How to Not Mumble When Presenting & Speak Clearly?

It's certainly difficult to present anything in front of a public, especially if you're doing it for the first time. That's why learning how to not mumble when presenting is very important. It's crucial to learn how to speak clearly, since it exudes a sense of confidence, it engages the audience, while also making your speech more credible as well. In this article, we will help you learn how not to mumble anymore and what methods you can use!

What are the main causes behind mumbling?

Before figuring out how to stop mumbling and speak clearly, it's important to understand the causes behind this issue. Depending on the person, it can be a sleuth of different things. Here are some of the primary causes!

• A lot of people mumble due to nervousness. Standing in front of dozens or hundreds of people can lead to fright, which automatically triggers a sense of uneasiness in our minds.
• Some people mumble because they are shy and they find it difficult to talk in front of an audience.
• A lack of confidence can also be the cause behind mumbling. It will take time to figure out how to speak clearly without mumbling, but usually, you want to address that problem by becoming a more confident person.
• It could also be due to muscle weakness, brain injuries or a hearing impairment.
• For some people, it also pertains to things like an unclear articulation or having various speech impediments.

How can you fix mumbling?

Since the main focus is to learn how to not mumble when presenting, it's crucial to address the core issues behind mumbling.

Try a few tongue-twisters

The role of tongue-twisters is to help you become more confident while speaking. They also encourage your tongue to move faster, thus increasing muscular energy. If you practice tongue-twisters, mumbling can become a thing of the past.

Do some vocal warm-ups

Vocal warm-ups are ideal for situations when you want to figure out how to speak clearly without mumbling. When you warm up your vocal muscles, you can speak without stopping and it can enhance your self-confidence as well. Also, warm up your tongue by swishing it clockwise around your mouth, do 5 reps and then switch the direction to do 5 more reps.

You should also consider doing some vocal exercises. These can be things like:

• Singing, where you develop your vocal muscles, while also enhancing your speaking volume
• Yawning and humming can also be great exercises
• Even reading aloud from a book can be inherently helpful!

Breathing exercises

The reason why you want to do a few breathing exercises is because they can support your voice's projection. You can also induce a sense of calmness into your mind. In turn, that will help you deal with fright and uneasiness, those feelings that can appear when you present in front of a large audience.

Slow down

It's very easy for us to try and rush through a presentation. But when you try to learn how to stop mumbling, you'll notice the best approach is to slow down. Spend more time on each word, repeat those challenging words multiple times, and don't be afraid to enunciate.

Enhance the posture

One thing to keep in mind is that your body language and posture will have a huge impact on voice projection. Changing your posture by sitting straight will help optimize your larynx's positioning. Your vocal muscles are easier to articulate.

If you sit straight, that has a positive impact on your larynx and vocal muscle in general. Additionally, a great posture also boosts your confidence levels, which is extremely important to focus on!

Quotes and mantras

There are times when a great way to boost your mood and thus remove mumbling can be achieved via mantras and quotes. Since most people have problems with presentations due to low confidence levels, mantras can very well be the right option to consider.

Harness the power of intention

You want to have an item around 3 meters in front of you. Try to send your words towards that item and be clear about your intention. Focus on that item and talk directly towards it. Use a crisp, very clear and accurate tone. If you end up mumbling a little bit, continue repeating that thing until you say it correctly. It does take experimentation, but it's by far one of the best ways to work on your mumbling problem.

Try opening your mouth wider

An important thing you have to note is that not opening your mouth wide enough can lead to a loss of clarity. It does make you mumble, so it's crucial to try and open your mouth a bit wider. Exercise in front of your mirror and experiment with it. Don't be shy, it takes time and effort to find the perfect way to avoid mumbling.

Memorize words that are hard to pronounce

You should try memorizing those words that are difficult to pronounce naturally. If you do that, it's easier to remind yourself about the sentence structure and you can improve with more effectiveness. Upon memorizing them, you can repeat these words multiple times until you master them. And all of a sudden, the fright that comes from using such words will be gone.

How can you stop yourself from mumbling when presenting?

Use the right strategies

A very good idea to figure out how to not mumble when presenting is to record yourself. That way, you get to see how other people perceive you. It also allows you to identify mistakes you made. In doing so, you can rectify those mistakes and improve your presentation. Of course, it will also make it easier to not mumble when the actual presentation takes place.

Perform a couple of speaking drills. As always, practice makes perfect, so a couple of speaking drills can be extremely effective. They make it easier to improve your presenting skills, while refining and adjusting them.

The old method of speaking in front of a mirror is always effective. You should consider speaking in front of the mirror and trying to exude confidence every single time. Repeat your presentation dozens of times, refine and adjust as you go along. As you do that in front of your mirror, it will help you become more confident in yourself and your skills!

Make the most out of taking pauses

Pausing here and there is a great idea, because you want to avoid speaking all the time without stopping. If you do that, it's very easy to lose the attention of people watching you. You always want to have a high level of clarity and engage with the audience. If you take a pause and connect with the listeners, you can do that. Otherwise, it will be just a one-sided presentation, which is very forgettable. Yet if you take pauses and engage with the audience, that will help differentiate your presentation.

Try to get past any sense of anxiety and worries

As you can imagine, one of the best methods on how to not mumble when presenting is to trust yourself and maintain a high level of confidence. A lot of the time, worries, anxiety, stress or depression can be extremely demanding and can lead to mumbling. Try to identify the issues behind your anxiety and solve that.

How can you prevent mumbling in everyday situations? Tips and tricks!

• Go through speech therapy. It might seem like a tough thing to do, but it helps if you're looking how to not mumble when presenting or speaking. There are different therapy options to consider, each with its own pros and cons!
• Repeat sentences one at a time. Regardless of what you want to say, if you end up mumbling, it makes sense to repeat sentences. Mastering each sentence will give you more confidence, and it will remove those awkward situations when it's hard to present an idea.
• Ask someone to listen to you while you speak. Then you should ask them for feedback on how to improve. Not only will you have an audience and someone who listens, but it also gives you the means to obtain some much-needed feedback.
• Focus on speaking and nothing else. Some people mumble because they are easily distracted. The best thing you can do is to only focus on your sentences and what you're looking to convey.
• Record yourself when you speak, and then rewind. See if you liked it, if you want to change things, etc. Self-recording is a great way to assess your skills, and it could improve your speaking experience, overall.

Conclusion

Learning how to not mumble when presenting is something that will take a lot of practice. It's a good idea to check out a Speech Test and see what you can improve. In addition, you also want to work on the causes behind mumbling. You can even enter a Speech Recovery Challenge and find ways to naturally improve your speech, while pushing any mumbling away. It takes plenty of time and effort to learn how not to mumble, but it's always worth it. Don't give up, use these amazing resources and tips mentioned above, and mumbling will soon be a memory!