Accent modification - the intensive way

Accent modification for strong foreign and regional accents can be done on many schedules. The most frequent one is one lesson a week for an hour, with the hope that learners will practice between sessions.  Some learners do practice as instructed. Others are busy and don't have time for this, or fear that they are practicing incorrectly and soon stop.

Intensive accent modification is done either 8 hours a day, for several days, or at least several hours a session or several sessions a week. There are 3 advantages to this.  Learners have less time to forget, so minimal time is spent in review. Learners make faster progress, because they are getting more lessons and errors are corrected immediately by the instructor if the learner does not catch them. Third, learners are more motivated, because progress is faster.

A follow-up plan of some type needs to be in place, to help the learner maintain his or her new skills. Newly learned skills must be reinforced by the instructor or others who are native speakers until they are habitual.

Intensive accent modification especially appeals to busy professionals who may have tight schedules,
those who need to speak clearly as quickly as possible for upcoming meetings or presentations, and
managers who need their employees to speak clearly as fast as possible.


Business Speech Improvement offers open enrollment small groups for accent modification. Other options are offered as well. Click here for details!

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.

Diction tips for reporters

Are you a reporter who wants to improve your pronunciation? Better speech can help your career growth, whether you are thinking of moving out of smaller markets into larger ones, or want to work on an especially important project in your current position. Your listeners today can be in some very noisy settings, whether in cars with their windows down, in shopping malls, sporting events, or noisy offices. Some may have hearing losses, too. Clear speech is critical for them to have the best chance of understanding you. Listen to yourself reporting on a taped story. What errors do you notice? Are the ends of sentences easy to understand, or are they mumbled? Are the ends of words, such as "ing", "s" and "ed" pronounced consistently? Set a goal of one change you want to make in your speech. When you practice reading your story, highlight the indicated words. This will remind you to say that sound extra clearly. You should also evaluate your rate of speech and your pauses. Are they appropriate for your story and your audience? Remember, speaking too quickly can mean people in noisy settings may miss words here and there. Sweeps Week is coming up! Business Speech Improvement offers small group coaching on an intensive basis for reporters who want to work on their speech skills! E-books and audio files are available on many other aspects of verbal communication. Check us out!

Speech improvement training for non-natives who already speak English

A big concern of many professionals who speak English as a second language is whether they are pronouncing it correctly. Many have learned it from teachers who speak British English.
Thus, they say "schedule" as "shedule" instead of "skedule", and other different patterns of pronunciation and sometimes grammar.

These professionals often worry about their pronunciation, as they may get many confused looks from some listeners, especially those who do not know them well.

Intensive training in American English pronunciation patterns can make speech considerably better in as little as 3 days. Business Speech Improvement offers a seminar on American English Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals. Individual coaching and e-books are also offered.