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.

Parent of a high school senior?

Are you the parent of a high school senior who is applying to college? Your child is racing madly towards the finish line of having all college and scholarship applications completed. Have you given a moment's thought towards what it will be like to drop him or her off at a college dorm next fall? What will you say? How will you feel at that moment? Going to college is not easy for either the student or the parent! Many parents of high school seniors are overwhelmed right now with helping their children at this critical time. At the same time, the parents are frustrated because their children are ignoring the parents' words of wisdom about "life issues", from driving to study skills. This is all normal - but it is frustrating for both sides. The parents want to be sure their children are ready for college, and the teens are asserting their independence. What if there was a solution that helped both during the college years? There is. Portable Parent is a unique e-book that covers 29 topics students want to know about - but may not choose to ask their parents. Would-be "helicopter parents" can be more relaxed, knowing their children have the advice they need, as close as their computers! From drinking and drugs at college and tips for lengthening terms papers to doing laundry, finding scholarships and ways to save on travel costs, this e-book provides answers students want! As one student reviewer wrote: "Hey - it's like a parent that you can get information from when you want it.... even at the times of morning that you need advice but don't want the lecture you'd get about calling at that time of night!" Parents with Windows computers (and Adobe Acrobat 8 or above) can also add their parental wisdom to select sections. (Parents with Macs will have to download and print out the e-book to add their thoughts.) "Instant information, 24/7, with a parent's insight!" This e-book has special value to college students who come from other countries to the USA. It provides cultural information on American ways of doing things on college campuses. Written by a parent of three college students who is also a faculty member, Portable Parent covers questions students have. Parents appreciate it because they know that with this loaded into their child's computer, the student will have access to information they need - but won't necessarily want to ask their parents. When the time comes to leave your child, you will feel better knowing all that helpful information is waiting in his computer - whether he asks you or not. Sidestep the parent-new college student struggle - check the e-book Portable Parent out! 

A weather disaster and your personal financial documents

If a severe weather disaster occurred, and you and your family were fortunate enough to have survived, would you have your personal financial documents? Would your birth certificate, marriage/professional/driver's licenses, insurance policy numbers, passport and other documents be easy to grab if needed? After a tornado, survivors' personal documents were scattered over a wide area. After a hurricane, many documents were either lost or very soggy. Imagine how long it would take to put your documents back together again! If they came from local sources, it might take even longer. Planning ahead can save you a lot of grief. Complete the Financial Overview form at www.myfinancialrecords.net and have your essential personal documents in one place, with all account numbers, contact information, etc neatly on the 17 page form. From insurance policy numbers to bank account information, this is ready for you to write down the information you might need. You will have this together for your everyday use, too. Do you need to know your passport number or the way to contact your bank? With this document, it's a snap! For a limited time only, this document is free for those who answer a single question at www.my financialrecords.net. This is an exceptional deal, so hurry today to www.myfinancialrecords.net now to get the document! www.myfinancialrecords.net helps people with preparing information for eldercare, for gathering and understanding your own finances, and with disaster documents. Check out this great new resource!

Retirement Planning and Eldercare Financial Organization

Do you fit into one of three groups of people: needing to organize your own financial records (possibly for retirement planning), caring for an elderly parent and needing to organize their records, or organizing your documents in case of a future disaster/recovering from a past disaster? In all three cases, you want to check out a new website, www.myfinancialrecords.net. Here you will find a great document, a template you can use to organize all the details of your financial life! These might range from your insurance policy numbers and who to call if you have a question or claim, to numbers for retirement accounts, your Vehicle Identification number, and a LOT more! Imagine the peace of mind you will feel when all that information is easily accessible to you! Plus, if there were to be a disaster, you could save an incredible amount of time There are also instructions on scanning personal documents, such as professional licenses, birth certificates, passports, your house deed and much more, and how to replace those that are missing. Then keep a hard copy of them, in a notebook sealed in plastic, for your records in case of emergency. In addition, put them on a password-protected flash-drive, to take with you in case of emergency when you are out of the house. Ready for that feeling of relief? Check out www.MyFinancialRecords.net!

A tale of two salesmen

I had the great fortune to sit next to a professional fund-raiser today. I asked him the the secret of his success, and he said, "It's all in the listening. I ask them what matters to them, I listen to their emotions, and then I put all that together in a proposal." He repeated, "It's all in the listening." Later in the day I called a company to ask about getting an expensive service. I told the salesman what I needed, stressing that convenience was important in this case. He told me the way the company worked, which was definitely not customer-friendly but was employee-convenient. I told him why I needed it be more convenient to me, and he said "We don't do it that way." Case closed, sale lost, employee clueless. Are you in the business of selling ideas, services or products, informally or as a profession? Remember the fund-raiser's words: "It's all in the listening." Knowing what matters to your prospect helps you emphasize vital points that will make a sale. As for the emphatic "We don't do it that way", that leads to closing of the wallet! Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including sales and executive communication skills. Training options include in-person coaching and convenient e-books! Check us out at www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com  .

The secret to saying tongue twisters!

Many people who speak in public worry about how to pronounce long, unfamiliar words or other words in a phrase when they have similar sounds, called tongue-twisters. Tongue twisters come in many languages. American English ones, Russian ones, German ones, Spanish ones and ones in many other languages. The secret to saying tongue twisters is to practice them 3 times very slowly, without using your voice. Just move your lips, tongue and jaw slowly while you think about the movements you are making. Let's use Business Speech Improvement's slogan as an example. We are a "one stop speech spot". Say that 3 times very slowly, without using your voice. Think about the "st" in "stop" coming before the "sp" in "spot". Then try the slogan three times fast! Then, whenever you get a single difficult word to pronounce, or a difficult phrase, try this method: 3 times slowly and then 3 times fast. It's easy! Business Speech Improvement offers many types of communication e-books and coaching. Visit us online now!

Supervising international employees? Assumptions and your bottom line

Your employees' cultural assumptions may affect your bottom line - if you forget to discuss some of them. In an seminar on American English Pronunciation for Non-native Professionals, an attendee walked in one day shaking his head. "I know the answer to the problem my boss is struggling with - but of course I can't tell him," the new employee said. The entire class chorused, "Why not?" The employee replied, "I'll get fired for insubordination." Thankfully, the group included a manager of another department in the same organization, who assured the man that in this American company, he wouldn't get fired for saving his company a lot of time and money solving the problem. In another case, a new employee had an extraordinary background in her field, but was the newest hired in her department. When a supervisory position opened up, she told the group she wished she could apply. When asked why she wasn't doing so, she said, "I'm the last hired. It must go to the person there the longest," which was the case in her native country. Convinced to apply, she was quickly promoted. Here are three steps to take, with all your employees, to overcome such cultural assumptions. Remember that an employee can be American-born but be bi-cultural. 1. Let all employees know, verbally and in writing, how promotions are determined. If experience, education, motivation, certifications or other factors are involved, make that clear. Factors may be different in other countries. 2. Have supervisors explain repeatedly to new employees that questions are welcomed about procedures. This is not true everywhere. 3. If a person is exhibiting a communication behavior that is unusual to you, such as hesitating before shaking hands or being reluctant to show emotions or use the telephone, ask sincerely if things are done differently in his or her culture. Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including American English Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals. It offers e-books such as Coming to the USA:American Cultural Differences as well as others on diction, and more!