how to encourage (more) my toddler to speak, he's turning 3 this year and all he can say is the colors, car, bus, etc. mostly one word. my husband refuse to consult a speech therapist.

Is he the only child in your family? if so, I believe you should try to expose him with his fellow toddler. You can bring her to playground or any place other from your home. But most importantly, have the time to converse, read books with him. If he's into playing gadgets or ipads, limit it so that he'll not going to depend on vocabulary on those repetitive videos in ipad.