Can I use strategies to make my speech more clear, without losing my accent?

Question

Yes! Accents and speech are part of our culture, family and lifestyle. My goal is to help those who have challenges being understood speak with more clarity, to be better understood and ultimately more confident. I have worked with professionals and organizations across the globe doing just that. By using simple strategies, our speech can become much more intelligble, or more easily understood by others. If you have challenges with your speech, please reach out as my main goal is to help others eliminate communication challenges to reach their goals.

Answer 1

It's great that you want to retain your accent! I've worked with executives from Fortune 500 Companies, scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); as well as numerous lawyers, doctors, managers and academics. I urge them to retain their accents; that an accent can add "spice" to their speech and interest to their speech. Here are some tips on speaking more clearly, yet retaining the "something extra" that an accent adds:

1. Slow down: Many non-natives (and native speakers as well) speak too fast. Slowing down is the number one way of increasing effective communication.
2. Use your consonants: Leaning on the dentals, primarily final "D's" and "T's", can enhance clarity immensely. Thus, when I coach clients who have a tendency to mash the words of a sentence together, I may give them an exercise that helps them befriend consonants: "The sand is grand in my hand." Or I use a Fitbit to stay fit.
3. Breathe: Often, mispronunciation or a lack of clarity has to do with nervousness. I give my clients specific breathing exercises to relax their bodies, voices and minds, especially before an interview, podcast or presentation.
4. Remember: If you're not native to the U.S., you've done something that the majority of native speakers haven't done--you've mastered a language that isn't your native tongue (and I've worked with individuals from all over the map, India, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Mali, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Afghanistan, Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela etc.) So speaking well in English but having a slight accent gives you a competitive edge.

In my years as a communication coach, I've become a firm believer that there is no "one-size-fits-all" in terms of clear and confident speech. Each client is unique. The above are only a few of the tools that can be in your communication tool box. Life is short. Mastery takes time. So you might as well enjoy the process.