The human being is continuously communicating with those around him, using different types of language.

One of the main ones is oral language, speech. Communicating orally and doing so in a manner that is fluent, understandable and allows for the transmission of meaning with ease is taken for granted by most people, while not being able to do so results in a high level of functional limitation. Fortunately, verbal fluency is a trainable skill .

In this article we present a dozen tricks that can help us improve our level of verbal fluency.

The concept of verbal fluency

In order to train verbal fluency correctly, we first need to know what we are training. Therefore, we will first make a brief comment on what this concept implies.

We understand verbal fluency as the capacity to establish a dialogue in a clear and spontaneous way , establishing connections between sentences and ideas in a natural and unforced way so that the discourse appears as continuous and prolonged in time. A fluid discourse will allow ideas and information to be transmitted to the receiver in an understandable way, with an adequate rhythm and avoiding unnecessary pauses and breaks in rhythm and tone that could alter understanding.

The lack of verbal fluency can have different causes, from norms such as certain types of character or the absence of practice in the use of language (for example when we learn a language we are not very fluent, or in situations of deprivation of stimulation) to the presence of neurological alterations and disorders, as in Broca’s aphasia.

A dozen tricks to improve our verbal fluency

Fortunately, verbal fluency is a skill that can be trained , and there are many ways to improve it. Here are some commonly used tricks and strategies for this.

1. Tongue twisters

Fluency is acquired with practice. One way to do this in a more or less enjoyable way is by using tongue twisters . Although they are a challenge for most of the population, they allow the subject to challenge himself to complete more or less long sequences of words with similar sounds and with few pauses between them. If we are trying to improve a child’s fluency it is useful to see it as a game and not to punish mistakes or slowness, otherwise it could generate frustration and reluctance to do so.

2. Script dramatization and role-playing

One way to improve verbal fluency can be found in the use of dramatization . This is a pleasant way in which the person will have to expose himself publicly by recounting a text that he must have studied and repeated many times before. The use of representation and dramatization, costumes, scenery and gesticulation allows for improved fluency in an entertaining way.

3. Talking about topics we have mastered

To speak fluently we have to be confident in what we are saying . Although in everyday life the topics of conversation and what we are going to have to communicate can vary enormously, it can be useful to start training fluency by talking about topics that the trained subject has some mastery of. Knowing what you are talking about will allow you to prolong your speech and gradually gain confidence in your abilities.

4. Elaborate a story between all of us

Cooperative activities also help to strengthen verbal fluency. One of the ways to do this is to make a story in a cooperative way, linking words and forming sentences with meaning . Each component of the group should repeat what the previous ones have said and add a word or phrase, so that in the long run the flow of words increases and the story becomes more complex and fluid.

5. Self-instruction out loud

It can be useful to ask the subject to perform an action and while doing so explain the actions and steps that he is performing. In this way, fluency can be improved in a more unconscious way, given that the person will be focused on carrying out the activity itself.

6. Repetition tasks

One of the most used techniques, is based on making the subject repeat what we have told him . Initially, relatively short words and phrases are used, to increase in complexity as they are overcome with a normal rhythm and speed.

7. Songs

Another little trick that can increase our verbal fluency is singing . Through singing we replicate the sounds and intonation of the authors of the song, producing longer and longer speech that we try to match to the parameters with which we have heard it.

8. Explanation of images

A common trick that may allow an improvement of verbal fluency is to make the subject to be trained have to explain the content of an image that reflects a situation , whose complexity may vary. If a simple and short explanation is offered (for example, a wedding is observed and the subject simply says the word that identifies the situation), he can be asked questions about it.

9. Similarities

Another task that can be seen as a game is to ask the subject to express the similarities or differences between two elements, which must be very perceptible and clear at the beginning and more abstract as one goes along.

10. Learning vocabulary and expressions

To be able to be fluent in the language it is necessary to have a knowledge base about what things are and how they are called , so that in case you don’t have enough vocabulary it is necessary to implement it little by little. Although this does not per se generate verbal fluency, it is a necessary requirement that facilitates it.

11. Shift-based tasks

Sometimes verbal fluency is diminished not by lack of speed, but by excess of it . In this sense, the performance of games or activities that require taking turns or making certain pauses. It does not have to be a language task only, but motor tasks (such as English hide-and-seek) or the conduct of debates can also be used.

12. Time limit

Setting time limits for saying something can be useful if it is experienced as a game or a competition . For example, you may propose to make a presentation on a specific subject in which you have to reflect certain information for five minutes, and then reduce the time available for this purpose by having to maintain the proposed information on each occasion.