Public Speaking Skills For Dummies

Chapter 12

Mastering the ABCs of Articulation

IN THIS CHAPTER

Meeting the articulators

Mumbling no more

Honing your articulation

Communication, especially when you’re addressing a group of people, can become muddled by something that you may not think about much in normal life. That’s articulation, the subject of this chapter.

Imagine a speaker, perfectly ready to hop on that stage and take the audience by storm. She’s scoped out the venue and she’s written her speech brilliantly. The breath support is there. She’s confident. She’s ready to command the audience. She has a smile going up the stage, totally ready to kill it. She takes the microphone from the master of ceremonies and starts speaking. But instead of that clear, crisp message she intended to give to the attentive audience, a long stream of sound comes out, punctuated only by pauses and the rare consonant. Where has she gone wrong? She’s not articulating.

Although performance anxiety can cause many symptoms (including lack of articulation), articulation problems can appear out of nowhere and totally hinder an otherwise stunning performance.

Articulation is the ability of the muscles in the mouth to create meaningful ...