HOW TO CHANGE BAD SPEECH HABITS

(Women's Health) According to Susan Miller, Ph.D., vocal coach in Washington, DC and founder of VoiceTrainer.com suggest to record a phone call or video of yourself giving a presentation you can make one up, to become aware of any habits preventing you from projecting confidence. Then practice daily for a week for at least 30 minutes:

• If you use too many fillers including "like," "uh," or "so" -- choose a subject and tap your leg twice before you start speaking, and between sentence. Eventually, you will train yourself to pause instead.
• If you inflect the ends of your sentences or questions upward called "up talk" or downward called "vocal fry" -- state sentences as facts, keeping a steady volume and enunciating the last word.
• For a too-loud or high-pitched tone -- breathe from your lower rib cage your diaphragm, not your throat, to sound more relaxed.