Regional Accent Modification Helps with National Business Contacts

Many people with strong regional accents who give presentations or speak with people on the telephone in other parts of the country feel self-conscious about their speech. They report that customers ask them to repeat themselves, tell them their accent is "sweet" or "just like my Grandma's". If they give presentations, they note that listeners notice their speech patterns so much that they do not necessarily focus on the speech's message.

One tip regional speakers can do is to listen to the news on a national TV channel to determine what sounds are produced differently, and try to speak that way.

Many speakers, though, need feedback and more specific recommendations on what to change, and how to do it. They need help to go through the stages of speech training.

Business Speech Improvement (http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes) offers group seminars on regional accent modification, as well as
Individual Speech Coaching that can combine accent modification with other skills such as
presentation skills or customer service skills.