LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE!

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 115, 17 May 1930, Page 2

LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE!

Have you a beautiful speaking voice? Do you possess the qualities necessary to perfect articulation? If you can answer “yes,” you are indeed fortunate- If you are not quite sure, listen to your voice! It is very easy to recite a few lines in private, and pronounce the result good. But this is the real test; Try to listen to your own voice when conversing with others, and decide whether you should truthfully admit that; (1) Your voice takes on too high a pitch. (2) You| do not pay sufficient attention to the consonants. (3) Your words are often indistinct. But do not despair if you have to admit one or more of these faults. With perseverance, they may be remedied. First, to lower the high tone of the voice, take up a book and commence to read aloud. Let your first utterance be pitched on a low note- Then, keeping your voice on that same note, read on, slowly and deliberately. Directly you hear your voice rising, drop down again to the low note. Practise] thus for a quarter of an hour each day, and you will quickly notice a marked improvement in the tone of voice. Take care, however, that your voice does not develop into a monotonous drone during this toning-down process. Using the one low note is merely for practice; in speech you must make use of both high and low tones to give

variety. Then those poor neglected conson-| ants! How often we hear people say: “They live ncx’ door.” But how we rejoice when we hear others give the consonant “T” the attention which results in the beautifully clear-cut: “They live next door.” This absorbing of one consonant into another is so very easy that only continuous care will remedy the fault. A good corrective method is to choose a number of phrases in which the final consonant of the first word meets the consonant commencing the second word, as in “Wet day,” “Won’t do,” and so on- After making out your list, read the phrases several times every day, taking great care to sound both consonants in each case.

To overcome indistinctness, read aloud for a few minutes each day, pronouncing every word clearly, correctly, and slowly. Again great care must be taken with all consonants. Decided pronunciation of final consonants produces firmness of speech. After a time, you will be able to read at your usual pace quite as distinctly as when practising slowly. Now, just listen to your yoicc!