Study activity — Articulation practice

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Enunciation tips: The proper enunciation of words will help you better communicate with your audience, whether it's a one-on-one conversation or a speech to thousands. If your words are indistinct and require your audience to focus too intently, people will tune you out.

Articulation exercises are designed to:

➖ Help you refrain from mumbling;

➖ Develop good habits such as opening your mouth wide enough to articulate your words clearly;

➖ Stop tripping over words or phrases that are tricky to say;

➖ Relax, strengthen, and stretch your facial muscles and voice.

⚠️ Say the following five tongue twisters three times each. Start slowly and slightly increase your speed each time:

"The keen king gave the queen a pink and green ring" (💢 Target area: vowel sounds)

"Put the peanut butter on the bread before placing it in the paper bag" (💢 Target area: P and B sounds)

"The tiny two-toed tree toad descended down the tree trunk to catch dinner" (💢 Target area: T and D sounds)"

"Gwen grew green grapes and glorious guava in her grand garden" (💢Target area: G sounds) 

"The sun was shining on Sharon Street, where I saw Shane and Sarah sitting near the shoe shop" (💢 Target area: S and SH sounds)

📝 About tongue twisters:

 Repeating different tongue twisters is not only fun, it helps improve your enunciation and develop good habits. It also increases the flexibility and agility of your tongue.

❗️ There are several types of tongue twisters, each with a different intended goal:

➖ Mixing vowel sounds to habituate your facial muscles to these sounds so you open your mouth appropriately

➖ Mixing consonants, such as <p> and <b> or <l> and <r>, that are sometimes said unclearly when you rush your speech and don't position your tongue appropriately

➖ Mixing letter combinations, such as <s> and <sh> or <th> and <ph>, that can be tricky when they are near one another.