradually raise your voice, emphasizing important words, and lower it so as not to create sound tension.

Try to speak in a low tone, but don't overdo it! A voice that is too high or low is perceived as insincere. In order to learn to speak with a pleasant timbre, you need to be able to breathe correctly, connecting the diaphragm to this process. Practice inhaling and exhaling in a ratio of 1:20, i.e. inhalation should take 2 seconds, and exhalation should last from 30 to 40 seconds.

Be sure to watch the intonation with which you speak. Language is designed in such a way that it is often not what you said that matters, but how you did it. Pay attention to pronunciation and stress in complex words; incorrect placement of stress can serve you badly. Well, don’t forget about logical pauses, they help you take a breath, build a further chain of thoughts and words, and also serve as an additional means of attracting the audience’s attention.

Speech exercises

Unfortunately, not everyone is born with good abilities that allow them to speak in public without much preparation. However, even those people who can boast of having good speaking technique must constantly maintain and improve their skills. Thus, speech courses are needed for absolutely everyone who wants to speak beautifully. In this section, we have collected for you proven effective speech exercises that will help you practice and improve all its characteristics.

Any speech training begins with the fact that you need to learn to breathe deeply. To do this, lie on your back and place your hand on your stomach. Exhale as much as you can, and then slowly inhale deeply, feeling your stomach rise under your palm. Repeat the exercise 10-15 times.

The next exercise may seem very funny at first glance; it looks like an ordinary antics in front of a mirror. However, it is thanks to such a warm-up that even the most “sluggish” tongue begins to work harder, and sounds become clearer and louder. Open your mouth slightly and move the tip of your tongue left and right, and then up and down. After this, “draw” a circle with the tip of your tongue clockwise, and then counterclockwise. Also try curling your tongue into a “tube”, and then blowing through it and moving it back and forth. When all the exercises are completed, lightly bite your tongue with your teeth to relieve tension.

Another effective exercise is called “sound singing.” Take any text and sing it, first only with vowels, and then only with consonants.

An alternative option for saying tongue twisters with nuts behind your cheeks is reading the text or singing songs with a wine cork clamped between your front teeth. At first you need to read slowly, and then gradually increase the pace, while making sure that all sounds are clearly pronounced.

You also need to work on the sound of your speech. To do this, read your favorite poems line by line: the first - loudly, the second - quietly, etc. In addition, work on your intonation, pronouncing the same sentence sometimes sadly, sometimes joyfully, sometimes reproachfully, sometimes angry, sometimes passionately, sometimes in surprise. The more emotions you can work through, the richer your speech will become.

You will be surprised, but these simple exercises for clear speech have been helping people for many decades to reveal the natural richness of their voice, expand its range and make their speech more attractive. We hope that they will help you too. We wish you success in your studies and performances!