Any ideas on how to improve my diction/speech-it's so sloppy and unrefined!

[HappyGrace]

I have been realizing how sloppy I am with the way I speak. The other day in church I heard myself saying, "How ya doin'?" to someone and it just sounded so unrefined, and that started me really listening to myself.

 

I tend to slur my words together rather than enunciate them properly (are y' goin' t'the store? rather than Are you going to the store?), and also do things like dropping final sounds or saying vowel sounds incorrectly ("rilly" rather than "really").

 

It is not a regional thing-I'm not from the South or Long Island or something that would give me a pronounced accent. It is just truly sloppy and lazy. I also tend to speak quickly.

 

This sentence is an example: What do you want to do when you get over to the restaurant?"

sounds like this when said by me in regular conversation:

What d'yawanna do when you git over t'the restrahnt?

 

I'd like to become more refined in my speech, but when I make a conscious effort, I come out sounding rather British! I like the way Martha Stewart enunciates each word properly but she still manages to sound pretty regular and not British or stiff.

 

I'm not looking for perfection, just want to improve on this habit. Any ideas-are there You Tube videos or something for this?

[Mrs Mungo]

Do you have the McGuffey readers? They contain elocution lessons. It only sounds stuffy because you need practice. :)

[Mergath]

I was going to recommend sitting and watching every episode of Downton Abbey, but if you don't want to sound British, that might not work. :p

 

You could try looking for videos on Youtube, but it's more a matter of practice than anything else.

 

Is there a college in your area? You could take some kind of stuffy liberal arts class, preferably literature because there will be a good deal of speaking. Something about the college environment makes you want to sit up straight and use big, well-enunciated words.

[KAR120C]

singing lessons. :)

[elegantlion]

Read good books out loud. I tend to slur when I'm relaxed. I realized it when ds was younger. He asked how to spell "gonna", as in I'm gonna go to the store. We had a long chat and I started paying attention. I was so embarrassed.

[musicianmom]

I second the reading aloud idea. It's easier to focus on articulation when the words are in front of you. My overall speech has improved since doing more read-alouds with the kids.

[SunnyDays]

I was going to recommend sitting and watching every episode of Downton Abbey, but if you don't want to sound British, that might not work. :p

 

 

 

 

Is it weird that I find myself thinking (and having the usual conversations with myself) in a British accent after watching a few DA episodes in a row?? ;)

 

A class of some sort is a great idea. Probably the simplest would be reading aloud. I was reading MCT's Caesar's English to my son today... with the words and ideas in that book, I actually noticed I was reading in a very precise, well-spoken manner!

[Ellie]

I became much more cognizant of my speech when I started teaching Spalding. :-)

 

I once had a student in my little one-room school who came in after school had started and so I didn't have books for her; while I was waiting for them to come in, I gave her busy-work, including having her write out numbers--one, two, thee, etc. When she got to 20, she wrote "twenny"...twenny-one, twenny-two... :huh: :blink: :ack2: because that's how her parents said those numbers...That's when I *really* began paying attention to how I pronounced words!

 

And there was the time I noticed my oral surgeon saying "prolly."

 

Yeah.

 

Now that you're aware of your speech, I'm thinking you can work on it yourself just be listening carefully and self-correcting. :-)

[Parrothead]

 

 

 

Is it weird that I find myself thinking (and having the usual conversations with myself) in a British accent after watching a few DA episodes in a row?? ;)

 

A class of some sort is a great idea. Probably the simplest would be reading aloud. I was reading MCT's Caesar's English to my son today... with the words and ideas in that book, I actually noticed I was reading in a very precise, well-spoken manner!

 

No, not weird at all. You probably pick up accents rather quickly. At least that is what I tell myself when I watch so much BBCA that I no longer hear the British accents. American television is so odd when I go back to it.

[Parrothead]

Happy grace- I've noticed the " how ya doin'" thing a lot lately from a variety of people. I thought it was becoming the "latest" cool thing to do. Dd has picked it up from somewhere and it grates on my nerves. LOL.

[MyLittleWonders]

I agree with reading out loud, especially classic literature. Also, poetry memorization might help too. I know both of those have helped me regain some of my pre-children vocabulary and diction. Oh, and yes, Downton Abbey might help too. It definitely can't hurt. ;) I want to speak like the Dowager when I grow up. :lol:

[HappyGrace]

I will try more reading aloud. Plus just being conscious of my speech! I think slowing down how fast I talk will help too.

 

At least I am "cool" with the "How ya doin"!!!

[Orthodox6]

And there was the time I noticed my oral surgeon saying "prolly."

 

What does that even mean??

 

As for "British accent", there are multiple ones to begin with, unless you are aiming for what used be called (still is?) "RP" ("received pronunciation") English. At any rate, my observation is that when Americans believe that they have achieved what they believe to be "a British accent", nobody from the UK would consider it accurate. We just like to think of ourselves that way!

 

Casting my vote with those who have recommended reading aloud "classic" literature -- with the additional suggestion of reading slowly, to make sure those syllables are not elided.

[Amber in SJ]

prolly = probably

[Orthodox6]

prolly = probably

 

Thanks! Never in my life have I heard that from a speaker.

[kalanamak]

I second the reading aloud idea. It's easier to focus on articulation when the words are in front of you. My overall speech has improved since doing more read-alouds with the kids.

 

Try reading some grand stuff:

 

We cannot say from where our deliverance will come, or when it will come, but nothing can be more certain that every trace of Hitler's footsteps, ever stain of his infected and corroding finger, shall be sponged and purged and if need be, blasted from the surface of the earth. This then, my Lords and gentlemen, is our message to the states and nations, bound and free: lift up your hearts; all will come right; out of the depths of sorrow and of sacrifice will be born again the glory of Mankind.

 

 

(I quote from memory, and the YouTube of it will give you a great cadence to follow). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTRL_QraUrA

 

 

And amazingly, this was in 1941, when England was still rather alone in the fight.

[LibraryLover]

Listen to old classics. Something like Little Women, American poetry etc.

 

I have not done this, but I can tell you from experience listening to British lit, that my kids ended up sounding a bit like Harry and Hermione at times. It's got to work the other way around, I figure. :)

 

But don't give up all regionalisms. They add so much texture to our culture. If you're born and raised in Georgia, I want to hear that. We don't all have to sound like Connie Chung or Matt Lauer, kwim?

 

ETA: Oops. This advice has already been given. Not very original, LL! ;)

[kalanamak]

Listen to old classics on audio. Something like Little Women, American poetry etc.

 

 

Julie Harris's reading of Stuart Little has GREAT diction.

[LibraryLover]

"Listen to audio". Lol wow. I keep saying I need an editor.