Does Reading Help You Speak Better?

Famous speaker Lisa Bu once said, “Books became my first teacher, advisor, mirror for the soul, and everything else when I didn’t have anyone.”

Most TEDx speakers credit books and their reading habits for their ability to deliver eloquent speeches.

People who read, whether they are native speakers or learners, have an intelligent vocabulary, which directly affects their speaking abilities.

But in which way does reading help you speak better? Find out all about it here.

How Does Reading Help You Speak Better? 7 Benefits of Reading

 

 
Authors pour their knowledge while writing a book; when you read those books, your brain acts like a sponge. It soaks in knowledge, phrasal verbs, vocabulary, and grammar and uses it while speaking.

When you read 5 books by different authors, you are reading those authors’ brains.

Here is a list of how reading books helps your brain soak valuable information and make you a good speaker:

1. Brain Exercise and Memory Improvement

Just like you run daily to keep your body fit, reading helps your mind run and stay fit. Studies have shown that reading establishes the visual interface of the languages written in the book and enhances psychological coding.

When you read a book, you learn to visualize every word in your mind. So when you learn a new word, you don’t just learn a word; you make a story revolving around the word in your mind.

Thus, the word gets imprinted in your mind and stays with you forever. And you can use it appropriately while delivering speeches or speaking to someone important.

Reading Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl will drastically increase your English reading ability if you are a beginner English speaker.

2. Enhances knowledge

One doesn’t have to be a genius to understand this one. Reading is the best way to enhance knowledge. Throughout our lives, we read numerous books and articles that boost our knowledge.

If you can’t understand a word’s meaning from these books and articles, you can search the dictionary to get the meaning. Therefore, you gain new information from these materials, which directly influence your personality and point of view.

You become more confident and know what to say and how to say things to make your opinion more impactful. Scientific and historical novels are great for enhancing your knowledge.

3. Reduces Stress

Reading helps reduce your stress by 68% and helps detox your mind. Yes, during stressful moments, reading sessions seem tenacious.

But reading is the best way to distract yourself from unwanted thoughts, which will positively affect your mind.

You will find new ways to deal with stress and gain better perspectives. Reading biographies and philosophical novels will give you new ideas to share the experience while speaking in public and motivating others.

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4. Improves your Analytical Skills

If you want to succeed as a speaker, analytical and problem-solving skills are vital. And as a learner, reading is the best way to hone your analytical skills.

When you read books, you come across various ideas and knowledge about different authors’ perspectives. It will give you a vast picture of what’s happening around you, and you will start to figure out the hidden layers of various ideas.

Mystery novels are great to enhance your analytical skills. You solve cases along with the stories’ lead, and at times you foreguess the predator. Such guesses are excellent brain exercises and help you improve your analytical skills.

5. Reading Helps You Gain Focus and Concentration

Speaking requires heavy focus and concentration as you have to present your ideas and arguments in front of a room full of an audience. And reading good books is a great way to gain focus and concentration.

If you take out 40 minutes from your day to read a good book, it can help you increase your focus. Research says reading your favorite book can make connections and enlarge neural networks.

With extensive reading, your brain tries to make a new connection, working on your cognitive skills. With new information, your brain evolves and gets stronger.

And with a robust brain, your concentration increases, and you learn to become an attentive and top-notch conversationalist.

6. Expands your Vocabulary

To speak like a pro, you need exclusive vocabulary, which you gain from reading books. Reading good books also helps you learn English language skills like new grammar rules, sentence structure, spelling, etc.

Yes, reading doesn’t teach you the proper pronunciation of words. But you have an online dictionary for that. Thanks to technology, learning English pronunciation or any other foreign language isn’t difficult.

Reading Jane Austen’s and William Shakespeare’s classics will help you learn various new and exclusive words. Moreover, when you read classic authors, it reflects on your way of speaking, which will positively impact your audience.

7. Helps You Write Speeches

To speak proficiently, you need a strong script. And unless you write your speeches, you cannot speak confidently in public, and reading can help you with it.

As you keep reading regularly, your vocabulary and pronunciation improve, and you use words intelligently. Moreover, reading helps you to learn how to structure sentences correctly for your speeches.

And you go up on stage confidently, knowing you have a strong script and won’t falter while speaking.

Reading comprehension and news articles will help you understand how in-depth speeches are written. You can use them as a reference to make your speeches better.

FAQs

Will listening to audiobooks help me to speak better?

Listening to audiobooks will help you with pronunciation. However, one tends to get easily distracted while listening to audiobooks. On the other hand, while reading books or articles, you don’t get distracted. So, it’s better to read books rather than listen to them.

I am a non-native English speaker. Can reading help me achieve language fluency?

Yes, reading will help you improve your English language fluency. When you read English books, you get a hands-on idea of context. You learn to use words in sentences that fit the context. So, you automatically get fluent in the language.

Will reading blog posts enhance my speaking skills?

Reading blogs will help you learn colloquial English words and audience diversity. You will learn how to write keeping the audience in your mind.

Can TV shows replace books when it comes to gaining speaking skills?

No television shows can replace books when it comes to gaining speaking skills. Your English reading helps you learn unique words, which is impossible with television. So, reading beats every other method of learning speaking skills.

Conclusion

In summary, reading has umpteen benefits that lead to better speaking skills. You gain knowledge, and a broader prospect of life, which is essential for speakers.

Make it a habit of reading everyday. Read at least one page daily, whether a news article or a book. And before you know it, you will become a proficient speaker. Best of luck!