What can you do to speak clearly when under pressure?

I’ve been asked a couple of times in the past month to help people with their articulation.

What they mean is their ability to speak clearly when under pressure. To be able to articulate their thoughts as they think them, without rehearsal, in a way that shows them as credible and convincing.

This isn’t something that you can do in a couple of one-hour sessions. It takes time and practice. However, practice needn’t feel like hard work and you can have some fun when doing it.

If you would like to improve your ability to speak under pressure then try these two exercises:

 

 

1)  Take a quick look around your room and count the objects you see. At the 3^rd object say the word out loud and then speak for 30 seconds about it For example, you might look at a Lamp, drinking glass and then a book. You would say Book out loud and then answer the question: What are my thoughts on this book or books in general.

After 30 seconds, look at 3 more items, stop at the 3^rd, say it out loud and then ask yourself what are my thoughts on this item. Speak for at least 30 seconds. Over time try to extend the time you speak to 45 seconds and then a minute.

2) Set your timer for 3 minutes. Take a book and open it randomly. Start reading out loud but every time there is a form of punctuation (a comma, question mark, full stop etc) stop reading and breath in through your nose. Then start reading again.

In the first exercise you’re getting used to pulling your thoughts together and speaking them out loud. Over time you’ll improve your ability to think on your feet and speak coherently even when caught off guard.

In the second exercise, you become used to speaking more slowly. You’re training your brain to become used to not running sentences together or using filler words. And you’ll start to feel more comfortable with silence between sentences or thoughts.

Try both exercises every day for a week and let me know if you notice a difference.