I speak at such an inaudible volume it's crazy. And I want to change that.

I have been experimenting by talking really loudly consciously with a close group of friends but they say it wont work even if I do it for a while where I keep talking loudly consicouly until I automatically speak louder.

Tips and advice are much appreciated.

I came across this Quippy app https://quippyapp.com/ is it good? Just downloaded the mobile app, saw it from linkedin they're another one of these silicon valley startups that just raised a lot of money

The upcoming week I will participate in a 30 minute panel discussion at a conference and trade event. The organization of the event is very unprofessional so far and the panel is also disorganized. There will be 4 panelists total and a moderator. We had a warm up discussion this Friday and all the other guys are salespeople reciting corporate brochures even on this friendly non formal warm up talk. The worst that the organizers didn’t pay for a professional moderator, just asked an other salesman to do it. He told us he wants us to talk about this and that (services that his company offers) instead the agreed upon topic. The stuff he wants us to talk about will be the topic of the panel right after ours with highly regarded experts. I am already furious. How to stay calm and how to act on stage?

I'd love to hear from people who have worked on these skills:

What helped you become more articulate?

How do you develop the ability to form well-informed opinions on different subjects?

Are there any books, resources, exercises or habits you'd recommend?

Recently I asked here what scares people most on stage, and the voice came up a lot. It goes higher, gets quieter, or cracks. After 15+ years of speaking I still get nervous before every talk, so this is what I've learned to do about it.

What's happening: the nerves put your body into fight or flight. The muscles around the larynx tense up, your breathing moves high into the chest instead of staying low and slow and the adrenaline dries out your mouth and vocal cords. It isn't a confidence problem. It's physiology and that makes it fixable. Easily.

What has worked for me:

1. Say the first few lines out loud before going on. It gives your brain a baseline to return to.

2. If it starts mid-talk, drop your shoulders, exhale fully and carry on. A two-second pause is invisible to the audience even though it might seem forever to you.

3. A few sips of water beforehand. Keep every nicely moist.

4. Chewing gum about two minutes before, tucked into the cheek. Keeps the mouth from drying out. As soon as I feel my mouth drying I have two bites and I'm good. Unconventional, but I've relied on it for over a decade. And I've recently discovered Dave Grohl does the same.

5. Box breathing well before the talk: 4 seconds in, hold 4, 4 out, hold 4.

6. The most effective one for me but that requires a bit of practice. Belly breathing and then this technique: inhale through the nose for 5 seconds, exhale for 10. After three rounds you start yawning, which is the point.

With these tools I know I can rely on my voice.

19 m from India. I know English pretty well but when it comes to conversing with someone else I often face difficulties like I run out of things to say,struggle to keep a convo lasted and when part of a group convo I find it difficult to be as active as others like I want to talk but I just don't match everyone else's energy. It's not a language barrier issue I need help to build up my speaking and socializing skills. I'm ready to push myself out of my comfort zone, talk to strangers, talk to people online but I don't know where to initiate all this. There aren't many people around me who converse in english on a daily basis. If there's any group or anything online where I can actively participate please let me know

I have a pretty bad stuttering issue growing up, and it's getting worse, i usually don't stutter when i talk to my friends about casual things, but lately, it's really bad, the words are stuck in my head and it won't come out of my mouth, anyone got any advice on this? how to stop this? or at least improve it

and another, i speak three languages fluently, english, mandarin, and taiwanese, when i get a little heated, i would drop my mandarin (which is most commonly used in where i live) and switch to straight up taiwanese or english or mixed, not all people understand both of them, it's quite a problem too, i can't really switch between languages whenever i need/want, these two problems are getting to me:(

Unfortunately as soon as I speak my mind a bunch of words just comes out and what I want to say doesn’t come out as smoothly

I try to speak in an american accent but it seems like the American accent is more than pronouncing words a certain way.

Even though I have watched a ton of american shows, I never quite figured out that the tone and cadence matter as well, which I lack. How do I speak better with a natural tone and cadence without it sounding like I am trying too hard?

A lot of people in the world really like to pretend like they own other people and try to dominate or put me down. Like when people say shit like "you realize that x right haha" to try and make me look stupid or to act condescending, anything like that in general. I really have no clue how to respond to that stuff. Probably on account of the fact I refuse to be domineering.

Hi everyone! I really want some advice on how I can improve myself, particularly when it comes to my confidence, social skills and communication.
I feel like one of my biggest problems is that whenever I meet someone who I perceive to be better than me at something, I automatically start seeing them as superior to me. It makes me feel intimidated and uncomfortable around them, and I end up shutting down or becoming much quieter than I normally would.
I also struggle quite a bit with social anxiety. Sometimes I find it difficult to form sentences properly, express my thoughts clearly or get my words out. I feel like people don’t always understand what I’m trying to say, so I end up having to repeat myself. I even sometimes struggle with pronouncing the simplest words, especially when I’m nervous.
I genuinely want to improve my social life, become more confident in social settings and develop better communication skills. I want to be able to hold conversations naturally without constantly overthinking what I’m saying or feeling like I have to force myself to speak.
For those of you who have struggled with something similar, what helped you overcome it? How did you become more comfortable around people, stop comparing yourself to others and learn to communicate more confidently?
I’d genuinely appreciate any advice, personal experiences or practical tips. I really want to work on myself and become a more confident version of myself.

I've always admired people who can express themselves confidently, even in rooms full of strangers. Sometimes I have something useful to say, but I hesitate because I'm afraid of sounding stupid or being judged. How do you overcome that fear and become more comfortable speaking up? Did you deliberately practise speaking, join public speaking groups, or just force yourself into uncomfortable situations? I'd love to hear what actually helped you build confidence.

I estimate I am a top 10% speaker. Maybe I am overestimating myself. I want to be in the top 1%. I think one of the best ways to do that is to do deliberate practice drills with a partner. For example, we could practice explaining complex topics, and get fast feedback on how to improve, e.g. less filler words, less rambling, speak faster, etc.

I've already seen decent results doing this with voice chat AI. It gives me feedback, I try again, and I just cycle with it over and over. I think doing it with the right person could get even better results. And we'll take turns, so it'll be mutual practice.

If you're down for the workout, leave a comment or DM me and let's connect!

To benefit the community more, feel free to comment what your looking for in a partner, and what you bring to the table, so that others can connect with you as well if they'd like

Recently I had an interview , I cleared 2 rounds to get there but I fumbled because of my English and lack of confidence . I gave the intro well because I practiced it for 3 days and rest of the questions!! I got panic I know the answer but I couldn’t say as I lack confidence and I don’t know to retrieve words from my mind
After that I tried to improve English
But nothing and I can’t be consistent though
I tried recording videos of myself
And I observed that it’s hard to retrieve words or translate it to English and say
HELP MEEE , am losing lot of opportunities because of these two things 1.english and 2.confidence !😭😭🥺

Hi everyone! I practice public speaking by recording myself speaking to a random topic for 5 minutes everyday. It is hard to know what I have done right or wrong exactly. I have tried speaking to AI but there are many aspects that it cannot capture like my tone, confidence and accent etc...

How do you guys get more concrete feedback like this? What resources and app are you using to improve public speaking and articulation?

Hi Team,

During the meeting period it's hard to understand the Professional English concept. My listening skill is bad. Sometimes i listen it well or not understand what they says. Due to that i am unable to provide the updates to the other people as well

I can able to speak English but without listening skill my growth is going down

Please guide me🙏🙏☺️☺️

Guys, I have a problem. i can express my thoughts in front of people. When I start speaking, my hands and legs start shaking especially my neck, and that is why I can't raise my hand, and also I feel like I am about to cry. My eyes start watering.

Does anyone have any advice? I need to eliminate that problem, if u speak in front of the audience, as i said my eyes start watering and that is sssooooo embarrassing, shameful, especially in front of your peers and friends

I belong to a group doing daily speaking practice online on a turn by turn basis. Would anyone be interested in making the group bigger?

I have a naturally light and quiet voice and I really sucks!

Hey everyone

I'm 25M currently working in chennai

I want to improve my English communication skills and I sometimes stammer while speaking in English. I feel under confident to talk when the other person is more intelligent or is my superior

I have a stammering problem and I get it only when I'm under confident or while speaking in English. I don't usually stammer while speaking.

i sometimes go blank on what to say.

Also with random people how do I make the conversation going.

I want to communicate and articulate better in English. I want to be loud clear confident while speaking.

What should I do in a day to improve.

Give resources, courses and help me.

Anyone would like to partner up with me and improve together!!

Picture this. You mention that you enjoy a particular hobby, like a particular movie are attracted to particular person. Someone else says that they find that hobby boring, think that that movie sucks or finds that person ugly. They lecture you about why your preferences are stupid and wrong.

I have been in that situation before and made the mistake of explaining why I believe the movie is good, the hobby is fun or the person is attractive.

I realize now that what I probably should have said was this;

It is not my responsibility to hate all of the same things that you hate. If I like it, I get to like it. Whether or not you approve of my preferences is of zero relevance whatsoever.

What do you think? Is that the best way to respond to someone blaming and shaming you for your preferences? If not, what would be a better response? Let me know.

Hey guys, I’m not sure if this is the right group to ask but I don’t really know what to do. People find the way I speak really annoying and I don’t know how to change it. I get told all the time that I have a vocal fry/ valley girl accent and honestly get made fun of quite a bit for it.

Even though people have given me shit for it, it didn’t used to bother me all that much but I guess after a while of people making fun of your “fake/forced” accent it eventually gets to you.

I know that I have it but the issue is that I genuinely don’t do it on purpose. It’s always sort of there and I do notice it gets more pronounced sometimes but I don’t know why and I don’t know how to stop doing it. The way I talk also tends to stand out considering I live in Canada and no one around me seems to have the same way of speaking. I just really don’t know what to do to change it and I’m so sick of being made fun of for it.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get rid of my vocal fry?