Aardvark Porcupine

02 Mar Aardvark Porcupine

AARDVARK PORCUPINE

The writing skills of Americans are on the wane. But judging by the verbal skills of current public figures, the decline is not limited to the written word. Reading great authors informs your writing, which strengthens your speaking. But there are also techniques that directly apply to speaking– and make for fun party games.

Semantic fluency: the ability to generate words which belong in a specific category. For example: name as many mammals, pop musicians, fruits, Oscar winners, California cities (or your state) Olympic athletes, or famous novelists as you can. This exercise focuses on the meaning of words. Give yourself a 3-minute time limit.

Phonemic fluency: the ability to produce words that start with a particular letter. For example: List nouns starting with the letter “D”. This exercise focuses on how words sound.

Switching fluency: Alternating between two different categories of words (e.g., animals and trees).

Teeth in Mouth: A writing exercise developed by instructor Jack Grapes in Los Angeles. Start speaking, using hard words that rattle your teeth, such as: “Mack whacked a crack-pepper grinder! Garble creaked, fractured and broke.” Can be nonsense, just use hard sounds.

As your vocabulary improves, you’ll be able to come up with more descriptive and colorful words for presentations. The audience and your brain will thank you.