Learning to talk pretty

March 3, 2014 2:14 PM

I'm looking for book recommendations on speaking clearly, modulating my voice, and projecting well. In particular, I'd like to find book resources on phrasing, enunciation, pronounciation, and how to emphasize words in a sentence.

I consider this type of book to be different from those that explain how to communicate effectively, which has to do more with emotional intelligence and how to word things than the actual mechanics of saying things. Breathing exercises and speech exercises might be helpful in such a book.

The closest I've found is called It's the Way You Say It (Fleming 2013), but I think it's a bit too superficial.

posted by flyingfork to Education (3 answers total)

Best answer: I highly recommend "The Actor Speaks: Voice and the Performer". It's targeted towards performers, obviously, but it emphasizes breathing and intonation and other basics of speaking clearly and effectively from a physical standpoint rather than a motivational one.
posted by angry.polymath at 2:19 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]

Voice and the Actor
posted by IndigoJones at 4:27 PM on March 3, 2014

I came in to suggest Patsy Rodenburg also! Her books are great. Check out The Right to Speak also.
posted by aka burlap at 7:46 PM on March 3, 2014