Exercises for consonants 6 

As your special Independence Day gift, I am adding an extra practice routine this month to assist you in improving your speaking – I chose the  “d” sound as we find lots of them in the phrase Independence Day!

Remember that breath is the fuel of an effective voice, so let me guide you through some deep breathing and voice exercises first: (For more detailed relaxation and breathing exercises, pop into my blogs and exercises on my website.

You will remember from blog number 7 that we practiced the sound ‘ei’ as in sight. This week we will practice another variation of the vowel sound ‘i’ but it is the short ‘i’ (as in bit or milk). Remember that, even if this sound is not one that you struggle with to speak clearly, use these exercises to prepare yourself for a presentation or speech. 

Exercises for consonants 5

For this month’s practice round, I have chosen a consonant sound that quite a few of us battle with - the “th” sound. Did you know that there is a soft ‘th’ sound and a harder ‘th’- sound.

Before we engage in the vocal exercises, let us first warm up the voice. Remember that you can do these on your way to a meeting or presentation too.

 Stand or sit comfortably and tall, drop your shoulders

  • Breathe in deeply
  • Hold the breath for a moment
  • And breathe out
  • Now breathe in deeply and intonate the sound ‘hmmmmmm’
  • Repeat

 

Exercises for vowel sounds 5 – bat and about

You will remember from previous blogs that we practiced to variations of the ‘a’ sound already – nl. the ‘ah’ as in father and ‘a’ as in slave. This week we will practice another variation of the vowel sounds ‘a’ (as in bat) and the short ‘a’ (as in about).

 Let us first warm up our voice before we engage in the vocal exercises.