While some speakers may develop a flair for public speaking early in life, for others public speaking is a skill that must be carefully honed. They must learn how to prepare and present their material and overcome their natural inclinations to present their thoughts and ideas with enough enthusiasm to make their audience want to be a part of it. A vital part of this presentation is distinct enunciation.

If a speaker can’t be understood, it doesn’t matter how well prepared their material is. They’re going to crash and burn when it comes time to step up in front of a crowd. A presentation that is poorly enunciated isn’t going to be understood by the listener, regardless of what arena of public speaking it is in. Careful, precise enunciation, on the other hand, will allow the speaker to be heard and understood almost anywhere.

The history of public speaking remembers preacher and Parliamentarian William Johnson Fox from South Place Chapel, London, for his oration in the Covent Garden Theatre. The theatre sat 3500, a behemoth of a structure in a time before microphones and acoustics, and Fox was neither notably loud nor possessing a notably strong voice. His speeches on popular education and against the Corn Law, however, were remembered because of the noted and deliberate enunciation he placed on the final consonants of his words.

In sharp contrast to Fox is Edmund Burke, a man whose speeches are studied around the world by students of public speaking as models of argumentative arrangement and style. When it came time to actually present these works, however, he was a complete failure.

He frequently rushed through his presentation, and although he had a voice that was naturally inclined toward public speaking it was strongly flavored with an Irish accent that made him difficult to understand by anyone other than his fellow countrymen. His speeches were given in harsh tones and accompanied by clumsy gestures that failed to make their point, explaining why these masterpieces, while carefully prepared, failed in their purpose when presented by their gifted but ineffective author and emphasizing the importance of proper delivery in public speaking.

Any speaker can learn to carefully enunciate their words if they are willing to put forth the effort to try. Proper enunciation requires the speaker to place careful emphasis on their consonants rather than their vowels, particularly at the beginning and end of a word. They must open their mouths in order to definitively pronounce what they are trying to say. This is, perhaps, the most difficult part of learning to enunciate because so many speakers practice “lazy speech”, in which their mouth is only partially open as they say each word.

When a speaker is properly enunciating their words the spittle should fly. Emphasizing each consonant will cause saliva to come out of the mouth in much the same manner as an overzealous alcoholic in the middle of a drunken discourse. Careful practice will help eliminate the liquid side effects, and in time proper enunciation will become as natural in public speaking as breathing.

It is important to remember that it is not practice but perfect practice that makes perfect. The student in public speaking should pay careful attention each and every time that they stand up to give a speech to the way they are enunciating  their words, ensuring that they are understood by all of their listeners rather than only those fortunate (or unfortunate, as the case may be) to be standing in the front row.

My Name Is Christopher Carlin And I Want To Give You Twenty Free Public Speaking Tips