Do your words ever blur together into one giant run-on sentence when the nerves kick in? Or maybe you just have a natural tendency to speak with a tight jaw, barely moving your lips?
It seems like a minor, harmless habit. But the consequences of not moving your mouth enough when you speak are actually quite profound.
When you squeeze your words through your teeth, you trap your airflow, which makes your voice sound weak. It also causes you to speak way too fast, because your tongue can move at lightning speed when your jaw stays locked in place.
The Physical and Mental Benefits of “Finding Space”
Plus, there is a reason we say untrustworthy people are “lying through their teeth.” A tight mouth unconsciously signals a lack of openness and credibility to your audience.
The fix sounds like common sense, but it is incredibly powerful: You need to find more space and move your mouth more.
When you actively open your mouth wider to speak, you reap some immediate physical benefits:
- Your voice gets stronger: More openness leads to better breath support.
- Your articulation sharpens: You are forced to produce consonants more precisely.
- You naturally slow down: Because your jaw has to physically travel further to make the sounds, it acts as a natural speed bump for your pacing.
But there is an additional, hidden benefit to doing this—and for nervous speakers, it’s arguably the best part:
It stops you from overthinking.
Your brain has limited bandwidth. When you give it a specific physical task to focus on—like actively moving your jaw and elongating your vowels—you take up that internal bandwidth. That leaves significantly less room for anxious, racing thoughts. It pulls you out of your head and anchors you firmly in the present moment.
Watch: The 30-Second Breakdown
I actually shared this exact cue in a recent podcast interview. Watch this 30-second clip to hear how this works in real-time, and why it consistently helps speakers stay grounded.
The Practice Plan: How to Train Your Jaw
If you aren’t used to allowing sounds to emerge from your body with this much space, it is going to feel strange and unnatural at first. You might feel like you are exaggerating. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong; it’s just different.
Because speech is so habit-driven, you have to train your muscles to get used to this new way of communicating. Here is your practice progression:
1. The Mirror Test Normally, you want an average of one finger-width of space between your upper and lower teeth when you speak. For practice, aim for two finger-widths. You must use a mirror for this! You will be completely surprised by how easily your mouth tries to close up when you aren’t watching it.
2. Start with Single Words Exaggerate the movement. Elongate your vowels and hit your consonants crisply. Remember to say them as if they are one fluid sound.
- Hot, hope, fad, spy, boy, hour.
3. Move to Phrases Once single words feel easier, string them together.
- Fly high.
- Game day.
- Go around.
4. Try Full Sentences Make sure you still have that finger-width of space on the stressed vowel sounds.
- She’s going out of town.
- My father travels in style.
- New York can get very hot in the summer.
5. Take it to the Real World When reading sentences aloud feels easy, try speaking with this relaxed openness in everyday conversations. Practicing with strangers (like a barista or cashier) is the best way to start, as you’ll be less tempted to slip into the habitual mumbling patterns you use with familiar friends and family.
Eventually, you will be able to up the ante and bring this into a team meeting, a client call, or your next big presentation.
Play with this technique until it feels like you. The next time you speak, focus on your mouth movement and notice just how much calmer, clearer, and more authoritative you sound.
Over to you: What is your go-to trick for staying clear and present when the nerves kick in? Let me know in the comments below!