Baruch:

I still think it’s weird to work with a therapist but the food my mother brings for me definitely beats lunch in yeshivah.

Zaidy:

Baruch complained that his parents are forcing him to go to some speech therapist. I commiserated with him … but I hope it means I’ll be able to understand him better.

Chavrusa:

What’s with the tapping? Is he getting impatient with me?

He smiles. “Of course! He was a tremendous talmid chacham.”

I play him a clip of Rav Gifter speaking. Baruch listens intently. Next, I play a clip of Rav Matisyahu Salomon speaking [I use gedolim to make this point because they’re who Baruch rightfully admires and wants to be like].

“Do you notice anything similar about the way they speak?”

“Umm, they talk, like, slow.”

“They both sound clear and very articulate.”

I ask Baruch to say a short vort. I record him as he talks, and then we listen to the recording. Baruch’s delivery is different than the gedolim we just heard — low, fast, and unclear.

“There are many words that have more than one syllable,” I tell Baruch, “and you need to say every syllable.” First, he needs to become more aware of the individual syllables. I say a word and Baruch counts the syllables.

“Ba-ruch.”

“Two.”

“Po-li-tics.”

“Three.”

We practice using progressively longer words and then phrases.

“Ethiopia.”

“Five.”

“Elusive mystery.”

“Six.”

The next step is to have Baruch read longer sentences aloud while being careful to say every syllable of the multi-syllabic words.

“When you speak, you need to say every syllable.” I tap my finger on the table as I speak. “Pay-ing a-tten-tion to sy-lla-bles au-to-ma-ti-ca-lly slows you down.”

At first it really slows Baruch down.

“This-will-take-me-for-e-ver,” he taps out in frustration.

“Nah.” I tap once with emphasis. “You’ll get used to it and sound smoother. Like Rav Matisyahu.”

“I’m not going around tapping all day.”

“Just tap your finger in your pocket. Eventually it will become second nature.”

“But I sound weird talking like this!”

“Tell me, do you go collecting on Purim?”

“Yeah!”

“Imagine two groups of bochurim going collecting on Purim. One group gets nice matching costumes, they prepare a playlist of Purim music and a short vort and a pitch about their cause.” Baruch nods; it’s familiar to him. “In the other group, everyone cobbles together their own costume, they bring a few random CDs, and they just walk in and ask for money. Which group is likely to raise more?”

“The first group.”

“Right. And when you go collecting, who actually speaks to the baal habayis?”

“Oh… we always pick one guy.”

“Which guy?”

“Um… the guy who talks the best, I guess.”

“You pick the guy who presents best for the same reason you get matching costumes and good music and plan what to say: Because you know that increases your chance of being successful. Presentation matters.”

Originally featured in Family First, Issue 633. D. Himy is a speech-language pathologist in private practice and creator of the Link-It and STARPower curriculums. The fictional characters in this column represent typical client profiles.