Have you ever noticed that when you are under pressure to speak fluent English you may stumble more than usual, or speak faster than you want to and become unclear?
It can be frustrating! Just when you want to speak fluent English with confidence under pressure, your usual fluent speech eludes you!
Well I have a few tips to help you out.
Tip 1
Be prepared!
Practise the vocabulary and pronunciation of the words and phrases you are likely to be using before hand. Then when you want to speak fluent English under pressure, the muscle memory in your mouth is already used to pronouncing the words and phrases clearly. This is especially so for instance, if you are going for a job interview or meeting your parents-in – law for the first time!
Tip 2
It’s Not about you!
Ok, it’s partly about you, but really it’s about your ‘audience.’ A good tip to remember, especially if you are speaking to a group of people, is that it’s not about you it’s about them. Ask yourself what your purpose in speaking to them is. Is it to entertain, to educate, to present ideas or information, or maybe you are in charge of a meeting. When you focus on the purpose, you take the emphasis away from yourself and free yourself up to be more at ease so that you can speak fluent English with confidence. What would serve your audience or listeners best?
Tip 3
Breathe!
Obvious, but we all forget to do this under pressure. It is a really important thing to remember and practise. Then when you are under pressure, you know how to support yourself with deeper breathing that relaxes your vocal tract and calms you down. When we are under pressure we naturally tend to speed our speech up, and tighten our muscles including our mouth and throat muscles. This makes it harder to speak fluently even in our native language never mind to speak fluent English if it is your second language.
As you support yourself with your breath, your body and muscles relax and it is easier to maintain clear, confident pronunciation as well. Have a look at our voice training course here: https://www.speakmoreclearly.com/voice-training// to see more about breath support.
Tip 4
The Super Hero Stance!
Apparently this way of standing changes our hormones- reduces the level of cortisol and increases the level of testosterone!
I’d love to hear if you have tried this and it worked for you. You can comment below.
Best wishes,
Esther
Choose:- I want to speak more clearly in a…
