Eloquence is a quality that these days is useful not only for representatives of certain professions: politicians, educators, TV presenters. Some people are endowed with it from birth, others are forced to long and hard to achieve its development. How to develop eloquence for those who do not yet know the art of speaking beautifully? The exercises collected in the article will help with this.
How to Develop Eloquence: An Effective Exercise
Exercise, which is often recommended in public speaking courses, may seem funny, but it gives excellent results. How to develop eloquence without attending special trainings? You need to choose a piece of household utensils, say, a pan, and then describe it as detailed as possible, expressed in a beautiful literary language.
People who find this task difficult can start with a three-minute description. Time gradually increases until a person learns to talk about the same subject for half an hour, without repeating in his thoughts and not resorting to the same characteristics.
Work with the dictionary
How to develop eloquence using the dictionary of the Russian language (any)? Studies have shown that the average person in everyday life uses about 4 thousand words. As a result, people are unable to express their thoughts because of a lack of vocabulary. The problem has a simple solution - memorizing new words.
You need to purchase a small dictionary that is easy to carry with you, and deal with it daily in your spare minutes. You can set yourself the task - every day to remember the meaning of at least 10 unfamiliar words. Exercise has a positive effect not only on eloquence, but also on intelligence and memory.
How to develop eloquence without resorting to the use of a dictionary? Expanding vocabulary helps reading. And you need to study not only fiction, but also scientific, reference, technical.
Replacing words
How to develop eloquence in order to speak freely on different topics? Excellent results are shown by the exercise associated with the replacement of words. Say, you need to take a small text, and then replace all the verbs present in it with synonyms corresponding in meaning. Similar operations can be done with all words: adjectives, nouns, participles. This exercise leads to the activation of a passive vocabulary that a person possesses, but is not used to using.
A similar exercise is to put together phrases with words that have the opposite meaning. Suppose dry water, a small giant, bitter sugar, a quick turtle, and so on. This has a positive effect not only on eloquence, but also on creative thinking.
Another fascinating exercise is the decoding of words. You must select a word, and then imagine that it is an abbreviation that needs to be decrypted. To begin with, it is best to use short words, then you can move on to more complex ones. Let's say summer is “an affectionate raccoon trampling on sawdust”. At first, common sense can be neglected, and gradually the “translation” will turn out to be more and more successful.
Retelling
How to develop eloquence? Exercises related to retelling texts will certainly help. It is necessary to take a newspaper article, carefully read it, and then state the contents of the article in a conversational style. The retelling is repeated several times, the story is supplemented and expanded, enriched with new details, including invented ones. Be sure to express your own opinion about the article read. As a listener, you can choose a mirror.
It is important that at least the first ten sentences are coherent, smooth, without artificial pauses. You also need to learn how to convey the contents of the text in a single sentence. Instead of a newspaper article, you can take paragraphs from textbooks, chapters from books. In addition, it is useful to describe the seen paintings, complementing the description with an assessment of the artist’s skill.
The most difficult task is to retell the text, the subject of which the narrator absolutely does not understand. However, constant training with simple texts will help to gradually master this art.
Facial expression management
Eloquence: how to develop this gift that many people dream of? Enrichment of vocabulary and retelling of texts will certainly help, but you need to pay attention to exercises that allow you to learn how to manage your facial expressions.
Having stood in front of the mirror, you need to retell any text (artistic, scientific, technical) without emotions, and then repeat it, connecting facial expressions and gestures. It is also useful to repeatedly pronounce the same phrase, constantly changing the intonation and pace of speech.
Useful Tips
How to develop eloquence? This cannot be achieved only by studying theory, because the future skilful speaker needs constant practice. It is necessary to communicate as much as possible, systematically expanding the circle of contacts, meeting new interesting people. It is also useful to watch the presenters 'speeches on television, attend trainings and evaluate the speakers' speeches. Finally, you need to pay attention to the development of your own sense of humor, as a successful joke will decorate any story. This is easy to achieve by memorizing funny jokes and watching humorous programs.
A useful device such as a voice recorder will help you evaluate your own achievements. After writing down your story, you should listen to it, evaluate the pros and cons. It is possible that the narrator needs to get rid of parasitic words, that his speech sounds too monotonous or that he speaks too fast.
Eloquence and children
How to develop eloquence in a child? To achieve this, as is the case with adults, simple exercises will help. You need to ask your son or daughter to pick up one or another object, and then describe it as detailed as possible: shape, material, color, and so on. Leading questions will help simplify the task for the child.
Also, adults should more often ask children questions that do not imply a monosyllabic answer. For example, you can just ask the child what he was doing in the kindergarten today, and then listen carefully to the answer, encouraging the little storyteller to learn more.
The main thing is to exercise regularly, and then the result will not be long in coming.