The new big budget drama from the BBC, ‘SS Great Britain’, has been slammed for poor sound quality – in particular actors’ mumbling. More than 1.5million of the 7m viewers switched off before the end of the first episode.

Like the BBC’s ‘Jamaica Inn’, viewers struggled to interpret what characters were saying and, frustrated at failing to catch key words and phrases, voted with the OFF button.

It´s one thing to make an ‘artistic interpretation’ of the script when playing a character when you are an actor, but if you´re at the sharp end of business – clear diction is essential – no mumbling.

One of the fundamentals of marketing is that to have successful communication, there must be a meaningful transmission of information on one side and meaningful reception of that information on the other. When you speak, your listeners must hear what you want them to hear. Clarity, tone and articulation are essential if you want your message to be received and understood. No drama, no mumbling, just good speech skills.