How to Become More Articulate: 6 Ways to Be More Articulate

Being articulate means you speak clearly, and people follow and understand your everyday speech. An articulate speaker uses communication skills like pitch variation and body language to get their meaning across to their audience. They also understand the nuances of human speech and how to break down an idea into distinct parts to make an articulate argument.

Being more articulate can help you:

1. 1. Become a better team member: Learning effective communication skills will help you in all facets of your personal and professional life. As you learn to use the right words and be more articulate, you will become a better contributor as you voice your opinions and offer solutions to your coworkers.
2. 2. Develop your public speaking skills: An articulate person excels at public speaking. You can learn to become a better speaker by practicing skills like voice projection and good posture to improve your performance in front of a large crowd.
3. 3. Improve your small talk skills: You can improve your verbal communication skills to make it easier to talk to new people and close friends. Becoming a well-spoken person can help diminish the fear of meeting new people and starting a conversation with a stranger.

Follow these tips to leverage the power of speech and improve your communication skills:

1. 1. Avoid filler words: Many people use words like um and uh when they feel nervous or unsure of what to say next. These phrases can cause you to lose your train of thought or might make you look unsure of yourself. Instead, slow down and give yourself time to think through what you want to say.
2. 2. Focus on pronunciation: Articulate speech relies on the clear pronunciation of words. Start by creating a word list of phrases that are difficult for you to pronounce. Try enunciating the word slowly to practice each distinct syllable. In addition to practicing your pronunciation of each syllable, try to use the word in example sentences to hear how your speech sounds. When learning new words, explore the etymology to help you master the definition, or consult a thesaurus to find synonyms or related words to help you memorize the word’s meaning.
3. 3. Know your audience: Great speakers know how to speak to their specific audience. Pay attention to how your listeners react to what you are saying to determine if they understand your message. Try different speech patterns or sentence lengths to match your audience’s needs.
4. 4. Practice speaking in private: A common technique for improving your speech habits is to practice speaking in front of a mirror to hear the sound of your voice. You can also record yourself speaking and adjust your speech to determine if you need to make more articulate sounds or use more expressive language.
5. 5. Simplify your speech: Complex words and phrases can make it more difficult to get your ideas across. Keep it simple, and use shorter sentences and words that anyone can understand.
6. 6. Talk slower: Speaking too quickly is a sure way to lose your audience. Slow down and articulate each word. Remember that the use of pauses can break up long sentences, creating a more natural flow that’s easier to understand.

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