Speak so the room listens.
The art of business speaking and diction, taught one instrument at a time: breath, voice, articulation, stress, intonation, pace and presence. Ten practical guides, two-minute drills and a pace check you can run right now.
The map
What are the seven instruments of speech?
Classic diction teaching treats speaking as an instrument with several parts you can tune separately. Kurums Speak follows the same route and points each part at real work situations: the weekly meeting, the client call, the board presentation, the video interview.
Interactive
How fast do you speak? Run the Pace Check
Press Start, read the passage aloud at your normal presentation speed, then press Stop. The passage has 149 words; we work out your words per minute. Nothing is recorded.
Bands are a practical guide, not a rule: many presenters are easiest to follow somewhere around 140–160 words per minute, slower for dense numbers. Read the full guide: Pace, pauses and filler words.
Drill of the day
Today's two-minute diction drill
Belly-hand breath
- Sit tall, one hand on your upper chest, one just above your navel.
- Breathe in through the nose for 4 counts so only the lower hand moves.
- Exhale on a quiet 'sss' for 8 counts. Repeat 6 times.
The series
Kurums Speak: all guides
Start with the map, then work through the instruments in order, or jump straight to the situation you face this week.
Stress and Intonation: How Emphasis and Vocal Melody Change What Your Words Mean
How word stress, sentence stress and intonation change meaning at work: commonly mis-stressed business words, five ways to create emphasis, uptalk, monotone fixes and script markup drills.
How to Sound Better on Video Calls: Microphones, Diction and Presence on Zoom and Teams
Bad audio makes experts sound less credible. Choose and place a microphone, fix room echo, set Zoom and Teams audio correctly, handle lag and look present on camera.
How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking: An Evidence-Based Plan for Presentation Nerves
How common fear of public speaking really is, what nerves do to your body, and an evidence-based plan: reappraisal, a breathing reset, an exposure ladder and a first-90-seconds script.
Best Public Speaking Courses and Speech Coaching Apps in 2026: Yoodli, Orai, Toastmasters and More Compared
Ten public speaking courses, clubs and AI speech coaching apps compared on price, feedback type and privacy, with a decision table and a four-week plan that combines them with free drills.
Articulation Exercises for Clear Speech: Consonants, Vowels and Mumbling Fixes
Where English consonants are made, why people mumble, and the articulation exercises that fix it: warm-ups, final consonants, numbers and acronyms, tongue twisters and when to see an SLP.
Pace, Pauses and Filler Words: How Fast to Speak and How to Stop Saying ‘Um’
How fast should you speak at work, and how do you stop saying ‘um’? Real words-per-minute data, the three pauses every speaker needs, and a research-backed method to control filler words.
Diction for Business: How to Speak Clearly, Confidently and Persuasively at Work
What diction in speaking really means at work, the seven instruments of clear speech (breath to presence), a recorded self-audit and a 30-day plan you can run at your desk.
Breathing for Speakers: Diaphragmatic Breath Control for Presentations, Calls and Meetings
Breath is the engine of your voice. Learn diaphragmatic breathing, where to breathe in a sentence, silent top-up breaths and evidence-checked calming techniques, with three desk drills.
Body Language for Speakers: Posture, Eye Contact, Gestures and Presence at Work
How to stand, where to look, what to do with your hands and how to sit in a meeting, with the research behind gestures and eye contact and an honest look at the 7-38-55 and power-posing claims.
How to Improve Your Speaking Voice: Projection, Resonance, Pitch and Vocal Health
Find your natural pitch, project without shouting, build resonance and protect your voice on long call days, with a 5-minute warm-up you can do before any meeting.
At work
Which instrument matters most in each business situation?
| Situation | What to work on first | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly meeting | Short status updates that end with a clear fall; no trailing off. | Guide №05 |
| Presentation | Breath plan, a strong first 90 seconds, pauses before key numbers. | Guide №08 |
| Sales or client call | Pace slightly slower than conversation, crisp numbers, names. | Guide №06 |
| Job interview | Grounded posture, eye contact per thought, answers without fillers. | Guide №07 |
| Video call | Microphone close, consonants crisper, a beat longer for handovers. | Guide №09 |
| Delivering bad news | Lower pace, falling intonation, silence after the key sentence. | Guide №06 |
The book behind the series
Diksiyon
SanatıNÜZHET ŞENBAY · YKY
Why a Turkish diction classic shaped an English series
Kurums Speak began with a stack of diction books on a table in Istanbul, led by Nüzhet Şenbay's Söz ve Diksiyon Sanatı ("The Art of Speech and Diction"), a Yapı Kredi Yayınları title that has gone through dozens of printings and still appears on university diction syllabi in Türkiye. Its approach is the one this series borrows: treat speech as a set of instruments, train each one with short exercises, then bring them together.
The book is written for Turkish and for the stage and the microphone. We kept the structure, not the text, and rebuilt every guide for professionals speaking business English: status updates, pitches, client calls and video meetings. Every drill here is our own.
Frequently asked questions
What is diction in speaking?
In speech training, diction means how clearly and correctly you produce words: articulation, pronunciation, stress and the overall clarity of delivery. In writing, the same word means word choice. Business speakers need both, and this series focuses on the spoken side.
Can you really improve your speaking voice as an adult?
Yes. Breath support, articulation, pace, pausing and emphasis are trainable habits. Short, daily practice works better than occasional long sessions. Persistent hoarseness or pain is a medical matter for an ENT or speech-language pathologist, not a training issue.
Do I need to lose my accent to speak well at work?
No. Research on second-language speech separates accent from intelligibility: listeners can understand a strongly accented speaker perfectly well. Clear consonants, correct word stress and a steady pace matter far more than sounding like a native speaker.
How fast should I speak in a presentation?
Many speakers are easiest to follow at roughly 140 to 160 words per minute, slower for dense numbers or bad news. Use the Pace Check on this page to measure yourself, then read our guide to pace and pauses.
Where does the Kurums Speak structure come from?
From the classic diction tradition, which treats speech as a set of instruments that can be trained one by one. Our structure is inspired by Nüzhet Şenbay's Turkish handbook Söz ve Diksiyon Sanatı and adapted for business English.
Educational content; not a substitute for a speech-language pathologist or voice specialist. Last updated 29 October 2026.
