Professional speech coaches call what I’m about to share enunciation. It’s the technical term for speak clearly. One of the casualties of our abbreviated culture (let’s keep it to 140 characters or less) is clarity. We’ve learned to talk in a shorthand that is sometimes difficult to understand. So, too, with speaking. In conversation we tend to take shortcuts. We speak in contractions and partial sentences. I’m guilty of it myself. My wife often chides me for starting my sentences so quietly that she misses the first two or three words.

In front of an audience, however, we can’t afford the luxury of verbal shortcuts or outright laziness. But here’s the rub; the best public speakers in this modern era are those who seem like they’re talking to you in their living room. In other words, it feels like a conversation. In days gone by we accepted a speaker sounding like an orator. When I first started competitive public speaking forty years ago oratory was prized. You used full words and complete sentences. You developed your ‘speaking voice’ and it was different from your regular voice.

Today it’s much harder to capture and engage an audience with oration. However, the best speakers must still enunciate. That means the challenge for you who want to improve your speaking skills is learning how to sound conversational and relaxed while, at the same time, speaking clearly and concisely. Use contractions but do so with crisp diction. Use your conversational voice but with enough volume and power to reach the back of the room.

As with all the other skills I’ve discussed here, this takes practice. Years ago I went through an intensive week long presenter training as a participant. One of my fellow trainees was a pastor and a wonderful guy. In person he was funny, relaxed, personable and engaging. But as soon as he got in front of an audience ‘Pastor Man’ took over. His voice got a bit deeper, his tone was richer, he spoke eloquently but it felt creepy. He came across as artificial…fake. All of us in the training commented on how hard it was to take him seriously when he put on his ‘Pastor Man’ voice. I’ll elaborate on this aspect further in another post.

For now, practice speaking clearly without changing your natural speech patterns. Start each word strongly and clearly. Pronounce words properly and enunciate. As you practice keep these two goals in mind. You want your words to reach the back of the room and you want the people in the back of the room to think you’re talking to them personally.