[header] How to encourage an african grey parrot to speak [title] Talk to your bird regularly. [step] Make it a habit to speak to your bird even before you start training it to mimic what you say. African greys are social birds who want to interact with you. 
They will learn to talk so that they can fit into the household as they would into a flock in the wild. However, your bird will only learn to talk if it recognizes that it's how you communicate.