Elocution Basics

Your voice comes from your whole body. If you slump, your chest cannot fill with air and your voice sounds weak.

Exercise

1. Stand with your feet a little apart, your weight even on both feet.
2. Let your arms hang loosely. Roll your shoulders back and down twice.
3. Imagine a string pulling the top of your head gently up towards the ceiling.
4. Keep your chin level: not up in the air, not down on your chest.
5. Say Good morning, everyone in this position. Then slump and say it again. Hear the difference.

Good speakers breathe low, from the stomach, not high in the shoulders. Low breathing gives you more air and a steadier voice.

Exercise

1. Put one hand on your stomach, just below your ribs.
2. Breathe in slowly through your nose. Your hand should move out; your shoulders should not rise.
3. Breathe out slowly on a long ssss sound, as if letting air out of a tyre.
4. Now breathe in, and count aloud from one to ten on a single breath.
5. Each day, try to count one number further, without rushing or straining.

Singers warm up before they sing, and speakers should too. Two minutes is enough.

Exercise

1. Yawn widely, then sigh out gently on haaa. This relaxes your throat.
2. Hum mmmm with your lips closed. Feel the buzz on your lips and nose.
3. Blow air through loose lips so they flutter, like a motorbike: brrrr.
4. Move your jaw gently from side to side, then open and close it slowly.
5. Say ma, me, mi, mo, mu, opening your mouth clearly for each sound.

Tongue twisters train your lips, tongue and teeth to move quickly and precisely. Say each one slowly and clearly three times first, then a little faster. Clarity always matters more than speed.

Many words change their meaning when a vowel is short or long. Say each pair aloud, making the difference clear. Keep the long sound long, without rushing it.

In English, one part of a longer word is said more strongly: a little louder, longer and higher. Stress in the wrong place can make a word hard to understand. The stressed part is in capital letters below.

In a sentence, we stress the words that carry the meaning, and our voice rises and falls. This is what makes speech sound alive rather than flat.

The tune of a sentence

• Statements fall at the end: I live in Galle. ↘
• Yes/no questions usually rise: Do you live in Galle? ↗
• Wh- questions usually fall: Where do you live? ↘
• Lists rise, rise, then fall: I bought rice ↗, dhal ↗ and onions. ↘

Exercise: move the stress, change the meaning

Say this sentence five times, stressing a different word each time. Notice how the meaning changes.

1. SHE gave me the red book. (not someone else)
2. She GAVE me the red book. (it was a gift, not a loan)
3. She gave ME the red book. (not you)
4. She gave me the RED book. (not the blue one)
5. She gave me the red BOOK. (not the red pen)

Nervous speakers rush. A pause gives your listeners time to understand, and gives you time to breathe. In the passage below, / means a short pause and // means a longer pause. Read it aloud slowly, then read it again without the marks, keeping the pauses.

Practice passage

Every morning / before the town wakes up / an old man walks along the beach. // He carries a small bag / and a long stick. // He is not looking for shells. / He is picking up plastic. // When people ask him why, / he smiles / and says, / "Somebody has to start." //

Tips

• Pause at full stops and commas, and before an important word.
• Slow down for names, numbers and the most important sentence.
• A pause that feels long to you usually sounds natural to your audience.

Reading aloud well means understanding the words first, then letting your voice show their meaning. Read the poem silently, decide how it should sound, and then read it aloud.

Before you read

1. Read the whole piece silently, and make sure you understand every word.
2. Decide the mood: happy, sad, calm, excited or funny?
3. Pause at punctuation, not at the end of every line.
4. Choose one or two words in each line to stress.
5. Look up from the page now and then, to connect with your listeners.

Practise with this poem: The Monsoon Comes

All morning the sky was heavy and grey,

the crows were quiet, the dogs would not play.

Then one cool wind ran over the hill,

the palm trees shivered, and then stood still.

A drop on a leaf. A drop on my hand.

A drumming of rain on the thirsty land.

And down by the river, loud and free,

the frogs began singing their thanks with me.

Poem written by RCF English.

How to read it

• Lines 1 and 2: slow and low, to show the heavy, waiting sky.
• Lines 3 and 4: a little faster, as the wind arrives; pause after shivered.
• Line 5: short pauses after each sentence, like single raindrops.
• Line 6: pick up speed and volume for the drumming rain.
• Lines 7 and 8: bright and joyful, ending with a warm smile in your voice.

Everyone feels nervous before speaking in front of people. Good speakers are not free of nerves; they have simply learned what to do with them.

Before you speak

• Practise aloud at least three times, once in front of a friend or a mirror.
• Take two slow, low breaths before you begin.
• Stand still with your weight on both feet, and smile.

While you speak

• Look at different people in the audience, a few seconds each.
• Use your hands naturally, to show size, number or feeling.
• Speak a little more slowly and loudly than in conversation.
• If you forget a word, pause, breathe, and carry on. The audience rarely notices.

A one-minute speech plan

1. Greeting: Good morning, teachers and friends.
2. Topic: Today I would like to talk about...
3. Point one, with an example.
4. Point two, with an example.
5. Ending: So, let us all... Thank you for listening.