Tips to Get Rid of an Accent |
Posted: September 22, 2017 |
You’ve seen the studies and heard the complaints – people prefer speaking to others without an accent. In customer service, some customers criticize companies that hire workers with a heavy accent because they can’t understand them. Companies are often hesitant to hire employees who speak with a strong accent because of the stereotype that many people place on them. Even actors are limited to the roles they can play if they cannot diminish their accents.
To appeal to a wider audience, you may have decided you need to get rid of your accent or at least make it less noticeable. Here are a few tips to help you accomplish your goal.
Speak Slower
When a person talks faster, any accent they have is more noticeable and the words less decipherable. Slow down and speak at a normal rate or even slightly slower. It will make your words easier for others to understand in spite of your accent. It will also make your accent less pronounced. Whether it’s a southern twang or a British accent, people will be better able to understand you if you don’t talk too fast.
Speak Clearly
Even speaking slower won’t make you easier to understand if you trip over your words. Take the time to enunciate all words clearly. This often takes practice if you have the habit of stumbling over words or cutting off syllables. Take a deep breath before you speak and say each word thoroughly and slowly. You may not notice the difference but others will.
Hire a Coach
If dropping your accent is essential to getting the job you want or promoting up in your company, you may want to consider hiring an accent reduction coach. They will train you on how to speak clearly so that you are better understood. They will also help you reduce your accent so that it isn’t obvious you’re not a local.
An accent coach teaches people exercises to do to reduce their accent, including breathing correctly and enunciating clearly. They will give you assignments so you can practice until the new way of speaking becomes natural to you.
Practice
The key to learning any new task is to practice a lot. Practice speaking in your new way even when you don’t have to. Family and friends will notice your new way of speaking, which will encourage you to keep working on your new skill. Practice when you’re ordering a meal out or shopping. Notice how much easier it is for people to understand you as well as any areas where you may need more practice. Since these situations often come with a lot of background noise and interruptions, it’s the perfect practice scenario before you have to speak where it really counts.
Learning how to speak with less of an accent is a challenge for many people. However, it often makes them more hirable and promotable because it improves their customer service abilities. Try these tips to see how much easier it is for people to understand what you say regardless of what kind of accent you have.
Claudette Roche is an accent modification in the Vero Beach, FL area. She teaches foreign and American accents to actors and business persons/executives. In 2010 she was named as one of The Top 5 Voice Coaches by Hollywood Weekly Magazine.
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