Speech Therapy?
I attended a workshop the other night presented by a well known Vocal coach who specializes in Vocal teaching/Coaching/Sight Singing/Vocal Rehabilitation. He mentioned to us how he wanted to start a new class on every day speaking. I was somewhat confused why he was now going back to teaching speech class. He use to teach this class years ago. I attended this class to see if losing my New England Accent would make a difference in my social and business life. I was quit amazed to find out that my speech needed to be cured. He explained to us how most people have this speaking disease. I have been searching within myself since this meeting. Do we change the way we sound and look to get better results in life? Let me know what you think….
May 8th, 2009 at 10:50 PM
Wow it sounds like that was a pretty entertaining evening! I would
love to go to a voice coach to learn dialects and to speak with
several foreign accents. You can’t imagine how helpful an accent can
be in certain airports around the world ie; Istanbul, Cairo,
Aberbiijan…Good luck with the training! Jane
May 11th, 2009 at 11:29 PM
Yes, the first benefit of speaking with a standardized accent is that you are much more likely to be understood. It is always a little distracting when you meet someone who speaks perfect English but has a heavy accent. It is important, however, to recognize that a unique accent is not the same as a poor accent. I rarely have had difficulty understanding people from Pakistan or Holland. On the other hand, some speakers from the Lake district in England might need to universalize their accents a little to be understood. I find myself that when I get tired, I tend to mumble a little. Nothing overcomes this like a good shot of espresso and a brisk walk in the park. I think that there are three main elements here 1) focused energy (good speech is a focused and moderated and modulated serious of explosions) 2) listening (like biofeedback, we can learn to listen to rhythm, tone and accent of our own voice); we can quickly learn to reject weak expression if we listen closely. 3) impromptu imagination 4) Confidence (the fountain of focused energy, listening and imagination; one who is not confident in confidence will be lackadaisical in all of the above.
Keep in mind that many people absolutely adore the New England accent; it’s not the accent that needs to be improved, but its clarity and vibrancy. Even stuttering is in vogue these days. I had a student in my class this past semester with a severe stutter and a foreign accent, but he’s brilliant in the confident way that he makes both become part of his image. I’m not sure that even realizes how successful he is.
June 13th, 2009 at 4:46 PM
The article is usefull for me. I’ll be coming back to your blog.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:28 PM
How soon will you update your blog? I’m interested in reading some more information on this issue.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:26 PM
It’s a masterpiece. I have never thought people can have such ideas and thoughts. You are great.