Regional accents: 3 tips to change them

        Do you have a strong American regional accent, such as a Southern, Midwestern or New England accent in the USA, and want to change it to a more standard pattern? Accents can be lovely, and they can help you "fit in" with others who speak like you, similar to uniform clothing However, when you speak to
people from other places, your listeners may notice how you talk instead of what you are saying.

        Most people instinctively code-switch. They speak differently in various situations, such as talking to a newborn baby, their boss, their best friend, or an irritating co-worker. You can do the same thing with an accent, using it when appropriate and using standard American English at other times.

        The first thing you need to do is to record yourself, and decide what you want to change. Is it the use of  "in" for the standard "ing" (as in walking), the pronunciation of the "a" vowel,  the "ar, er, or" , or some other sounds? Are there local expressions you want to replace with more standard ones?

        Listen to some national role models, such as news anchors on national stations, to see how they make the sounds. Can you imitate them clearly? Write a list of words that you actually use which have these sounds. Include words that you use at work, if this change is for work. Examples might be people, places, products or processes you talk about.

        Lastly, practice these words, and then say them in sentences, when reading and in some scripted or otherwise prepared conversations.

        If you want professional coaching to make this change  to a more standard speaking pattern, especially if you give presentations or are in the media as a reporter or interviewee, contact Business Speech Improvement. 

If you want to work on your speech yourself, get our e-book, Diction Makes a Difference,

or the MP3 file, Pronounce American English More Clearly.

        

Accent modification: they missed the point!

In the news today, there have been many stories about Oak Ridge National Labs canceling a class on modifying a Southern accent. The class was requested by an employee, but the response from other employees was that they were proud of their accents. ORNL canceled the class.

The point they, and the hundreds of others who have commented on this in various blogs, missed was vital. All business requires communication, and easily understood speech is essential. Now that clients can be across the country or the world, when speaking to them, both parties need to be easily understood, and that requires a neutral-sounding speech pattern.  The message is what matters, so a common speech pattern is needed.

At least two studies show this to be true. One study done in Illinois showed that speakers with strong Illinois accents who were supposedly supervisors were rated as "impatient" by women managers, while those who were supposedly employees were considered "immature".

Another study by Patricia Cukor-Avila and Dianne Markely found that hiring managers  rated prospective employees more highly when they had a less identifiable accent. The accented participants were from all over the country.

Accent modification does not have to be a long-drawn out program. It can be done intensively, in a short amount of time, in a group or individual program.

Business Speech Improvement in NC offers accent modification for foreign and regional accents, as well as other types of speech coaching. A small group open enrollment seminar on American English Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals is enrolling learners now!

For those who are in other parts of the USA and Australia, and want local, in-person coaching, visit the Corporate Speech Pathology Network to find a trainer closer to you!

Regional accents - and their impact

Many people report that having a strong regional accent, such as a strong New England, Midwestern, Southern or some other accent can impact their careers, even if they continue living in that part of the country. The reason is that they give presentations or make phone calls to people in other parts of the country, who may have trouble understanding them.

Have you had difficulty being understood or understanding someone else who has a strong regional accent? If so, what part of the country (and country) are you in? What did you have to do to communicate?

What kind of training would help in this case, if you were the speaker? Would you want regional accent modification alone, combined with customer service training or with public speaking training? Would you prefer it in person alone or in a group, in a webinar online (although you wouldn't get feedback), or in an e-book/mp3 file?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive individual and group training, and e-books, on many topics related to communication.

Two things to listen for if you are self-conscious about your speech

Do you come from another part of the country and are self-conscious about how you sound? Do people ask you where you're from? Is this affecting your work or social life?

If you want to change your speech patterns, you need to listen to others whose speech you admire to find out what they are pronouncing differently than you. For example, they may say a certain vowel differently, or have a different intonation pattern or "lilt" to their speech. Record your speech and listen to it so you can analyze what you want to do differently. Start by saying the new sound in single words. (Use a dictionary to get a list of the words with that sound.)

A great set of speech archives of different dialects of English is at http://accent.gmu.edu/.

Professional Diction and Grammar/Regional Accent Modification is a intensive course offered by Business Speech Improvement. A rare Open Enrollment class will be offered in June, 2010. For details, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes .