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Questions From HR: 5 ways to support people with comprehension issues
“We have several employees who perform exceptionally well but they seem to struggle with listening comprehension. What can we do to support them?” Even someone who speaks a language well can struggle with listening comprehension. Local accents, casual speech,...
Questions From HR: 5 reasons corporate language training might not be successful
“We have an executive who needs some help to refine his English communication skills. He could use some accent modification training and support with clear communication. What factors can influence the success rate of such training?” For best results, the person being...
Questions From HR: 5 tips for getting your new pronunciation into your speech
“An accountant at our company says she studied pronunciation previously. Unfortunately, her speech is still unclear. How can she get what she learned into her day-to-day speech?” 1. Develop a short pronunciation practice habit – piggyback it on a habit you already...
Practice Clear Speech: Mairzy Doats
Poems and songs are fun ways to practice clear speech. The following popular 1943 poem called "Mairzy Doats" is the perfect example of...
Avoid Uptalk & Communicate With More Certainty & Confidence
What is uptalk? When we ask a question which requires a yes or no answer – Do you live near here?⮵- our intonation rises. Sometimes we use this intonation throughout our speech. Because it is similar to the question intonation, it implies we are waiting for a response...
PART 1 of Our New Video Series – “The Schwa: The Lazy Vowel”
Over COVID, a close friend and videographer, Sue Mitchell helped me put together a series of videos about the most common vowel in English, one you likely have no knowledge of, even more so if you are a native speaker. It is called the schwa, what I refer to as “the...
Why Some People See Little Progress With 1-on-1 Language Coaching
This article covers a variety of considerations which can influence the success of language coaching. If you are a manager or HR professional recommending such training to an employee, the following information can help shed light on the factors involved in successful...
5 Mistakes Professionals Make When Introducing Themselves
Why do we introduce ourselves? We want people to know how to address us. We want to share a bit of information about who we are and what we do so there is a point of connection. We want people to remember us and something about us. Many reasons and many contexts. What...
How Your Attitude and Behaviour Can Influence Comprehension and What To Do About It
We understand best those who communicate as we do. What does “communicating like me” mean? What are the variables in communication? Consider these factors: language, accent, volume, vocabulary and expressions, grammar, body language, level of formality, cultural...
Realistic vs Unrealistic Expectations of Accent Training: Why HR and management need to be informed
Accent training is about adjusting an accent. We all have accents, so terms such as “accent elimination” and “accent reduction” are based on the incorrect assumption that “we” don’t have accents. I prefer to use the terms “accent modification,” “accent adjustment,”...
