Speaking clearly. Improving voice and articulation: Фонетический практикум. Фомиченко Л.Г. - 77 стр.

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       Speaking at a slow rate of speed can sound boring or lack-luster.
In our fast-paced world, people who speak too slowly are often inter-
rupted or, worse, are totally ignored.
       Your goal should be a conversational tempo that uses natural
speech rhythms. Remember, natural rhythms are never constant ones.
Speed up and then slow down. Vary your tempo. Variety is the spice
of life and of speech!
       Volume. Volume pertains to the relative loudness or softness of
speech sounds. If people sometimes have difficulty understanding your
speech, if others have trouble hearing you clearly, you may be speak-
ing at a volume level that is too soft. Conversely, if your speaking
voice sounds harsh, or if you are sometimes perceived as bossy or
over-bearing, you may be speaking at a volume that is too loud. Your
volume level should be appropriate to the message delivered and to
one’s environment. The intensity of a sound concerns the force with
which air particles are displaced by vibrating sound waves. Intensity is
closely associated with volume.
                            Zoller B.P., Watkins J.A. and Lampman H.
                           Power Talk. Dallas. Texas, 1994. P. 85—92

       A speaking or reading rate of 120 to 140 w. p. m. can irk your
listeners even more than the «faster-than-a-speeding-bullet» rate some
hyperkinetic individuals use. Not only does it suggest that the speaker
is unsure of the information, but it hints of illness, timorousness, or
stupidity. (Actors playing not-too-swift characters often speak at a tor-
toise crawl.) People can listen faster than you can talk, and if your
rate is draggy or funeral, you’ll not only bore your listeners and lose
their attention, you’ll soon lull them into a catatonic state. <...…>
     Even though you’ll rarely have an occasion to read or speak in
slow motion, get the feel of it. The selection below contains exactly
140 words. The number of words up to the diagonal lines is 120. A
maximum and a minimum are established.

     Practice, timing yourself, until it takes you close to a minute to
reach either terminal point.


     All of you who live on after us, don’t harden your hearts
against us. If you pity wretches like us, maybe God will be merciful to
you on Judgment Day. You see us here, five or six of us, strung up. As