Try it

Articulation Exercises for Adults: A Daily Warm-Up, Step by Step

· 3 min read

Articulation exercises are a workout for your lips, tongue, jaw and cheeks. People often think of them as something for kids, yet these are exactly what broadcasters, actors and lecturers do before going on air or on stage. If people keep asking you to repeat yourself, or your speech gets mumbly by the evening, 5–7 minutes of this warm-up a day can make a noticeable difference.

How to do the routine

  • In front of a mirror, so you can see whether your muscles work evenly on both sides.
  • Sitting or standing with a straight back.
  • Each exercise: 8–10 reps or 20–30 seconds.
  • Move actively, but never to the point of pain. Mild muscle fatigue is normal.

Jaw

  1. Yawn. Slowly open your mouth wide, hold for 2 seconds, then slowly close it.
  2. Pendulum. With your mouth slightly open, move your lower jaw left and right.
  3. Forward and back. Push your lower jaw forward and bring it back.
  4. Massage. Knead the chewing muscles in front of your ears in small circles for 30 seconds.

Lips

  1. Smile and pout. A wide smile with your teeth together, then push your lips forward into a pout.
  2. Lip circles. With your lips pushed forward, move them up, down, right, left and in circles.
  3. Lip trill. Blow air through relaxed lips to make a "brrr" sound, like a horse snorting.
  4. Teeth show. Bare your upper teeth, then your lower teeth, then both.

Tongue

  1. Clock. Touch the corners of your mouth in turn with the tip of your tongue.
  2. Seesaw. With your mouth open, lift your tongue to your upper teeth, then lower it to your bottom teeth.
  3. Brushing teeth. Run your tongue around the outside of your teeth, under your lips, in one direction and then the other.
  4. Needle. Stick out a narrow, tense tongue and hold for 5 seconds.
  5. Spade. Rest a wide, relaxed tongue on your lower lip and hold for 5 seconds.
  6. Clicking. Suction your tongue to the roof of your mouth and pull it away sharply with a click.

Cheeks and soft palate

  1. Balloon. Puff out your cheeks and roll the air from one side to the other.
  2. Open-mouth yawn. Feel your soft palate lift.
  3. Ka-ga. Say "ka-ka-ka, ga-ga-ga" with energy.

Put it into speech

Finish with 2–3 tongue twisters ("Red lorry, yellow lorry", "Unique New York") or by reading a paragraph aloud with exaggerated, crisp articulation. This carries the warmed-up muscles over into real speech. For more ideas, see these diction exercises.

In the Голос app, articulation exercises are part of your weekly plan, alongside breathing and reading aloud — short daily sessions of about 10 minutes. Just open it and practise, no hunting for exercises.

FAQ

When is the best time to do articulation exercises?

In the morning, or before an important conversation, presentation or recording. What matters most is consistency: 5–7 minutes every day.

Can these exercises replace a speech therapist?

Not if you have trouble pronouncing specific sounds. The exercises strengthen your muscles and improve overall clarity, but correcting individual sounds is a job for a speech therapist.