The Consonant Commitment

Much of the gap between clear and muddy speech comes down to how you handle consonants — especially at the ends of words.

Try the consonant commitment drill: read any paragraph aloud and exaggerate every final consonant. Hit the T in "but," the D in "said," the K in "think." It will feel bizarre and robotic at first.

After a week of five-minute daily practice, you will notice a shift. Your everyday speech gets noticeably crisper without the exaggeration, and people stop asking you to repeat yourself.