Speech Problems and Causes - NY Otolaryngology Group

Speech problems can lead to a communication breakdown or give the wrong impression. Some people have speech problems that result from a physical condition (such as a stroke). Other people may wish to alter their accent or improve public speaking skills. Speech treatment typically consists of either speech therapy or specialized speech training.

Aspects of speech that may interfere will intelligibility or naturalness:

Articulation:the way you pronounce sounds
Word stress:the way you emphasize different parts of a word
Sentence stress:the way you emphasize different words in a sentence
Intonation:the way you raise and lower your pitch in a sentence
Speech rate:how quickly you talk
Loudness level:how loudly you talk

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