by Heather Chetwynd | Sep 29, 2022 | Language Training
Over COVID, a colleague, Sue Mitchell helped me put together a series of videos (and did all the video work) 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...
by Heather Chetwynd | Jun 28, 2022 | Culture and Values
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...
by Heather Chetwynd | May 27, 2022 | Accent Modification
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,”...
by Heather Chetwynd | Apr 27, 2022 | Accent Modification
Many things influence how what we say is perceived. (See our recent blog post entitled, 3 Things You Probably Haven’t Considered About Clear Communication.) In that post, I focused primarily on interpretation and cultural assumptions. In this post, I want to focus on...
by Heather Chetwynd | Feb 25, 2022 | Business Communications
Clarity is influenced by a number of things. You might immediately assume that we are talking of ARTICULATION, which refers to the movement of the tongue, lips and other muscles in the mouth. While that certainly is one important aspect of speech which helps us...
