Daily Practice ⎮ Improved Speech Clarity

Summary

This script offers a comprehensive guide to improving vocal clarity and confidence for public speaking or everyday communication. It emphasizes treating the body like a valuable instrument, requiring care through rest, hydration, and relaxation. The speaker suggests training like an athlete, with warm-ups, articulation exercises, and dexterity routines, while also advocating for self-awareness through journaling and recording progress. Darren McStay, the author, encourages consistency and kindness to oneself during this gradual improvement process.

Takeaways

• 🎼 Treat your body like an instrument: Recognize that your body is the instrument that produces your voice, and it requires care, maintenance, and the right conditions to function optimally.
• 💪 Train like an athlete: Just as athletes prepare their bodies physically, you should train your voice with daily exercises to improve vocal ability, agility, and clarity.
• 🔥 Warm up your voice: Begin speaking engagements with gentle humming to warm up the vocal folds, ensuring they are ready for clear articulation.
• 👄 Keep your lips limber: Practice lip trills to warm up and improve the function of your lips, which are crucial for clear speech.
• 👅 Exercise your tongue: Engage in tongue trills and exercises to ensure your tongue is ready for precise articulation and to improve speech clarity.
• 🦷 Work on jaw mobility: Address potential tension in the jaw that can impede clear speech by massaging and exercising to keep it limber.
• 🧘‍♂️ Dexterity routines: Incorporate tongue twisters and reading exercises to improve muscle memory and the ability to articulate words clearly.
• 📝 Journal and record your voice: Regularly record and journal about your voice to track progress, identify areas for improvement, and measure effectiveness of exercises.
• 🤔 Listen critically: When reviewing recordings, listen technically to assess clarity and pronunciation rather than being overly self-critical.
• 🌱 Be patient and consistent: Improvement in voice clarity is a gradual process that requires consistent practice and patience.
• 💡 Focus on the journey: Concentrate on the small, daily steps towards improvement rather than solely on the end goal to maintain motivation and progress.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the practices discussed in the script?

The practices are designed to help individuals gain and maintain a clearer and more confident voice, which can be beneficial for public speaking, presentations, or general communication.

How does the script suggest treating your body for better speaking practice?

The script suggests treating your body like an instrument that needs proper care, including rest, hydration, and being in the right physical condition to function optimally.

What is the significance of considering the entire body as an instrument for voice production?

Considering the entire body as an instrument emphasizes the interconnectedness of the body parts and how tension or relaxation in one area can affect voice production and clarity.

Why is it important to warm up the voice before speaking?

Warming up the voice is important to prepare the vocal folds for speech, ensuring they are moist, at the right temperature, and can function easily without strain.

What are some daily exercises suggested in the script to improve voice clarity?

The script suggests exercises such as humming for warming up the vocal folds, lip trills to keep the lips limber, and tongue exercises to improve articulation and clarity.

How can warming up the lips and tongue contribute to clearer speech?

Warming up the lips and tongue helps to ensure they are not stuck, tight, or cold, allowing for better articulation and the production of words as intended.

What role does the jaw play in speech clarity and how can it be improved?

The jaw plays a crucial role in speech clarity as it allows for the movement necessary for clear articulation. It can be improved by ensuring it is not tight or tense, possibly through massages or exercises to increase its mobility.

Why is it recommended to perform dexterity routines like tongue twisters?

Dexterity routines like tongue twisters help to improve muscle memory and the ability to use the articulators effectively, leading to clearer and more articulate speech.

How can journaling and recording your voice contribute to vocal improvement?

Journaling and recording your voice help in tracking progress, increasing self-awareness, and identifying areas that need improvement, which can then be targeted with specific exercises.

What is the final thought or advice given by Darren McStay in the script regarding vocal improvement?

Darren McStay advises to take small, consistent steps towards vocal improvement, focusing on the process rather than the goal, and to be kind to oneself throughout the journey.

Outlines

00:00

🎼 Treating Your Body as a Valuable Instrument

The first practice emphasizes treating your body like a precious instrument that requires care for optimal voice production. It suggests a mindset shift to view your body as something borrowed, which needs maintenance like tuning and cleaning. The body's needs for rest, hydration, and relaxation are compared to those of an instrument, with the idea that physical well-being directly impacts vocal clarity and effectiveness. The interconnectedness of the body is highlighted, noting how tension in one area can affect the voice. The practice encourages daily routines for maintaining physical health to support vocal performance.

05:01

🏋️‍♂️ Training Your Voice Like an Athlete

The second practice builds on the foundation of body care by advocating for vocal training similar to an athlete's regimen. It stresses the importance of physical training for the voice, including warming up the vocal folds through humming to prevent strain and enhance clarity. The practice also introduces exercises for warming up and strengthening the lips and tongue, which are crucial for articulation. The goal is to improve vocal agility and clarity through daily exercises that prepare the body to speak with confidence and precision.

10:03

🗣️ Enhancing Articulation with Dexterity Routines

This paragraph focuses on the importance of dexterity routines to improve speech clarity and confidence. It suggests using tongue twisters and practicing passages to enhance the muscle memory and control of speech. The practice of recording and journaling progress is introduced as a means of self-assessment and tracking improvement over time. The paragraph also touches on the importance of being kind to oneself and maintaining a positive mindset throughout the improvement process.

15:03

📝 Journaling and Recording for Vocal Progress

The final paragraph underscores the value of journaling and recording one's voice as a tool for self-awareness and tracking progress. It encourages consistent practice and self-reflection to identify areas of improvement and to celebrate progress. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about overcoming vocal insecurity and offers a free resource on their website to aid viewers in their journey towards clearer and more confident speech. The message concludes with a metaphor about mountain climbing, emphasizing the importance of taking small, consistent steps towards improvement.

Keywords

💡Voice Clarity

Voice clarity refers to the distinctness and intelligibility of speech, ensuring that each sound is pronounced clearly so listeners can easily understand what is being said. In the video's theme, achieving voice clarity is the main goal, as it is essential for effective communication. The script emphasizes practices to improve voice clarity, such as treating the body like an instrument that needs proper care and training for optimal performance.

💡Public Speaking

Public speaking is the act of addressing an audience in a formal setting, often with the purpose of informing, persuading, or entertaining. The script discusses improving voice clarity and confidence as it pertains to public speaking, suggesting that better vocal control can enhance one's ability to communicate effectively in front of others.

💡Instrument

In the context of the video, 'instrument' is a metaphor for the human body, specifically the parts involved in producing voice. The script suggests that just as a musical instrument requires maintenance to produce the best sound, the body needs proper rest, hydration, and care to ensure a clear and strong voice.

💡Hydration

Hydration is the state of having adequate water in the body, which is crucial for various bodily functions, including voice production. The script mentions hydration as a key component of maintaining vocal health, highlighting that a well-hydrated body supports optimal voice function and clarity.

💡Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic refers to the awareness of bodily position, movement, and action. The script uses the term to describe the interconnectedness of the body in relation to voice production, indicating that tension in one part of the body can affect the voice and that maintaining overall body relaxation is important for clear speech.

💡Articulators

Articulators are the parts of the body involved in the formation of speech sounds, including the lips, tongue, and jaw. The script discusses the importance of warming up and exercising these articulators to improve speech clarity and vocal agility, using examples such as humming and lip trills to prepare the voice for speaking.

💡Dexterity

Dexterity in the context of the video refers to the skill and coordination required for precise movements, particularly in the context of speech. The script suggests that practicing tongue twisters and other exercises can improve the dexterity of the muscles used for speech, leading to clearer articulation.

💡Journaling

Journaling is the act of keeping a written record of one's experiences, thoughts, and progress. In the video, journaling is recommended as a method for tracking vocal improvement over time. By noting what exercises work and which do not, individuals can adjust their practice routines to better suit their needs.

💡Recording

Recording, in this context, refers to capturing one's voice to review and analyze it for improvement. The script emphasizes the importance of recording one's voice to gain objective insights into areas that need work, such as clarity, enunciation, or speed of speech.

💡Tension

Tension refers to the state of being tight or strained, which can negatively impact the voice if present in the muscles used for speech. The script discusses the need to identify and release tension in the head, neck, shoulders, and jaw to facilitate clearer and more relaxed speech.

💡Massage

Massage is the manipulation of soft body tissues to enhance circulation, relieve tension, and improve overall well-being. In the script, massage is suggested as a method to alleviate tension in the jaw and neck muscles, which can contribute to a clearer and more comfortable voice.

Highlights

Treating your body like an instrument is essential for better speaking practice.

A well-maintained body produces the best sound, emphasizing the importance of rest, hydration, and relaxation for optimal voice function.

The body's kinesthetic connection means that tension in one area can affect voice quality, highlighting the need for overall body care.

Daily routines for maintaining body and voice health are crucial for improving speech clarity.

Training your voice like an athlete involves physical exercises to enhance vocal ability and agility.

Humming is an effective warm-up for the vocal folds, preparing them for clear speech.

Lip trills are recommended for warming up and maintaining lip flexibility, which is vital for articulation.

Tongue trills and exercises are essential for improving tongue dexterity, a key component of clear speech.

Jaw exercises are necessary to prevent mumbling and lisp by ensuring the jaw is limber and not tense.

Dexterity routines, such as tongue twisters, can enhance the muscle memory for clearer speech.

Journaling and recording your voice regularly helps in tracking progress and identifying areas for improvement.

Listening to recordings of your voice with a technical focus, rather than personal judgment, is key to improvement.

Being consistent with daily exercises and routines is the foundation of vocal improvement.

A special bonus PDF with a routine for daily practice is available on the speaker's website.

The importance of self-compassion and positive self-talk in the journey towards clearer and more confident speaking.

The analogy of climbing a mountain step by step to illustrate the gradual process of vocal improvement.

The speaker's personal journey from being a mumbler to confidently speaking, demonstrating the effectiveness of the shared methods.

Transcripts

Whether you are preparing for a big presentation,

working on your public speaking skills,

or simply want to be able to communicate more effectively,

these practices are designed to help you gain and maintain a more clearer and

confident voice. So, let's dive in. Practice one.

Treat your body like an instrument. This is more useful as an approach to a, a,

a better overall speaking practice as opposed to something specific

that you just tend to do here and there.

It's more of a mindset shift that when you put into practice,

we start elevating the way you view, feel, and use your voice overall.

Firstly,

let's acknowledge that a well-maintained instrument produces the best sound.

So imagine your body, AKA, your instrument, AKA,

the thing that creates your voice as an instrument that you've borrowed from

someone else that's incredibly valuable and that you have to take care of for

them. What do instruments need to perform well? Well,

depending on the instrument, it could be that it needs tuning,

it needs to be cleaned,

needs to be what kept well and safe and not messed around or

overused. It could be that it has to be kept in the right environment,

be it temperature or moisture. And your body is certainly no different.

For example, your body needs proper rest. It needs to be hydrated to work and,

and, and, and function optimally. It's better that it's relaxed, loose, limber.

And this is not just for your voice alone in the voice box in those areas around

that makes sound. Of course it is, but your entire body is your instrument.

Everything is connected kinesthetically.

So if there's tension in your leg, it might transfer to your back,

which might transfer to your neck,

which might affect the way your voice functions.

And so it's really good to look at your body and your voice as a whole

instrument and look after the whole thing. And with that in mind,

like you were looking after someone else's instrument,

looking after your own means getting that rest. It means staying hydrated.

It means finding a routine that you can use every day consistently to stay

limber and ready. So then your, if, if your,

if your goal is to improve your speaking in your speech clarity,

it's about looking after your entire being.

Practice two is to train like an athlete. If following on from step one,

you do treat your body like an instrument and make a daily practice of doing

that. You will have the the foundations to be ready for anything.

But in order to improve progress and grow our voice, vocal ability, agility,

and more to the point clarity, then we need to train this instrument.

And since our body and voice are physical, we have to train them physically,

much like an athlete, but with conscious effort.

Athletes don't just wake up one morning and put in their best effort without

doing the work. Leading up to that building muscle lengthening, creating space,

staying limber and relaxed are all part of looking after yourself,

like we talked about in practice one. But since clarity is our objective here,

let's look at some specifics that we can do daily to train like an athlete in

order to set our body up to be able to function and speak as

clearly as we can. So considering that our vocal foundations are taken care of,

that we're rested, hydrated, relaxed and limber, and ready to go,

we wanna start warming up and doing daily exercises to,

to improve a function of our, our articulators.

And so one of the best things you can do is to start by warming up the actual

voice itself, the vocal folds. And the best way to do that is by humming.

So gentle humming.

Hmm.

As a, a very easy way to start warming up this apparatus in here that actually

produces the sound we make.

Before we go into speaking, it's a great way to warm, like I said, warm up that,

that those folds. So what happens is when you go to speak,

you're not going cold and everything's kind of moist and so at

the right temperature and you can speak more easily.

And so when you start working on the articulation and the clarity itself,

the voice is already there behind it, supporting it. Mm.

Mm.

Also,

if you are going to a public speaking performance or you have to sing or

speak in public or anywhere, really, you can do this while you're waiting.

You can just do this in the sidelines. Mm. Just keep your voice warm,

keep it limber. But also that's just, you know,

for warming up and also a good way to warm down.

So keep that in mind after you've done your

presentation or your public speaking performance or your, you know,

your singing is that you can also hum to warm the voice down afterwards,

but just gently, no pushing. Mm, nice and easy. Mm.

It's almost like you are humming on a sigh.

Mm.

That's it. That's really simple.

Number two are the lips and warming up the lips and keeping these limber.

So with our, with with, with clarity,

we essentially want our articulators to be working and functioning well.

And to be able to function.

So when we do want to produce the words the way we want to produce them,

they're not stuck, tight, cold.

And so even though these just feel like warmups, not exactly speaking,

they do improve the way you are able to produce words.

So lip trills are brilliant.

If you find 'em hard to do on their own,

then you can put your fingers into the soft part of your cheeks

until you find a place that you are able to do that with.

I find lip trills are easier than tongue twills,

but we're gonna get to that next tongue trills and this magnificent beast the

tongue is vital for articulation and for clarity.

And so making sure that it's ready, relaxed, and able to move is,

it's so hugely important. So what we can do is to warm it up,

tongue trills. Now these can be difficult for some people if you can't do it.

I do have a video here that's gonna help you learn to create

those sounds, at least to start with.

'cause Because it takes a whole video to really,

if you are someone who can't do those yet, to, to be able to do them.

And hopefully that will guide you.

But find out how to do those if you can already do them, great.

This is another great warmup.

As part of your daily routine for getting ready to speak more clearly,

you can do them voiced or unvoiced. Same with the lip drills.

You can do them both together.

These are great. Again,

the tongue is such an important articulator that we're not only

just gonna warm it up, we're also gonna exercise it.

So number three in this section is the tongue exercises.

And to do this really you wanna get it moving in or out, ah,

shake it all about go from side to side up and down.

Go round your teeth.

In there.

Clean them out. Just move the tongue.

Let it find new places in your mouth and outside of your mouth and the world.

Nah, these are just gonna get it moving,

get it working as long as it's warmed up and you're not, you know,

you don't wanna get cramp in your tongue. I don't think that'll be very nice.

And it's not gonna help your articulation, so you don't wanna overdo it.

This is just daily practice. So small things just a little bit every day.

And over time, it's gonna get more dextrous, more ready to be able to speak,

and you'll find that your speech will just crispen up and clear up.

But the tongue, the lips

Are all very good warming up and, and working on.

But if you are not opening your mouth,

and if it, if your jaw is stuck and not really limber too,

then no matter how much you move your tongue, it's still gonna be stuck.

Your words won't move out. So if you're someone who mumbles it, it it,

it or has some, sometimes lisp. It could be that your,

your jaw is very tight. And now this is often caused by tension.

So let's go back to practice one.

If you're treating your body like an instrument,

you want to get rid of that tension in your head, neck, and shoulders,

which is gonna lead on to tension in your jaw.

It could also be that you're clasping your jaw or that you chew gum or you do

something that's pushing down here a lot and creating more tension.

So here's what I do.

You can get your palms and pull 'em down over the side of that muscle there.

It can be a little painful, but this is probably more gentle way to do it.

I think in my advanced articulation course,

I go through some more in depth

exercises that can really open up the jaw and other articulators

if that's what you're looking for. But this is a good one to start with. Yeah,

always massage around the neck if you find it a bit tense.

If you feel your jaws stuck around here at the back, behind your ears,

under the jaw, around there shoulders,

you can give them a massage or go for a massage.

And this muscles here keep your,

your bottom jaw attached to your top jaw. You get a lot of tension there.

And keeping your jaw nice and limber will help it to just allow

you to speak more clearly. Try to remember though,

the best athletes are the ones who can perform relaxed.

So this, as part of your training is good to build that muscle and,

and start tightening up the muscles that need to be tightened and releasing the

ones that need to be more released. So then when you go to speak,

you don't work out on the day that you go to do a weightlifting challenge.

So you, you kind of,

you just warm up and the work that you put in beforehand should be there for

you. So you can speak more confidently and more articulately articulately,

so you can speak more confidently and clearly in any environment at any time.

So practice three, I would recommend you do a dexterity routine.

So we've already warmed up, we're already looking after our body,

we're already doing some exercises to help strengthen certain articulators and,

and improve the way their function.

But then we want to improve the ability and the muscle

memory of how well we can use this. And this is why I,

why I think dexterity routines come in very useful.

So things like tongue twisters, for example, are one,

you could even take passages from a book and practice the same passage until

you, you can,

you can say it perhaps more punctuated.

You can say it faster both,

and then you can draw that down and you'll find that your natural speech will

become easier overall. Probably would recommend you a whole video on that.

'cause I've got plenty of exercises in this video on dexterity that you can put

it into your routine and use to improve over

time. Remember, it's not just about speed. Speed is part of the process in,

in pushing yourself, in being able to expand your abilities.

And then once you can hit something at speed, when you slow down,

you'll find it becomes much easier to be more articulate and clear.

But also, if you can't get faster,

you must slow down and improve there before you speed up,

before you go back to your regular speech. Again, in this video here,

it's really gonna help you with that. Also, at the end of this video,

I'm gonna talk about a worksheet that I'm putting together for you on my website

where you can have everything I've talked about in this video,

but also perhaps a,

a little plan for you to work on and actual exercises that you can do in your

everyday routine to improve over time.

Practice four journal and record your voice.

This is all about awareness and tracking your progress.

Start journaling and recording your voice regularly. Why?

Because what gets measured gets improved.

You are only ever gonna know what really works for you and what's improving you

by keeping note of what's worked.

If you are doing the routines that I've set out and that are on my sheet on my

website,

then you might find that some aren't really doing it for you and you might wanna

change them. You can go through other videos on this channel,

or perhaps you're doing one of my online courses,

already have done one of those and you found that some of the exercises just

didn't work and others did stick with the ones that do.

It could be that you are already very capable in one area or certain sounds that

you make phone names that you make kind of a,

a clearer already and that they don't need working on,

but it's others around that. So you won't know unless you record yourself,

listen back and take note. That way you can also track have you improved,

because listening to yourself,

you can also sometimes judge yourself and you might not like listening to your

voice. And so you are listening to something other than what you should be,

which is the technical. So if you try to listen technically,

how clear is this step aside from yourself and think that it's someone else and

you could be marking them on their actual pronunciation,

enunciation or diction. How clear is it? Can I improve that clarity?

Do you have to go back and slow it down again? Would it be,

would it be helpful for you to try and go as fast as you can in order to get

through it and then go back again? Do you need to do more warming up?

Have you warmed up every day? Do you need to do more dexterity exercises?

What is it? You won't know unless you actually record this?

So write it down on a pencil, on a piece of paper, really old score.

It's very useful to do that. And also recording yourself on your phone.

Record yourself. Record what you're doing.

Say a paragraph or a poem or something. Listen back to it. Take notes again.

What do you need to work on? What's not working? What is working?

Because if you do this, you will note, notice over time there is an improvement.

You might see an improvement in day one,

but it might take a month or two to see improvement. Either way,

you won't really recognize it as much if you don't record

and track your progress. And I have to say again, listen, technically,

try not to judge yourself too much. Don't be hard on yourself.

Think of it as just being critical.

It's like your manager at work or it's like a teacher just saying, okay,

this is not how we do it. This is how we do it. So be light. You,

you are on the right path.

The fact that you're doing this work is really good and you're going to grow.

You just, you know, have to be kind to yourself. And all of this,

a lot of the things that go on in vocal improvement are about being kind to

yourself, being kind to your instrument, your body,

treating it as it should be treated like a very valuable,

expensive piece of equipment. But also your mind.

If you're telling yourself negative stories that I can't do it,

I sound terrible, then it's not necessarily gonna help you get better.

So just ignore that voice and focus on what you can do.

And that's looking after your body and going through the motions, warming up,

building exercises, dexterity exercises, recording, journaling, improving.

So I've prepared, like I said earlier,

a special bonus for you for getting to this far in the video.

There's not many people that are gonna be this far, I'm sure.

So if you go to my website, actually in the link description box below,

there's going to be a link to my website and a PDF that's gonna have set

you out a little routine that you can practice.

I'd say maybe do this first page every day

for a month and journal it and record yourself every day or every couple of

days, or even at the end of every week. And then over the four weeks,

see how you've progressed. If you do this, I I guarantee you're gonna,

you're gonna find improvements. And also let us know. Talk about your journey.

If you are really still struggling, mention it in the comments.

If you think that you've, you've gained, you know more clarity in that time,

great, then do it. But you can't really happen overnight.

You've gotta take small steps.

You've gotta take it bit by bit before you can expect to get there.

So before I wrap up this video, I'd like to say, if you like this video verse,

like if you would like to subscribe and see more, please do.

And if you think you can share this video with someone who will benefit from it,

do share. But again,

say hi in the comments and I'd like to leave you just with one final thought.

What if your a mountain climber and a mountain was only a foot high?

It wouldn't take much to get there. One step and you're there. The thing is,

mountains are quite high. That's why they're mountains there mountainous.

And the fact that they are less accessible makes it more of a challenge and more

intriguing for people to want to get to the top. It sets them apart.

They stand out because of it.

And while mountains seem hard to reach and they seem so high and

far away, all you've got to remember is to climb a mountain,

you start with one step, two steps, three steps,

four steps. Okay? After four or five, 10 steps, even maybe a mile,

it might still seem like the same mountains ahead of you,

but you are a mile up and you keep going bit by bit is no

difference to improving your voice. It might seem like I can't do it right now.

I don't sound the way I wanna sound. People are judging me. I judging myself, I,

I just haven't got any vocal clarity. I I don't have the confidence.

You just keep doing these things bit by bit every day and it will grow.

Trust me, I've been there, I've done it. I was a terrible mumbler.

I was someone who's really insecure about my voice and speaking to other people.

And I did it bit by bit. It took years ,

but then I decided to start this channel so I could actually share that

information. And so I know it works. I'm not just selling you something.

This video is free, right? Enjoy it. The download is free. Great.

If you wanna buy online, course, brilliant, great for me.

But it's about your journey and staying

consistent bit by bit. Just focus on those one steps that you can take.

Don't focus on the mountain, don't focus on the goal. Have the goal,

but don't look at the goal.

Focus on what you're doing right now to improve and it will and you will.

And at one point you've just looked back and forget you even spoke the way you

did, and you just think that this is the new normal which it will become.

So thank you once again for watching on your path to a clearer,

more confident way of speaking. My name is Darren McStay.

This is Improve Your Voice and until the next time, be kind to yourself.

Say lovely things to yourself. Stay consistent. Look after your voice.

So.