Choppy Speech and the Breathing Solution

Here is a problem that can happen with poor breathing during presentation speaking:

• Poor breathing may result in choppy disjointed speech that can happen when you take a breath pause at the wrong time.
• The solution: do greater inhalations using the diaphragm and abdominal muscles.
• Mark your script with pauses, one slash line for a pause with a  little catch breath,  two slash lines for a pause with a full breath inhalation.

English communication and American Slang: Nouns and Adjectives

American slang is a casual vocabulary.  These words are some of the most popular and can be used by all.  Here are noun and adjective slang words.

American Slang Nouns

brain: a very intelligent person

Bill Gates must be a brain.

munchies: snacks like pretzels, popcorn, potato chips, crackers

Let’s get some munchies at the soccer game.

penny pincher: a super thrifty person who rarely spends money.

Don never goes to restaurants because he is such a penny pincher.

stuff:  things (but used as a singular, non-count noun.)

Sarah has to buy some stuff at the grocery store so she can cook for dinner.

American Slang Adjectives

awesome:  amazing

That was an awesome performance.

beat: tired

Robert is beat today because he was up late last night.

down: sad, depressed

Sue is down because her dog died.

broke: having no money

Mary spent all her money on supplies for school so now she’s broke.

on cloud nine: very, very happy

Ken just won five thousand dollars in a lottery so he is on cloud nine!

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

The Importance of Good Breathing

Did you know that when we speak, we use a different breathing pattern than when we are at rest?

• Our ratio of inhalation to exhalation at rest is close to 1:1

• For speech, that ratio must change to 1:5 or even 1:10

• You can control the air as it is exhaled if you let the diaphragm and abdominal muscles do the

work

English speech communication and American Slang:  Greetings and Verbs

American English has its own casual variety of the English language and vocabulary.  Historically, it has been influenced by sports, the cowboys, the building of the railroad, the card game of poker, African-American culture, immigrants, native and so forth.

Here are some words which are common American slang  words that are acceptable in any conversation.

Greetings for “How are you?”:  “How’s it going? ,” “What’s new?”

Leavetaking and Goodbye:  See you.  See you later.  Or on the phone, “Talk to you later.”

I’m leaving:  “I’m heading out now.”

Instead of “very, very,” you can use “totally.”

“The show was totally awesome.”

American Slang Verbs

ace : to finish something successfully and easily

Jenny aced her science test!

check-out: to look at, examine, watch

We’re going to check out that new grocery store after work.

grab a bite to eat: to get something to eat, perhaps at a restaurant.

I am very, very hungry. Let’s grab a bite to eat at a restaurant nearby.

lift: to steal

While Bill was on the bus, someone lifted her wallet.

Take off: to leave

Janette took off before the meeting was announced

Next time, I’ll share some of the most popular slang nouns and adjectives.

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

 

• The journey theme: “Are you from here or did you move here? When? Why?”
• The recent past: “What have you been working on lately?”
• The situation you are engaged in now: “How do you know the host?  What did you think of that presentation?”