<story><title>How fast do I talk?</title><url>https://www.hillelwayne.com/post/talk-fast/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Eric_WVGG</author><text>If anyone wants a &amp;quot;weird old tip&amp;quot; for better enunciation: finishing schools had an exercise where students would practice speaking with their mouth full of marbles or gravel. After talking out loud for a few minutes, one can spit them out and have perceptibly better enunciation.&lt;p&gt;You can do this more safely by biting down on a wine cork. Read a page or two out of a book out loud, remove, and then read another. It&amp;#x27;s quite remarkable. (I learned this trick from a theater class back in high school I think…)&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.activepresence.com&amp;#x2F;blog&amp;#x2F;public-speaking-articulation-exercise&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.activepresence.com&amp;#x2F;blog&amp;#x2F;public-speaking-articula...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>yesenadam</author><text>It certainly is old – Demosthenes was 4th century BC.&lt;p&gt;The indistinctness and lisping in his speech he used to correct and drive away by taking pebbles in his mouth and then reciting speeches. - Plutarch&amp;#x27;s Lives, &lt;i&gt;Demosthenes&lt;/i&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>How fast do I talk?</title><url>https://www.hillelwayne.com/post/talk-fast/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Eric_WVGG</author><text>If anyone wants a &amp;quot;weird old tip&amp;quot; for better enunciation: finishing schools had an exercise where students would practice speaking with their mouth full of marbles or gravel. After talking out loud for a few minutes, one can spit them out and have perceptibly better enunciation.&lt;p&gt;You can do this more safely by biting down on a wine cork. Read a page or two out of a book out loud, remove, and then read another. It&amp;#x27;s quite remarkable. (I learned this trick from a theater class back in high school I think…)&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.activepresence.com&amp;#x2F;blog&amp;#x2F;public-speaking-articulation-exercise&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.activepresence.com&amp;#x2F;blog&amp;#x2F;public-speaking-articula...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>amflare</author><text>2-3 fingers vertically in mouth also works in a pinch if you don&amp;#x27;t have anything else handy. It&amp;#x27;s really good for those about-to-walk-on-stage moments to induce enunciation.</text></comment>