Accent coaching
Being clear in your speech – whatever your accent – takes you a long way. People with English as an additional language usually come along because they’re aware that they are not always being as clear as they would like and are sometimes (or often) not understood. Speech and accent coaching sessions involve learning the pronunciation that was usually not taught during first English lessons.
Coaching helps to:
- identify the particular sounds and aspects of an accent which may make speech less clear
- a few baseline recordings are taken and used for comparison in identifying how sounds can change
- improve your understanding of English intonation (the ups and downs of a sentence which convey meaning)
- unpick slang words and some of the phrases we say in English (“raining cats and dogs”, “chock-a-block”) to enable a greater understanding of this complex language
Accents don’t tend to fully change after around the age of 10 years or so, give or take, and sometimes change can depend on how much of a natural ‘mimic’ a person is, but enhanced clarity can happen at any age; a few sessions will start you on the road to improving your clarity – and confidence – for speaking and for being understood.
Sessions are currently held via Zoom/Skype, however I can also run in-person sessions at The Albany Centre, St Albans, which has COVID compliant procedures in place.
Interested in a session?
Accents for Actors
Please visit this page if you are interested in performing voice sessions.