How do you make yourself more intelligible?

[Rasheed]

I'm trying to improve my (Dutch language) speech, because in my own recordings I'm having trouble understanding myself. I think I'm doing something wrong, but I'm not exactly sure what. Perhaps some of you more experienced talkers can help me with the theory of speech, so I know what to look for, and how to improve the way I talk, to have more control and be more intelligible.

I recorded two brief interviews on Dutch tv about the recent flooding in Great-Britain. The interviews were taken in Yorkshire, both in a local dialect. However, the first person clearly wasn't as professional a speaker as the second, who seemed to be a spokesman of some kind (and a short question from a reporter from the BBC, I guess).

Here are the MP3 files (located on Box.net; you can either play them in your browser or download as a file):
non-pro speaker (http://www.box.net/shared/9xioaug5bk) (13.7 s, 109.2 kB)
pro speaker (http://www.box.net/shared/pycf1qifeh) (10.3 s, 83.3 kB)The non-pro speaker is less easy to understand than the spokesman. I think it is because the spokesman puts spaces after important words, so the snippet of text can be absorbed by the listener, and the non-pro apparently puts spaces when he needs to breathe.

Is that analysis correct, and are there more things the second speaker does to make his conversation more intelligible?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Edit: I also noticed another difference. The second speaker has more "presence", more "energy" in his voice, more tone, while the first speaker has a much "thinner" voice. The more energetic voice has more dynamics (soft and loud) than the more subdued voice, with less difference between loud and soft.

Or am I hearing things that aren't there?

[Bollocks_Jim]

Some people are just clearer than others. The non-pro sounds a bit, well, thick. To put it bluntly.

The two examples you give are just people speaking normally - the spokesman doesn't sound like he's making any conscious effort to be clear, he's just naturally a better speaker. The first guy was just a mess of vowels, and he wasn't very good at articulating. A classic case of the mouth working faster than the brain.

I'm no expert, but I think the secret to clear and concise speaking is to pronounce your consonants properly, enunciate and pace yourself. Also, take extra care with particularly important statements or complex ideas, giving people a chance to absorb and understand them before moving on.

[EndGamePR]

Like Jim said, some people just speak a little more clearly than others. I have a tendancy to be a bit of a mushmouth at times and really need to be conscious of it.

Make sure you don't drink anything except water before recording. Just about anything else increases phlegm, which can muddy up your voice a bit. Also, before recording, try puffing out your cheeks like you're blowing into a trumpet. It limbers up your mouth.

Beyond that, just be conscious of it. Don't over-ennunciate. That tends to sound ridiculous. The most important thing is you're understood.

[dpeach]

I have a tendancy to speak very quickly. When I slow down everything clears up. In public speaking, and particularly acting, they say that you should speak slower than you think is normal, because most people speak too quickly when they get up in public. Slow down, and that may help.

Sometimes I hear myself getting muddy while recording. I just back up and re-record that section a bit slower.