How to get rid of verbal garbage and start speaking clearly and confidently: a column of a public speaking coach
Miscellaneous / / May 23, 2023
Parasitic words and unnecessary interjections can irritate not only others, but also yourself. Here's how to fix the problem.
The ability to speak clearly and convincingly is needed not only for those who speak at conferences or defend projects. Any situation in life, such as a declaration of love, a discussion of plans, or a spontaneous dialogue in a store, requires others to listen carefully, and you get the desired result from this conversation. And the key to mutual understanding will be the correct and beautiful speech. Here's how to make it better.
How to find extra words in your speech
Extra words appeared in your speech for a reason: they all serve a purpose. Here's how to isolate them and understand why they are needed:
- Record a two-minute story on a voice recorder on any topic. For example, about your plans for the weekend. Or record your dialogue with someone.
- Listen and analyze this recording. Write down the words and sounds that are repeated most often. These will not necessarily be parasitic words from the standard list: “as if”, “in short”, “this is the same”, “in principle”, and so on. You may have your own favorite expressions. For example: "cool", "cool", "cool", "tin", "kapets". All this is also part of our speech garbage, so the wider the list, the better. Do not forget to note how you fill in the pauses between the words: "uh", "a-a-a", "m-m-m".
- Write a few synonyms next to each phrase or word. Start introducing them into your speech, consciously replacing parasitic words with them. For example, instead of "type" say "similar", "like" or "like", instead of "damn" - "offensive", "I'm sorry." Instead of "shorter" - "in a word", "therefore" and so on. You can even stick stickers with them in prominent places.
- Try to be honest about why you use these words. What function do they perform? For example, they fill a pause while you are looking for the right wording. Or appear when you worry or experience fear when communicating. Most often, we pronounce such words unconsciously, but finding out the reason will help to choose the right tools to deal with them.
How to get rid of verbal garbage and pump speech
Modern communication is filled with speech clichés and foreign language. slang, and some professions are completely replete with their own modern terminology. That's why we so easily pick up verbal garbage. But you can get rid of it. Here's how to do it.
Learn to track extra words
This is very important, because most often we pronounce them on the machine. Here's what to do:
- Ask friends or colleagues to scold you and point out every “wrong” word. For others, they will be much more noticeable.
- Assign some kind of conditional penalty for extra words. Deprive yourself of a dessert, a trip to the cinema, some kind of purchase - but only let everything be honest!
- Put on a rubber band around your wrist and click it every time you catch yourself on the next "this is it." So you yourself will begin to get annoyed by these expressions, and the brain will gradually learn to avoid them.
Pump up self-control
Take one of your catchphrases - for example, "shorter". And start deliberately loudly and often pronounce it. Try to use it at least five times in one or two sentences: “In short, I just heard that, in short, tomorrow there will be an interesting webinar, in short, on the topic of correct speech, in short! We must go, in short!”
It sounds funny, but it is important to make this word cut the ear. After all, often you pronounce it without noticing it yourself. Now it will be easier to control your speech.
Pause
It only at first glance seems that when a person is silent, he has nothing to say. In fact, there is great power in speech pauses: it is a way to make you listen to yourself, grab attention and make others wait for what you will say next.
In the end, pauses give the interlocutor the opportunity to digest what you just said. And if a person fills them with lowing, “uh…” or “I’ll tell you now,” then interest in the conversation is quickly lost.
To learn how to pause, try this method. Take any book, preferably a work of art, and start read. Pause for 2-3 seconds after each word. Keep your lips closed during them. In this case, you need to read with expression, and not monotonously mumbling.
When speaking one word, set the intonation of the continuing thought after a pause - this way you will train to read with expression. This activity will probably seem boring, but it's worth it: one page a day, and you will start to notice changes.
You will understand that 2-3 seconds of silence is not so scary and even useful. pauses can beautify and enrich speech - this is a great cure for "uh ..." and "mmm ..." or non-stop chatter. Believe me, nothing is more annoying than the abundance of unnecessary overtones and words in the speech of other people.
Expand your vocabulary
There are many ways to do this. Here are the main ones:
- Read aloud, not to yourself. The process of speaking the text is important. When you read to yourself, you don't think about how the language sounds. And while pronouncing the text, you stumble over unfamiliar or difficult terms, forcing the brain to fix attention on them.
- Write out unfamiliar terms with explanations in a separate notebook and pronounce them. So these words will be deposited in your head, and you can easily apply them in a suitable situation.
- Play. Choose word games, in which you need to select associations for one object or phenomenon. Another option is to describe one word with the help of others, without using the same root terms. Such games perfectly develop correct speech, because in the process you remember those words that you rarely use in everyday life.
- Write down your favorite quotes and phrases on stickers and hang them up at home or in the office. When a leaflet with a quote catches your eye, read its contents aloud - this is how the lexicon moves from a passive to an active status. That is, what you know will become what you use.
- Take an interest in everything. Be curious and eager for everything new. Phenomena and phenomena, scientific discoveries and historical events, interesting personalities and facts - everything should be of genuine interest. In proportion to the increase in the volume of knowledge, the vocabulary will also increase. Eventually you will be able support any conversation and make your speech clearer.
Pump up the speed of thinking
The speed of thinking shows how quickly a person is able to process information and respond to it. We have been training this skill since childhood: games that develop fine motor skills, finger paints, modeling, collecting a pyramid and a designer - all this activates brain function. However, even in adulthood, do not forget about simple exercises that help you think faster.
One option is to perform asynchronous movements. For example, when we draw a circle with one hand and draw a line with the other. Or when we show “OK” (circle of fingers) with the left hand, and “Great” with the right hand (thumb up). And vice versa.
Facial exercises also work well: stretch a smile, look from side to side, throw up eyebrows, stick out the tongue as much as possible, make faces, depicting different contrasting states, from positive to negative. A living face is the key to living thinking.
Read also🧐
- 12 ways to expand your vocabulary and start speaking beautifully
- How to Be a Good Listener and Build Relationships with Others
- How to find out what type of interlocutor you are, and why to do it