Can I talk to someone who speaks English?

Have you ever heard that, or said that? If you are on the receiving end of this comment, it can profoundly affect your confidence and self-esteem. If you are saying this, you are frustrated because the person you're talking to can't understand you and you can't understand them.

The problem creates misunderstanding, anger and complaints on the part of the customers. It creates loss of productivity in employees. Everyone is unhappy. The problem will not go away by itself, and there is no magic fix.

I Was an Idiot in French
I experienced these insults when I went to graduate school in France. I was not stupid, but when people heard my heavy American accent, they treated me as if I were stupid. Some even told me so. As a result of other people’s criticism (real or imagined), I became shy, silent, and spoke as little as possible. I wanted to speak, but was afraid and ashamed.

When I was selected for the Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to the University of Monaco, I was told I had to make six speeches in French. I was terrified, even though I'm a former broadcaster and ultra-articulate in English. Even though I spoke French, my speech was still very poor. I knew I did not want to be laughed at.

The Secrets of Shedding an Accent
So I attended training and coaching to shed my American accent and speak articulate French. There, I learned techniques in accent reduction that changed my life. I learned to move my mouth differently. This was the secret. I still made mistakes when I spoke to an audience of 5,000 people. But I kept practicing, and I learned that confidence is an acquired trait.

Confidence can be learned
This is why I teach confidence as a major component of my Accent Reduction and speech training. These experiences, and the techniques I acquired in France, helped me in a priceless way. It gave me the magical gift of helping others overcome their accent problems.

Tune Your Ears to International Listening
I also developed an “international ear” to understand any accent, and began to speak very clear, articulate English after living all my adult life abroad in six countries throughout Europe and Africa. Although it took me many years to realize it, this distinguished me from my colleagues who teach accent reduction and speech and have lived all their lives in this country.

You Will See Results
I’ve trained more than more than 3,000 people in English accent reduction and speech in the United States and other countries. Some of my clients are television news celebrities, some are vice presidents and CEOs. Some are the people who sell me my coffee, and answer the phone if I have to call 911. One got a promotion he wanted. One went on to get her Law degree. One got a job. One found a wife. One lobbied to change a bill in congress. One made the cover of Newsweek. Regardless of what you do, you can benefit from Accent reduction training.

Multi-lingual Classrooms
I like to teach people of all different native languages mixed together in one classroom, including Americans. I find the mix is magical, as everyone helps the others hear their specific flaws. I witness breakthroughs in every class. I even teach American young adults to get over the “Valley Girl” style of talk. And I treat African American Ebonics with the respect of a language, and help African Americans to speak Standard English.

There is hope. We are diverse world. Most of us do speak English. And we can learn to understand each other and speak to each other, using simple techniques and lots of practice!

Tips to Practice
1. Watch British Movies... and mimic the stars
2. Listen to books on tape, and repeat the story with the narrator.
3. Open your mouth wider! This is a major problem.
4. Articulate all consonants... Exaggerate in practice
5. Slow down! English is spoken at a slower rate than most languages.