frozenman on 19/6/2008 at 18:08

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So I'm 23 and I frequently mumble and i've always had to repeat what I was saying every now and then (2-10% of conversation sentences or something) and it's causing a few, but highly irritating, problems in my everyday life. I'm wondering if anyone else here has had problems with this or is slightly more informed, or can suggest tips or practices or...

My story: As a younger child (around 7 years old) I took speech-therapy classes because I simply couldn't form any hard C sounds- 'crunchy' would come out as 'trunchy', 'chest' as 'test.' And I remember feeling absolutely humiliated when anyone would jeer me about it- I could hear how it was supposed to sound, but I just couldn't control my mouth to form that syllable, and what's worse, it sounded to me like I was forming a hard C...it was so long ago that I can't remember how I was 'cured.'

Also, I've never had my wisdom teeth removed, and it occurs to me that perhaps that might be contributing to the problem, if they're interfering with the normal functioning of my jaw. Is that possible?

Less personally, it seems like an interesting psychological phenomenon...as if there's a disconnect between what your mind thinks, what your mouth and vocal cords form, and what your ears hear (both externally and internally).

If anyone want to share any stories or :bored:

demagogue on 19/6/2008 at 19:21

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The way I talked changed after I started doing a lot of theatre and we did a lot of enunciation practice.

You just have to (or anyway we practiced) picture yourself projecting to the people you want to hear you; consciously face them; make sure you hit every enunciation point and don't skip any of them: if there's a "t" in the middle, consciously say it, and do that for every consonant.

And then there are all the practice mantras:
"unique new york, unique new york. You know you need unique new york."
"Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran."
"the big black bug bled black blood", etc.

The real kicker for me was teaching English in Korea and Japan, because then you have to enunciate just for the kids to understand you. Then all that theatre training came back to me, and it really got hammered into my day to day speech.

Now I talk like I'm on vaudville. :(
Fortunately it's something you can turn on and off.

Actually, on that note, mumblings not always bad. In Japan, if the Westerners wanted to talk just to each other, we could turn off our vaudville-talk and mumble a little, then we'd understand each other but the Japanese around us couldn't. You knew who was a seasoned foreigner in Japan when they could find that sweet spot.

Kolya on 19/6/2008 at 22:09

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I sometimes find myself repeating conversations I had earlier for myself, thinking about what I said (or what I should have said!) and then mumble that under my breath, sometimes without noticing. Fortunately since the advent of cellphone headsets it's become legal to talk to yourself on the street. I talk a lot to myself. Mostly commenting on stuff I do, sometimes telling myself jokes and cheering me up.
I got a great sense of humour.

On topic: You're probably just shy.

Jennie&Tim on 20/6/2008 at 00:51

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Next time you get your teeth cleaned, ask your dentist if the wisdom teeth could be a problem.

Wasn't there a famous Greek orator who practiced speaking with pebbles in his mouth until he could speak clearly? I think he was supposed to have a stutter.

If the problem is simply mumbling, which I interpret as speaking too quietly, then try "shouting" when you speak. Practice with friends, or take a speech class. I tend to talk too quickly and my words run together, so I try to deliberately slow down my speech when I'm talking to strangers who aren't used to me. Makes me feel like molasses in winter, but seems to work.

Hewer on 21/6/2008 at 04:31

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I tend to mumble and slur and run my words together when I don't pay attention to my talking. It's usually not so bad that I have to repeat myself too much, but when I am paying attention, such as when giving a speech or making an announcement or when I'm in a job interview, I've been told I have quite a good speaking voice.

It started when a friend who worked graveyard at a local radio station was trying to convince me to try out. I thought he was crazy, but he said my voice didn't matter that much as it was the middle of the night when hardly anyone payed attention anyway. I didn't get the job (they re-hired someone who had worked there before), but I started practicing like I was on the radio (while alone- when I was driving and such). I pretty much taught myself to use good posture, talk from my throat instead of the front of my mouth, and pay attention to enunciation.

I've always had poor posture, and done a lot of internal talking to myself, which, I think, was a lot of the problem. Still is, really. I think that when you do a lot of internal dialog and mumbling to yourself you train yourself to not fully form the words because your brain understands them faster than you can pronounce them to yourself, and just moves on.

Oh, yeah- demagogue- my favorite tongue twister is:

The stump thought the skunk stunk,
The skunk thought the stump stunk.
Who stunk, the stump or the skunk?