Why Does Oral Rest Posture Matter for Speech?

⚾Let's use a sports analagy. We all know that in order to coordinate a great hit in baseball, the batter needs to get into a ready stance before the pitch. Speaking is something we don't think too much about but we actually speak around 14 sounds per second in conversation! Sheesh. That's a lot for our mouths to coordinate- specifically the tongue, which mostly moves on the top of our mouths. So if our tongue is resting where it should be (up on the roof of our mouths) it's an easy smooth transition to get from one sound to the next.

😛Now let's say the tongue has been chilling on the bottom of the mouth due to mouth breathing.↪️ Its going to be out of shape from lack of practice and it will likely take more effort to coordinate correct speech when it's not starting in a "ready stance."

Do you see where im going?

That's why I look at where the tongue is at rest. And if it's not on the roof of the mouth. We need to start there and find out why.

Do you know someone who just can't seem to carryover correct sounds into every day speech?