Tongue twisters to practice clear speech

TL;DR

To use tongue twisters to practice clear speech, say each one slowly first, exaggerate every sound, then speed up while keeping each word crisp. Start with easy ones and work your way up. The best tongue twisters for this are grouped below by difficulty: easy ones for beginners, short ones to repeat fast, funny ones, famous classics like Peter Piper, hard ones, long ones, and the hardest ever tested in a lab. Say a few out loud every day and your mouth learns to move more precisely, which is what makes speech sound clearer.

Actors, broadcasters, and singers warm up with tongue twisters before they perform, for a simple reason: a phrase built on repeated, clashing sounds forces your mouth to work harder and more precisely than ordinary talking does. Do a few on purpose and the muscles you use to speak get a quick workout, so your everyday words come out cleaner. All of the tongue twisters in english below are grouped from easiest to hardest, so you can start where you're comfortable and build up. They work just as well as tongue twisters for adults who want to sound sharper at work as they do for kids learning to read.

How tongue twisters help you speak more clearly

Tongue twisters are hard because of how your brain plans speech. Sounds that are similar but not identical, like the "s" and "sh" in "she sells seashells," sit close together and your brain mixes up the instructions it sends to your mouth. MIT researchers led by psychologist Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel built a phrase so tricky, "pad kid poured curd pulled cod," that some volunteers simply stopped talking when they tried it. Practicing these on purpose trains your mouth to hit each sound cleanly, even when the sounds are fighting each other.

They also make a good warm-up. Sound expert Julian Treasure, in his TED talk, demonstrates a set of vocal exercises he recommends before any important talk, loosening the lips and tongue so your words land clearly.

Warming up the specific sounds you struggle with helps most. If "s" sounds slushy or "r" and "l" blur together, a few twisters built on those letters give you targeted practice, which is the kind of focused work our team's guide to improving your speaking voice goes into.

How to practice tongue twisters for clear speech

Saying a tongue twister fast on the first try only teaches your mouth to stumble. The trick is to build up to speed.

First, say it slowly, one word at a time, getting every sound right. Then say it again, exaggerating each sound and moving your lips and tongue more than feels natural. Speaking coach Vinh Giang teaches that unclear speech usually comes from a mouth that barely moves, so over-articulating on purpose is how you fix it.

Once you can say it cleanly, speed up a little at a time, and stop the moment it gets sloppy. Repeat each one three to five times, and come back to a few every day. A couple of minutes is enough. If you want to hear how you're doing, RiseGuide's Speech Analyzer listens to you read a line aloud and shows you where your pace, clarity, and filler words slip, so you can tell whether the practice is paying off. Using them as a quick warm-up is also one of the communication games our team recommends for loosening up before you speak. Clear articulation is one part of speaking well, and our team's tips on public speaking cover delivery, nerves, and structure.

Easy tongue twisters

These easy tongue twisters are a gentle place to start, and they double as tongue twisters for kids who are learning to read.

• A proper copper coffee pot.
• Red lorry, yellow lorry.
• I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
• Four fine fresh fish for you.
• He threw three free throws.
• Eleven benevolent elephants.
• Fresh fried fish.
• Good blood, bad blood.
• A big black bug bit a big black bear.

Short tongue twisters

Short tongue twisters are the ones to repeat fast, over and over, as a quick warm-up.

• Red leather, yellow leather.
• Unique New York.
• Toy boat.
• Irish wristwatch.
• Truly rural.
• Greek grapes.
• Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
• Six sticky skeletons.
• Willie's really weary.

Funny tongue twisters

These funny tongue twisters are worth saying out loud just for how they trip you up.

• A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
• I saw a kitten eating chicken in the kitchen.
• If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
• Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.
• Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
• I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop.
• How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?

Famous tongue twisters

These famous tongue twisters are the classics almost everyone has heard at least once.

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
• Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter; if I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter.
• Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?
• Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.

Hard tongue twisters

These hard tongue twisters are where most people start to slow down. Take them one sound at a time.

• Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
• Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
• Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
• The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
• Send toast to ten tense stout saints' ten tall tents.
• Which witch wished which wicked wish?
• Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.

Long tongue twisters

Long tongue twisters test your breath and focus as much as your mouth. Try to get through each one without losing the thread.

• Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, while sifting a sieve of unsifted thistles, thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb.
• A tutor who tooted the flute tried to tutor two tooters to toot. Said the two to the tutor, "Is it harder to toot or to tutor two tooters to toot?"
• I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.
• If you must cross a coarse cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully.

The hardest tongue twisters

Save these hardest tongue twisters for last. The first two are often named the toughest in English, and the third comes straight from a speech lab.

• The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.
• Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons, balancing them badly.
• Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
• The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.

Tongue twisters by sound

Sometimes you want to drill one specific sound rather than work through a mixed list. These tongue twisters are grouped by the sound they train, so if your "r" or "s" tends to slip, you can go straight to it and practice that one.

The "s" sound

Hissing "s" sounds are some of the most common to blur. These s tongue twisters give them a workout:

• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• Sally sells sixty-six silk sashes.
• Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep.

The "r" sound

The "r" is one of the last sounds many people master, and it slips easily into "l." Try these r tongue twisters:

• Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.
• Robert Rowley rolled a round roll round.
• Rubber baby buggy bumpers.

The "l" sound

Pair "l" with "r" and words get slippery fast. These l tongue twisters help:

• Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
• Larry sent the latter a letter later.
• Lovely lemon liniment.

The "th" sound

The "th" sound trips up a lot of speakers. Work through these th tongue twisters slowly:

• I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought.
• Thirty-three thirsty thoroughbreds.
• Three thin thinkers thinking thick thoughtful thoughts.

Other tricky sounds

A few more sounds worth drilling if they give you trouble:

• "sh": Sure, the ship's shipshape, sir.
• "ch": Chop shops stock chops.
• "p": Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Conclusion

Pick two or three tongue twisters you like, say them slowly, then build up speed, and come back to them for a couple of minutes a day. The ones that trip you up are the ones worth repeating, because they point straight at the sounds your mouth needs the most practice with. Clear speech comes from that small, steady work: a couple of focused minutes a day.

FAQ