Speech coaching: by the hour or by the day?

Many people who want to improve their verbal skills, such as foreign-born professionals working in the USA,  ask if they should have a one hour lesson weekly, or do it in full day sessions. In general, full day sessions work very well. Here's why.

In full day sessions, you get the equivalent of 7-8 lessons in one day. Faster progress can be made this way. There is also less time wasted on traffic, and practice is done under the instructor's supervision. For people who are very busy or less motivated, there are very few reasons to cancel the class, if it is all done in full-day sessions.

Professionals from other countries who are in the USA for a short visit especially benefit from this intensive schedule. If they schedule the coaching before corporate events in the USA, their communication will be easier for others to understand.

Some people want to practice between lessons. If it is a public speaking class and students need to write new speeches between the sessions, that may be a valid reason.

Most learners, though, appreciate having the intensive instruction. Some courses also offer a follow-up plan, for skill maintenance. Depending on the seminar, this follow-up can be done on the telephone,  online, or in some other way.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive speech coaching on American English pronunciation improvement for non-native professionals, diction coaching for native speakers, instruction on how to speak slower, presentation skills,  and other topics. Get the details  and enroll online here!

Speech improvement: "Why doesn't my speech improve when I work on it by myself?"

As a speech coach, I get this question often.

A person decides to change some aspect of his speech. He tries to say a word differently, and sometimes sounds better. Then when he has a conversation, he sounds like he always does.

Does this sound familiar?

Here's what's wrong with this approach. A baby does not go directly from babbling to having a conversation, and neither should anyone else changing his speech.

Instead, make sure you are working on the right skills to change your speech.

(Many people don't know exactly what to change.) Then practice the skill in the same sequence as when you learned to talk: sounds, words, sentences, short and longer conversations. (Reading aloud can fit in well before conversations.) Over-practice each step, and listen to yourself on a recording, to make sure the skill is truly learned well.

How does having a speech coach help?  An expert speech coach knows  the right skills you need to develop, uses correct exercises to do it efficiently, and gives you sufficient feedback on how well you are doing. A speech coach has the expertise to get you through the process as efficiently as possible, so you don't waste time and effort,  and has the experience to know alternatives to use when needed.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive speech coaching, customized to your specific needs.  If your own efforts to improve your speech didn't work, visit Business Speech Improvement for expert help!

How people can learn to speak American English more clearly - in only three days

People in the corporate world from other countries may want to learn to speak American English more clearly - and fast. Possibly they are going to a meeting in the USA, or to give a presentation there. People in the Raleigh-Durham area of N. Carolina (USA) will now have the chance to experience this. Business Speech Improvement will soon be moving there! The first step, as in solving any problem, is to determine what needs to be changed. What sounds are mispronounced? How are the rate of speech and the intonation pattern (how the voice goes up and down for questions, excitement, etc)? An expert corporate speech pathologist has years of experience and education to determine this quickly. Certain sounds are easier to change than others are. A customized plan is designed, considering the difficulty level of the specific sounds, which may have to do with where the errors are being made, the person's native language patterns and other factors. Finally, the training can start. Using the customized plan for each learner, the group learns the process of change and specific exercises needed to make the sounds correctly. Each learner receives a lot of feedback, to give him knowledge and confidence. Throughout the process, each learner has practice in rating his own attempts, so he can later judge his speech patterns accurately. Finally, when many new sounds have been mastered, learners practice on simulations of their own work situations, such as doing an interview, giving a lecture, making telephone calls or a business presentation. Doing this intensive process for eight hours a day, with frequent feedback and a variety of exercises, has helped many people make real progress. As a satisfied client, an engineer, reported, "Our speech, like our products, should be right - the first time!" People wanting to enroll in the small group and individual coaching programs offered by Business Speech Improvement should visit here. For those living elsewhere, click here for information about our e-books and mp3 files. Training in other speech topics is also available.

Speech Improvement Training: Is It for You?

Are you worried about loss of sales, fewer career growth opportunities, decreased self-confidence or embarrassment - all because of your or your employees' communication skills? Are public speaking, a very strong foreign (non-American) or regional accent, coaching and delegating or other verbal skills a concern? According to a recent poll, these are all common areas of concern to employees and companies today.

It is vital to define your concern as much as possible. For example, you may have trouble with speech delivery, or speaking to a specific group of people. Maybe your accent is worse when you are upset, and people don't understand you then.
Are there certain words or terms that are hardest for you to say? If so, write them down and see if there is a pattern.

How do you want to get help? If you prefer to get intensive help so the problem can be fixed as soon as possible, Business Speech Improvement offers a wide variety of open enrollment small group seminars as well as individual coaching.
Maybe, due to cost or distance, you prefer a do-it-yourself approach and want e-books.

There is no reason to struggle with communication issues alone.
Expert help is available; reach out for it!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal communication. Areas of expertise range from accent modification to presentation skills to communication techniques for leadership. Great speech makes business sense!

Better Business Communication Day - Celebrate with Us!

Do you ever get stage fright or worry about your pronunciation in American English? Better Business Communication Day is celebrated this year on January 24, 2011. You are invited to get some f*ree gifts!

Visit Business Speech Improvement on Monday, January 24, 2011 and get a e-book on Diction Makes a Difference - no cost on this one day! Filled with practical tips and exercises, it allows readers to learn more about Business Speech Improvement's user-friendly approach. This offer is available for this one day only.

Those who register will also receive a special report on "Scared Stiff: Ten Strategies for Coping with Stage Fright". This report is available right now, so register today! Aren't you ready to feel better about public speaking?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching and helpful e-books on accent modification, diction, presentation skills, executive communication skills, and much more! Visit us and get these special offers!

Improving Diction: Getting Your Message Across - the First Time

There are many causes for poor diction, such as speaking too fast, lack of self-confidence in certain situations, weakness or in-coordination of your mouth's muscles, to a hearing loss.
(If you don't hear clearly, you may not know you are not saying certain sounds.)

One tip you can try to improve your diction is to actually listen to yourself speak.
Record your speech when reading aloud, when talking to a friend, or even when describing your surroundings to yourself. Are there certain sounds you are not saying clearly? Do you speak too fast? Ask your friends or colleagues for advice about when you speak less clearly. If your diction has worsened significantly recently, check with your physician; it may be a sign of a neurological problem. For other speech impairments, you may want to have a speech evaluation from a speech pathologist.

General exercises to improve diction can be found in the e-book "Diction Makes A Difference". Intensive reading practice combined with audio files can be found in
"Learn to pronounce American English more clearly." Both can be gotten from http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler3/scripts/category.pl?EBooks.

Business Speech Improvement provides training in verbal communication skills.
Coaching and e-books from a corporate speech pathologist are available on many topics, including diction, accent modification, public speaking, executive communication, profession-specific communication and more!

Executive Communication: Employee Motivational Strategies

When jobs become more plentiful, a lot of employees are going to be looking for new jobs. The loss of an experienced, valued employee can cost a lot of money, knowledge and sometimes goodwill. Managers and CEOs should work now on employee retention.

First, administer and evaluate the results of the Gallup Q-12 http://gmj.gallup.com/content/811/feedback-real.aspx . These vital questions can help unsuspecting managers see who may be likely to leave when the opportunity presents itself.

Second, see what drives the satisfied employees: public recognition, career growth opportunities, continuing education, private praise, or other rewards. Use them!

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive coaching in executive communication skills, making presentations, accent, diction and other aspects of verbal communication. Training is offered through coaching and e-books. Great speech makes business sense!

Business Speech: What Does It Mean to You?

Business speech encompasses many aspects: giving presentations to large and small groups (and individuals), elevator speeches, being persuasive, accent modification, grammar, proper tone of voice, leading meetings, being concise, listening well, and
more.

When you think of "business speech", what does it mean to you?


Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) offers intensive, targeted coaching on many aspects of business speech. Economical Open Enrollment small group courses are scheduled periodically, and practical e-books on different topics are available 24/7. Great speech makes business sense!

What Does A Speech Coach Do and What Should I Look For In One?

Can you identify with any of these? All names and some details have been changed.

1. Li (not her real name) is a professional chemist with valued professional skills. However, despite speaking English, she has a lot of trouble being understood by her colleagues here. Her company hires a speech coach to teach her American English pronunciation.

2. Sue has a strong regional American accent. When she speaks to clients in another part of the country by telephone or in video-conferences, they focus on trying to understand her pronunciation and miss her message. Sue's boss calls for help for her.

3. Sara needs to improve her presentation skills to be able to keep her job. Her company course on presentation skills was very poor, and Sara wants one on one coaching.

4. Pablo is a leader, and he wants training in how to get more ideas from his team. He
also wants to be a more effective communicator with them. He wants executive communication coaching.

If one or more of those situations describes you, you want a speech coach who is a great communicator herself, who is experienced and is professionally trained. One example of such training is a master's in speech pathology with experience in the sub-specialty of corporate speech pathology. Such a coach has scientific background in anatomy and physiology of how we talk, as well as experience in applying this to the corporate environment. Ideally the person will have the initials CCC-SLP after his or her name.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, targeted coaching in verbal communication skills. Visit www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com for more details!