"The trouble is of course if you work at it, it looks effortless."
Trouble !!
That's what it's supposed to be Al
The most important person to satisfy with your singing is yourself - make it work for you and you stand a fair chance of taking the listener with you - don't and all you're likely to get is sympathy
I'm afraid that while I recognise and admire Martin's talents and dedication, I seldom enjoy his singing - I find his phrasing idiosyncratic and his accompaniments intrusive - not for me. I'm afraid

Freddy
If you believe your speech is sloppy and indistinct, you need to work at it - mine was and to an extent, still is, so I spent hours trying to make it clearer when I sang
It was one of the points first raised when I first sang for criticism at the Group - I listened to the recording recently and cringed
Think of the best of our traditional singers - Harry Cox - murder to follow until you get used to it - Walter to a lesser extent

Bert Lloyd was known for his 'silly grin' when he sang some songs - he used it to achieve a hard tone that was not a feature of his natural voice
Jim