If you've ever been told that you whisper rather than speak then chances are that you've wondered how to stop mumbling so much. Here are 5 tips to help stop yourself mumbling.

1. Take a speech class

A bit dramatic - no pun intended - but professional speech coaches can bring out the best in you quickly and will be able to point you in the right direction. It's not embarrassing to take a speech class and many speech coaches offer one-on-one training.

2. Record yourself speaking

Most mobile phones have a built in recorder nowadays, so there's no need to go out and buy special kit. Which also means there's no excuse! If your speaking leaves a lot to be desired when you listen back to the recording, at least you'll know how other people hear you - or, more likely, don't hear you - and that will give you the areas to work on.

3. Take deep breaths

Often when our voice isn't as clear as we'd like it, it's because there isn't enough power in it. If you find yourself taking shallow breaths when you speak to other people, that will be part of your mumbling problem. Take nice deep breaths - practice these whenever you can - whilst you're speaking to other people and speak from your stomach, not your windpipe.

4. Slow down

Quite often our mumbling is because our brain is working faster than the words we speak. If part of your mumbling problem is that your words come out too fast and are garbled as a result, slow down. Consciously enunciate every word. Unless you've slowed to a snail pace this won't sound as weird as you think it will and it will help other people to understand what you're saying.

5. Think before you speak

Another common reason for mumbling is that we don't really know what we are about to say next. In turn, this causes us to mumble as subconsciously we don't want other people to hear us speaking gibberish. Take the time to pause occasionally and think a little bit about what you are about to say. This will help you in your quest for how to stop mumbling so much.