It’s amazing how sometimes you can find a good resource in the oddest places. I recently came across a children’s book that I found especially challenging to read out loud as it was full of tongue twisters. But before I get into that, let’s talk a little bit about tongue twisters.
Tongue twisters are short poems or rhymes loaded with words that have similar sounds. Sometimes the words all begin with similar sounds (alliteration), sometimes there’s a repetition of words that contain or end in similar sounds (consonance) and in some cases there are words spelled the same way but have different pronunciations (homographs). Some examples of tongue twisters include:
She sells sea shells down by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I’m sure she sells seashore shells.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Try reading them quickly out loud and see what happens. Most people have a bit of a hard time when trying to read them fast. It’s a lot of work for both your brain and your mouth — it’s like free weights for speaking articulately. It’s no secret that reading out loud can help improve your articulation but if you want to get results fast, try some tongue twisters. If you’re ready for a good speech workout, use the search box on this page to search for tongue twisters. There are tongue twisters in every language so if you can speak more than one, give another language a try.
The book that I came across is “Fox in Socks” by the legendary Dr. Seuss. Doctor Seuss’ books are great to read for working on your articulation, but this one is by far the most challenging I’ve come across. It’s been around for ages so you can pick it up at your local library in the children’s section or on Amazon.com. Here’s what the cover looks like:
Now you might find it odd to use a children’s book to improve your articulation but it’s very difficult to find books geared towards adults that offer these challenges when reading out loud. Yes, reading adult books out loud will help you speak more clearly, but since children’s books are built for these purposes, it’s your quickest path to success — not to mention that a child can benefit from you reading to him or her. So give it a try, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll sound more articulate and professional.