“Stop mumbling!” “What did you say? You were mumbling!” Haven’t we all heard this before? Mumbling is not a speech disorder per-se, but it does characterize a pattern of speech that reduces speech clarity. The more persistent mumbling is, the more likely it is impacting your speech intelligibility.
Whether you're a lawyer, doctor, educator, or another professional, it's crucial to ensure that your message is conveyed clearly to your audience. Mumbling reduces the chances of effective communication and can mistakenly portray a lack of confidence in your words, potentially leading to distrust.
In this blog post, we will discuss
What is Mumbling?
Mumbling, murmuring, or muttering all refer to the same thing. It is a manner that is unclear and often characterized by speaking softly, rapidly, or with poor articulation, making it more difficult for others to understand the speaker’s words.
How Do We Produce Speech?
In order to understand the causes behind mumbling, it is important to understand what is necessary to produce articulate, clear, and mumble-free speech.
We use our breath, voice, resonance, and oral structures to compose speech.
Breathing fuels the speech signal, providing the basic foundation for expression. Without breath, the function of voicing, resonance, and oral structures would be inadequate for speech production. Poor breath support weakens the projection of voice, producing mumbled utterances.
Voice is then created as air passes through the vocal cords. Think of vocal cords as a pulled rubber band between two of your fingers. For voice to occur, the vocal cords must vibrate, which will only happen if enough air pressure forms below. If the vocal cords do not vibrate in the precise way they are supposed to, it will impact the production of certain sounds, specifically voiced sounds.
Next, this air must resonate through the nose, mouth, and throat, also referred to as the vocal tract. When a voice resonates, it means the sound made by your vocal cords travels clearly through your throat and mouth and out into the air around you. This also means that your vocal tract naturally helps make your voice louder and clearer. If you're not taking in a large enough amount of air or if your voice is strained, the resonance of your voice decreases.
Finally, articulation takes place. This is simply the movement of the vocal tract, tongue, palate, jaw, and lips to shape the particular sound you are looking to produce. For example, the /l/ sound is produced with your tongue tip up and jaws slightly apart, while a /b/ sound is produced with your lips together. When it comes to articulation, accuracy and speed are the most important for improved clarity. Inefficient or inconsistent tongue and jaw placement during speech production result in distorted sounds, decreasing clarity.
Causes of Mumbling
The root cause of the breakdown in speech is important to identify. This will help in treatment and elimination or reduction in mumbled speech. The root cause can be psychological, physical, or neurological in nature. It can also be due to poor speech patterns.
Psychological
Lacking confidence may cause worries about the content of your speech and how others will perceive you. This can lead to mumbling as a way to minimize the perceived significance of your words.
Anxiety can contribute to a lack of confidence in oneself, leading to mumbling as a manifestation of nervousness.
Fatigue can reduce energy levels, resulting in shallower breathing, thus less air for speech. This can lead to mumbling as words may not be articulated clearly due to insufficient airflow.
Physical
A hearing impairment: When your brain and ears do not connect, it becomes more and more challenging to produce sounds with clarity, leading to mumbling.
Speech Disorders
Dysarthria: Paralysis, weakness, or in-coordination in the speech muscles, including the respiratory system, muscles of the mouth, and muscles of the face, can cause mumbled or slurred speech. This condition occurs in both children and adults.
Apraxia of Speech: Occurs in both children and adults. While the speaker knows what they want to say, planning the message with the articulators and other speech mechanisms is challenging.
Neurological Disorders
Parkinson’s disease: Individuals with Parkinson's often present with rigidity in all movements of their body. Reduction in chest wall movements impacts the amount of oxygen inhaled for speech thus leaving less fuel for speech. In addition, limited range of articulatory movements can lead to imprecise articulation.
Other conditions and diseases that impact muscle control
Poor Speech Patterns or Speech Habits
Poor Speech Patterns or Speech Habits: Mumbling can persist from early childhood development into adulthood without much awareness.
What to Expect from Speak with Stephanie for Mumbling
Speech therapy aims at treating the underlying cause of mumbling which is why a speech therapy evaluation is so important.
At Speak with Stephanie, here is what you can expect:
Thorough Speech Assessment: We will carefully evaluate your speech patterns to pinpoint the underlying causes of mumbling, which may include issues with articulation, breath support, resonance, and more.
Set Goals Together: Working collaboratively, we will determine clear goals aimed at improving speech clarity and minimizing or eliminating mumbling.
Evidence-Based Techniques: We will introduce you to a range of evidence-based techniques designed to improve breath control, vocal projection, resonance, and articulation. These may involve targeted exercises to strengthen oral muscles and enhance breathing efficiency. For specific neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease, specialized treatments such as LSVT LOUD may be recommended.
Practice: You will engage in regular practice sessions during therapy sessions and at home, workplace, and other environments to reinforce your newly learned speaking habits and skills.
Feedback: We will offer constructive feedback on your progress and make necessary adjustments to the therapy plan to address any challenges encountered along the way.
Utilization of Compensatory Strategies when Necessary: In certain situations, the use of microphones or amplification devices may be beneficial for individuals struggling with voice projection or speaking in noisy environments.
Speak with Stephanie is a distinguished speech therapy company specializing in delivering high-quality, in-home speech therapy services to individuals residing in Skokie, Evanston, Wilmette, Lincolnwood, and surrounding areas of Illinois. Additionally, our commitment extends to providing teletherapy services throughout Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. If you would like to improve your speech, reach out to us for a free consult.
Top 5 Tips to Improve Speech Clarity and Reduce Mumbling
Use Breath Support: Proper breathing techniques can improve your speech clarity. Speaking upright, taking deep breaths, and speaking from your diaphragm can ensure adequate airflow for your voice and thus improve clarity.
Slow Down Your Speech: Good speakers speak at a moderate rate. To reduce a fast speaking rate, add more pauses or increase the duration of vowels (streeeeetching the vowels, especially when saying important syllables and words).
Practice Pronunciation: Focus on enunciating each word clearly and fully. Practice pronouncing words slowly and deliberately to improve articulation. Good speakers open their mouths just the right amount so that their speech is clear and can be understood by all. Opening your mouth too wide or too little can impact the clarity of your speech.
Record Yourself: Sometimes you may not know you are mumbling or unclear; however, a recording device can provide valuable feedback allowing you to not only assess how you sound in the moment, but also monitor your progress over time.
Utilize Non-Verbal Communication: In addition to verbal communication, non-verbal cues such as eye contact, nodding, and open body language are crucial for effective engagement. Maintain a confident posture and avoid behaviors like slouching or averting your gaze from the audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is mumbling a sign of a speech disorder or a neurological condition?
Mumbling is not necessarily a sign of a speech disorder or neurological condition. It can be a habit or a result of various factors such as lack of confidence, anxiety, fatigue, or poor speech patterns. It is important to understand the root cause of mumbling in order to effectively treat it.
What role does breathing play in speech clarity and mumbling?
Breathing provides us with the fuel necessary for speech. Without it, speech clarity will be significantly reduced.
Are there specific exercises or techniques to help overcome mumbling? Proper breath support, reducing your rate of speech, practicing pronunciation, recording yourself, and utilizing non-verbal communication are all strategies to produce clearer, more articulate speech.
About the author:
Stephanie Jeret is a Speech-Language Pathologist and the owner of Speak with Stephanie LLC. She obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degree from the City University of New York. She has practiced speech therapy in a number of settings including outpatient rehabilitation, telepractice, skilled nursing facilities, schools, and a private practice. She specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of communication disorders including articulation disorders, receptive/expressive language disorders, and fluency disorders. Information is available by emailing her at stephanie@speakwithstephanie.com or by visiting www.speakwithstephanie.com.