“Move your mouth and enunciate.”
I can still hear my mother saying that to my brother at thirteen. His mumbled words drove us crazy—but it turns out, that little advice is about more than being understood.
She, and the rest of us, were tired of asking him to repeat himself. His mumbled speech—part teenage self-consciousness, part habit—had become his default.
The truth is, a lot of people don’t move their mouths enough when they speak.
And it affects more than just clarity. But let’s start there. When your mouth doesn’t move enough, sounds get trapped—squeezed through your teeth—causing speech to blur and distort.
More openness, on the other hand, allows for greater precision and energy.
You’ll also tend to speak too fast. The tongue can move quickly when the jaw isn’t doing much, which can make you sound rushed, hesitant, or slightly out of control.
But that’s only part of the picture.
Limited mouth movement also weakens your voice. When your mouth isn’t open enough, less breath flows out. Opening up creates space for fuller breath support—and with it, more power and ease.
As your jaw moves more, your pace naturally slows. You speak with greater deliberation and calm. You sound more confident—and you feel more in command of your message.
A tight jaw and mouth doesn’t just limit sound—it limits resonance. You’re literally making yourself smaller. Sound vibrations need space to resonate. The more space you create, the stronger and richer your tone becomes.
A resonant voice communicates credibility, confidence, and presence.
Here’s an interesting fact:
When I work with my trans women clients, I often have them overlay a subtle eee sound—as if they’re smiling slightly while speaking. This shortens the vocal tract and produces a brighter, more “feminine” resonance.
Conversely, with my trans men clients, I might have them overlay an oh sound, which deepens the resonance and creates a fuller, richer tone.
Learning to move your mouth more—creating space as you speak—isn’t something that happens overnight. Simply telling yourself “Move your mouth more!” rarely works.
You need to build new habits that replace the old ones—conscious, physical patterns that make clarity, strength, and resonance second nature. Doing something is always easier than trying not to do something.
If you’d like some practical ways to speak with greater clarity, presence, and resonance, reach out. I’d love to share some tools with you.
Your mother would be proud.