I get many inquires from professionals who feel deep down that their accents are holding them back. They share that business meetings, presentations, interviews and many other aspects of business interactions have become an ordeal for them. I have to say that we love helping our clients feel better about their speaking skills by giving them the tools and personal one on one feedback to get them back in the game.
No matter how they perceive their spoken abilities, we can always offer some help and promise of improvement by working on the key areas of accent reduction, pronunciation and correct intonation. This crucial area of language learning is often skipped over but I would like to emphasize that it is key in helping you speak clearly, confidently and to be understood by others. Furthermore, it is never too late to start practicing. Clarity of speech helps us connect with others and this is vitally important when we have an important message that we need to convey such as in a meeting, or speaking on the phone with a client or communicating with our co-workers.
Some quick tips that you can use right now :
- Speak a little slower if you have a tendency to rush. This will give you more control over your voice and allow your tongue and mouth to be in the correct position to make the correct sounds.
- Pay attention to the endings of words - for example ed endings and words ending in t, d. If the word does not have a silent letter at the end then you need to pronounce it.
- On the other hand if the word ends in a silent letter then don't pronounce it! For example comb has a silent b.
- Try to link words together in a sentence so that you are not pausing between each word unnaturally.
- Pay attention to how native speakers use rhythm and intonation. Notice that the voice goes up and down and gets stronger on certain sounds and types of words.
- Visit this page for more information on Accent reduction
We have helped many busy professionals develop the necessary skills in order to to give effective and engaging presentations.
We offer quality coaching classes in the following areas of spoken English:
- Presentation Skills
- Telephone Skills
- Sales Calls
- Business meetings
- Interview practice
