35. Which are some useful accent reduction strategies?

By Olga Smith

In my experience, the most useful strategy is to record yourself first in order to see how you sound to others. Then, identify your mistakes and correct them, practice the correct form, and then record yourself again. Repetition is the key. The reason why we have an accent is two-fold:

1. Not all English sounds exist in our native language and we are not sure how to produce them correctly.

2. Our speech organs are trained for our native language from our childhood. When we start speaking in English, we don’t place our tongue, lips, and jaw as native English speakers do.

When I recorded myself in 2004 I was shocked to realize that even I could not understand what I was saying. Then, I was looking for a speech or elocution tutor who could explain how to position your tongue, lips, and jaw for English sounds. I was lucky to find a top tutor in London and I fell in love with her method. We were practising accent reduction with funny sentences and verses, it was very enjoyable and extremely effective.

Later, together with Linda my tutor, we have published 5 books on accent reduction, which became international bestsellers. In 2009 one of the readers of our books, who was a developer contacted me and said that he absolutely loved our books and that they really worked for him. He offered to create apps based on our books and we have published 8 apps for accent reduction to date.

34. My accent is described as "very heavy", what should I do to improve it?

By Olga Smith

In order to reduce a heavy accent, we need to identify what creates it. Here are the four most common reasons why someone has a heavy accent when speaking English:

1. Not all English vowels and diphthongs exist in other languages, you might struggle to pronounce them correctly.

2. There are 5 long and 7 short vowels In English. Long vowels do not exist in all languages and there is a tendency to shorten them. This can create a problem for others to understand what you are saying.

3. Bad articulation, in other words, weak consonants or incorrectly pronounced consonants.

4. Your intonation could be very difficult to follow, you might break phrases and make pauses in the wrong places.

In order to reduce an accent you need to :

· Learn and practice how to pronounce English sounds using received pronunciation (RP). RP is also sometimes called the Queen’s English, Oxford English or BBC English.

· Practice articulation exercises to make your consonants clear and crisp.

· Learn to speak in phrases rather than in separate words; knowing how to link words together correctly.

· Learn patterns of English intonation and vocal techniques.

The fastest way to get rid of your accent is to do your speech analysis and then download our app: Get rid of your Accent UK1.

Benefits of speech analysis:

• During the speech analysis, we will do simple exercises to correct your English sounds. You will immediately see results from our method.

• You receive a written copy of the analysis with the list of English sounds to practice with corresponding lessons from our accent apps, books and video courses.

• You will save money on tutors, as speech analysis effectively helps your self-study with our accent apps, books and video courses.

• Speech analysis will help you decide whether it would be better for you to join a mini group on our accent reduction course or have individual elocution lessons.

• You will get great results with a plan tailored to your own needs, helping you to focus on English sounds that create your accent.

The speech analysis lasts 45 minutes and costs £80. You can pay by PayPal or bank transfer. Email oriana_r@hotmail.com to book your speech analysis. WhatsApp: +447971246806

33. Is public speaking an important skill? Can everyone master it?

By Olga Smith

Public speaking is very important if you would like to lead people, advance your career to a top management position and therefore to make more money.

Everybody can improve it and I know the fastest way to do it.

Join a Toastmasters club in your area. Prepare your speeches and practice them in front of the mirror, then make audio and video recordings of you delivering your speeches. Then listen to your recording and make a note of the following points:

1. What do you stress in each sentence?

2. Do you sound confident?

3. What could you do differently? May be sound louder, maybe change words/phrases, etc.

After that, you might want to improve your phrases and stresses and then record yourself again and repeat the exercise if needed. The more you practice the better your speech will become and the better you will sound. If you do it with friends they might be afraid to tell you the truth, but when you listen to your recording you will hear how you come across to others.

Body language speaks louder than words. Do a video recording of your speeches and when watching your video make a note of the following:

1. Your posture, do you slouch or is your back straight? If you stand straight you look more confident. Avoid slouching at all costs.

2. Where are your eyes? Do they look straight, to the left, to the right or up. Try to look straight and keep eye contact with people.

The more you practice the more polished your speech will be. You can also download the app 4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause to master public speaking skills in a very accessible format.

More on Get Rid of your Accent | Elocution Lessons

32. Elocution Lessons with Boris Johnson -Part One

By Olga Smith

With this blog post, I would like to start the series of Elocution Lessons with Boris Johnson. I have been analyzing his speeches and found a wealth of techniques he is using to make his speeches really stand out. You too can use these techniques and make your speech engaging, interesting and persuasive. In each blog post, I will outline a few speech techniques. I will briefly explain them and will demonstrate them by quoting Boris Johnson.

I particularly like Boris's energizing, optimistic, positive lingo: "indomitable, irrepressible, super, upgraded massively, colossal, greatest ever, sensational legacy, a sense of tingling amazement, boundless excitement.."

Boris was educated in Eton and later studied classics at Oxford. He became an expert in the arts of rhetoric as developed in ancient Greece and Rome. In his speeches, Boris uses techniques that were practised by Greek and Roman statesmen, orators, lawyers and philosophers, such as Cicero and many others. Boris developed his brand of speaking which is optimistic, humorous and clever.

In a nutshell, rhetorical devices are special ways to arrange words to make an idea or thought sound interesting and pleasing. Some of the more effective devices are simile, alliterations, metaphor, and repetition.

In this blog post, I will focus on three rhetorical devices.

1. Alliterations

In alliterations, the initial sounds in words or in stressed syllables within the words are repeated in a pleasing or memorable manner.

"proudly and loudly"

 "doubters, doomsters and gloomsters"

 "no ifs or buts"

 "rebuilt and regenerated"

”irrefutable and irresistible”

”cultural and creative”

”deeply and dangerously" wrong”

”an era of dithering and dubitation”

2. Repetition: triads, ideas, adjectives, and points are grouped in threes.

Expressed in threes, thoughts have a pleasant rhythm, are dramatic and become more memorable.

"We won, because we had superb candidates. 

 We won because we had a superb campaign director.

 We won because of David Cameron persistence, calm and patience."

“Let’s get on with sensible moderate one ...

 Let’s get Brexit done...

 Let’s bring our country together...”

"We put up wages...

 We back our superb armed forces ...

 We want an Australian-style points-based system ..."

3. Metaphor

Widely known as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. A metaphor helps to create a vivid image. There are several types of metaphor: Allegory: Antithesis, Catachresis, Hyperbole, Metonymy, Parable, Pun.

Hyperbole

 "To keep insisting that the EU is about economics is like saying that the Italian mafia is interested in olive oil and real estate".

“Hilary Clinton looks like a sadistic nurse from a mental hospital”.

 Antithesis

 "We want the government that works for all people, Corbin wants all people to work for the government".

”That is the difference between Labour and us (Tory), they talk, and we do”.

Metonymy

 "piratically captured in social media Twit storm" -widely discussed on Twitter

 "economic independence was sacrificed on the altar of the Euro"

 "essential tool of economic participation" - about knowledge of English in the UK

 "deepest pools of liquidity" - about enormous wealth in London

 "merchants of gloom" - about pessimists

 "toxic moonshine that makes you blind" - about communism

”..a display of economic masochism” - about Labour economic policies

”economic drag anchor” - about Labour economic policies

”loonies of the left”

”saddled with debt”

Pun

 "..people with vested interests and indeed interests in vests"

”Let’s get carbon-free by 2050, and Corbin-free by Christmas”

Let me know what rhetoric devices you like to use in your speeches.

More on www.batcsglobal.com

31. American accent training audio book

By Olga Smith

"Get Rid of your Accent" is a phenomenon. Both native and non-native English actors, lawyers, brokers, businessmen, and diplomats have flourished with our help. This book is a leading accent reduction training manual with practical exercises to master a General American accent. It is fun and to the point. The book contains 10% of theory and 90% of practice. It is a perfect training manual for both personal study and classroom situations. 

This second edition of the book is a complete guide to American pronunciation. To get the audio version  click here if you are in the USA, or click here if you are in the UK

With this book you will learn and practice: 

1. How to form correct American/English sounds 

2. General rules of American/English intonation and sentence stress

3. How to sound fluent and natural in American/English.

4. Articulation exercises to make your consonants clear and crisp

Who is this book for:

People whose native language is American/English, including: 

• Pronunciation and speech teachers 

• Actors who need to develop a General American accent 

• Professionals for whom a high standard of English and clarity of speech are important

• Public speakers.

People whose native language is not American/English, including: 

• Students 

• International businessmen and executives 

• Diplomats 

• Call centre employees 

• Skilled professionals: teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, journalists, etc, who wish to advance in their profession in the United States, Canada, and other countries where English is an official or business language (e.g. India) 

• People who work in the service and hospitality industries and need to communicate with good English 

• Public speakers.

You will master the General American accent with words, sentences, funny verses, and prose passages. It should be used in conjunction with its audible book or app. The existence of an accent can be explained by the fact that some English sounds do not exist in your native language or your regional accent/dialect, and your speech organs are not trained for them. Therefore these sounds may represent a particular difficulty in pronunciation. In this book, we list speakers of world languages and their particular difficulties and practical recommendations. We recommend that you start with the sounds that are the most difficult first.

5 things this book will help you with: 

1. Neutralizing your accent within 2-3 months 

2. Making your English clear and easy to understand 

3. Becoming a competent communicator and public speak

4. Increasing your personal confidence 

5. Improving your job prospect and social life

Practise with this book and the accompanying audible version of the app, and watch your career, education, and social life blossom.

American Accent Audio

30. Accents face discrimination

By Olga Smith

 On 27 November 2019, Sky News revealed accents that face the most discrimination in the UK. https://news.sky.com/story/revealed-why-your-accent-could-be-holding-you-back-11871382

 Although some activists want to think that an accent should not be a decisive factor, people with strong foreign and regional accents miss out on wonderful opportunities. Since the times of George Bernard Show's play Pygmalion and up until now, people who aspired to get ahead in life realized that without RP many doors will never be opened to them.

Received Pronunciation is a Pronunciation taught for many decades since it was popularised by the BBC. In the past, it was called Queen’s English and Oxford English. Therefore, this accent is associated with a certain social and economic position and the quality of one's education. It is interesting to note that a study revealed, that the more refined is the RP of a person the higher is their social status. A higher social status often means a better economic situation.

There are two main types of Received Pronunciation:

1. General RP, which is used as a teaching model and used in pronouncing Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries. Therefore it is the most understood version of the English accent. General RP is also a compulsory accent to learn in London drama schools.

2. Refined/heightened RP is associated with the aristocracy, certain professions such as officers in the navy of a certain generation. It is spoken, for example, by the Queen. General RP is spoken by the Queen’s grandchildren.

In the article, Fiona Hill, a British-born US security adviser suggested that "her accent would have held her back if she still lived in the UK". My American ex-husband lives and works in the USA now and is often involved in recruiting IT specialists in Silicon Valley. He told me that many Indian and Chinese born IT specialists get lower paid positions because of their strong accents. He added that a strong accent distracted him from focusing on his work and was hard to deal with during conference calls.

When I had a very strong Russian accent I felt that people looked down on me. I was also very annoyed that people often asked me to repeat myself, as they didn't always understand what I was saying. But after I studying with Linda James, one of the top RP teachers in the UK, I noticed that people started to treat me differently, with respect and consideration. I was very surprised. Also, my communication with people became much more enjoyable.

 I thought that there are many people like me in London who might benefit from learning RP. Linda and I wrote a book, and to my amazement, it became an international best-seller. Today we have published five books and eight apps in the series Get Rid of your Accent. Recently we have also published two video courses on Udemy to support our books and apps with demonstrations of the speech organ positions for each RP sound, sentence stress and English intonation.

Many people benefited from our books, apps and video courses. The most successful of our students book their speech analysis with us and enrol on accent reduction courses to be more effective in their study.

29. Prince Andrew technical speech analysis

By Olga Smith

Speech has always been the number one tool for ruling classes. Today everybody is talking about Prince's Andrew speech content. I have analyzed his speech from a technical point of view. I was paying attention to sentence stress, the use of schwa to throw away unimportant words and even whole expressions. In my opinion, his speech is a great resource for speech raining.

I receive a lot of questions about how to make one's speech less monotonous, what to stress, how to stress important messages and which words convey the most important meaning. There is a number of speech techniques that you can learn from our books Get Rid of your Accent Part Two and apps Fluent English Speech and 4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause. Michael Knowles, the actor in our audiobooks and apps sounds very similar to the Prince.

In this blog, I will outline a few of these techniques.

1. In natural speech, it’s important not to emphasize or stress too many words in a phrase or sentence. As a general rule, we tend to pick out the words which convey the meaning and lean on them, giving them a little more vocal energy. Prince Andrew's speech is a good example of it. He is very economical with the stress, but when he stresses a word it really stands out. He stressed words:"never", "absolutely not", "certainly", "always", "sole", "inappropriate", etc.

2. There is no consistent rule as to which words to stress and which "to throw away". It depends on what message a speaker wishes to convey to his/her listener.

3. “Throw away” unimportant words. This often means neutralizing vowels, increasing the pace and diminishing the volume. It is a difficult skill to learn, particularly for non-native speakers of English. and one should take time to master it. Prince Andrew threw away "fill in" expressions such as: "as it were", "if you see what I mean", "you see, this is the problem", "that would be", etc.

The quickest way to master your speech is to book your speech analysis and follow up with a few Skype sessions.

28. Top 5 tips to master British accent

By Olga Smith

Top 5 tips to master British accent

Hello,

First of all, I want to mention that there are many accents and dialects in Britain: Northern, Scottish, Cockney, RP and many others. RP or Received Pronunciation is taught to foreigners because it is understood around the world and is called Standard English. RP is also a compulsory accent to learn for actors in British drama schools. RP is associated with high class and good education, and many learn RP to blend in with upper classes. Personally, I love RP, because to me it sounds clear and precise.

Tip N1: Get rid of Americanisms

Many learn English watching American films and programs. The most important thing to know about the American pronunciation is that letter "r" is always pronounced. In British English it is not always pronounced. In order to get rid of American pronunciation, we recommend that you first practice:

Three long vowels, [ɜː] – third – [θɜːd], [ɑː] – bark – [bɑːk], [ɔː] – fort – [fɔːt]

Four diphthongs, [ɪə] – hear – [hɪə], [eə] – pair – [peə],  [əʊ] – boat – [bəʊt,  [ʊə] – sewer – [sʊə]

Schwa, or neutral vowel, [ə] – the – [ðə]

You can master these sounds with our books and apps in series Get Rid of your Accent.

Tip N2: Master pure English vowels

There are five long and seven short pure English vowels. Each vowel has a specific speech organs position. It's important to mention that long vowels do not exist in all languages, and there is a tendency to shorten them. The thing is the meaning of the word may change if you shorten a long vowel. Here is a funny example: if you don't pronounce long [i:] in the word "sheet" people will hear another word, "shit". Spend extra time to make sure your vowels are precise, otherwise you might end up like this Italian man who went to Malta.

Tip N3: Watch your [t] and [d] sounds

In my opinion, mastering English [t] and [d] sounds is extremely important. The thing is that in RP, [t] and [d] as well as [l] and [n] are pronounced with tip of the tongue touching the teeth or alveolar ridge. It helps to train your tongue. In Russian, for example, the tongue is much lower which creates a  harsh "dental" sound. English [t] and [d] sounds are also used to create past tense of verbs and 3rd person singular. For example, Spanish speakers find it hard to pronounce [t] and [d] sounds at the end of the word, and that might create an impact that they don't know basic grammar, but it could be just a pronunciation mistake.

Tip N4: Record your speech

I have noticed that some people are under the illusion that listening to RP will help. In order to speak with RP, we recommend that you speak and then record yourself. Speak for a minute and when you play back your recording pay attention to how you pronounce the English vowels. Check your speech organ positions in the mirror at all time. In order to make sure your speech organs are in the correct position, you  can also download our video courses from Udemy, Get Rid of your Accent Part One and Part Two.

Tip N5: Find a role model

When mastering your British Accent, we recommend that you find a role model, perhaps, a British actor or an actress with good RP. Listen to their speech a small section at a time, then repeat and record yourself. Copy their sounds and intonation. Many of our students who followed this recommendation were very pleased with their results.

27. 5 tips to change a monotonous speech into an engaging one

By Olga Smith

The Greek word for "one tone" is monotonia, which is the root for both monotone and the closely related word monotonous, which means "dull and tedious." A continuous sound, especially someone's voice, that doesn't rise and fall in pitch, is a monotone. When someone speaks in a monotone, his voice is flat and boring — plus listeners don't know how the speaker is feeling when everything sounds the same.

When I started my speech training, one of the first things I wanted to learn was how to avoid sounding monotonous. I wanted to be popular and felt that I have wonderful ideas to share, but I felt that no one wanted to listen to me. I was listening to some native English speakers and their ideas were not more interesting than mine, but the way they spoke was so engaging, so they could easily manage to grab people's attention. I said to myself I want to speak like that.

in 2004 I found Linda James, a drama school speech tutor with 35 years of experience. My speech and my life changed in a month. I found Linda's speech training so useful that I have decided to share this knowledge with others and to write and publish a book. To date, Linda and I have published six books and eight apps for English speech mastery.

In this blog post, I would like to share with you a few tips about how to break from monotone and make your speech interesting to listen to. 

 First, I would like to outline the main patterns of a monotonous speech.

1. Number one is that all words in a phrase or sentence unstressed, or all words in a phrase or sentence stressed. Namely, all words are pronounced with the same vocal power, with the tone of voice and with the same pitch level.
2. Number two is the incorrect use of pauses or no pauses at all.
3. Number three is that there is the speaker doesn't show the colour or the emotion of words.

 What you can do to overcome these unhelpful patterns:

1. Stress words, which are important for the meaning of a phrase or sentence.

2. "Throw away" unimportant words.

3. Liaise prepositions and articles to the main word.

4. Use pauses in place of a comma, full stop and before stressed words.

5. Think about the meaning of words and put appropriate emotions to make words alive.

You can practice these speech tools with our apps "Fluent English Speech" and "4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause" and with the book "Get Rid of your Accent Part Two, Advanced Level" by Linda James and Olga Smith.

26. Want to speak with impact? Use your voice effectively!

Guest post by Florian Bay – Founder & Lead Trainer – Speak to Lead!

Powerful public speaking is made up of well-structured content delivered in a strong and confident manner. Eye contact and body language are key elements of strong delivery. However, the one that can make the difference between a weak speech and a strong one is the speaker’s voice.

Your voice is a muscle

One thing that singers, musicians and actors learn in drama school is the importance of taking care of their voice in order to maximise their performance. Despite this, vocal training is often overlooked by public speakers and this dulls their impact on potential audiences. Proper vocal support begins with proper breathing and proper posture. When you speak, stand upright with your chest thrust slightly forward and your shoulders slightly backwards. To relax, you can put your hand on your tummy and do 5 seconds sequences of inhaling, holding your breath and exhaling. Voice is all about vibration and resonance so before you speak consider doing some resonance exercises with your mouth and voice box. These exercises tend to feel quite nice, will relax you further and most importantly will help you better project your voice.

The 4Ps

Projecting your voice is important because it is a powerful musical instrument that will support your words and sentences when played well. There are four may ways in which you can play it, the 4Ps of pace, pitch, power and pause.

Everybody has a default pace of speaking, which can sometimes be of up to 150 words or even 180 words per minute. When speaking in public it is advisable to aim for a pace of 120 words per minute. However, this pace can vary slightly during a speech or presentation. For example, if portraying dialogue or characters. Varying your vocal pitch is very useful if your speech incorporates storytelling elements, but can additionally be used to draw the audience’s attention to a particular point.

Having a powerful voice can be a double-edged sword depending on the situation. When seeking to persuade or inspire, it can enhance your message and project authority and conviction. But it can also lack congruence if what you are saying is emotional or requires a softer voice tone. Still, varying the power of your voice is an excellent way to turn a good speech into a great speech. Especially if you want to emphasise a single keyword within a sentence. This is also where pauses can come in very handy to support a message. A short pause within a sentence before introducing a keyword can emphasise it further. A longer pause after a sentence or dialogue can build up suspense and anticipation of what might come next. Pauses can be very effective in technical speeches and presentations too and can enhance informative speeches. Why? Because they provide time for the audience to think about what you’ve just said. Well placed pauses will enhance the understanding of your speech and message.

Clarity is the clincher

While using the 4Ps well, can enhance the clarity of your voice. They are not necessarily the be end and end-all. A couple of other factors influence clarity, especially your pronunciation and your accent. The best way to master hard to pronounce words and sentences is via reading them aloud and repeating them. Never be afraid of asking someone’s help in this matter, especially if you have to sell a product or service with a difficult to pronounce the name. Almost everybody has an accent but some accents can impact the clarity of speaking, especially in front of an audience. My native language is French and I still to this day sometimes struggles with pronouncing words like “history” or “idea” which can have a negative impact when I speak. There is nothing wrong with reducing one’s accent to pronounce words and sentences more clearly. Crisp and clear pronunciation can be the difference between an average presentation and a strong impactful presentation. Especially in competitive fields.

25. 5 most important benefits of elocution lessons

5 most important benefits of elocution lessons.

By Olga Smith

1. Your speech will be clear and easy to understand.

   Elocution lessons involve doing lots of articulation exercises and learning how to pronounce vowels and diphthongs. You can start practising it with the best-selling app Get Rid of your Accent

2. Your sentence stress and use of pauses will make your messages precise and powerful.

   Another important part of elocution lessons is to work on stresses and pauses. You will learn which words you should stress and which “throwaway”, a phrase used by actors. You will also see how powerful the use of pause can be.

3. You will know how to breathe correctly to increase the volume or the power of your voice.

   Elocution lessons will help you if you are worried your voice is too quiet and people ask to repeat what you said often because they cannot hear you.

4. Your posture will be straight

   The basis of breath is posture. Here is the basic thing to check to improve your posture.

   Stand in a well-centred position with feet firmly on the floor, slightly apart, relaxing the knees and hips, and keeping the shoulders down, free from any tension. Feel your spine straightening with your head balanced on the neck, as if it was attached to the ceiling by a piece of elastic coming from the top of it.

5. You will sound confident and become more confident as a person.

   Having good posture and confident speech allows us to conclude that elocution lessons will help you enhance your overall image which in turn will open doors to greater opportunities. Elocution lessons teach you to speak with the accent of the British elite and it is a shortcut to high society. Read about it in our blog Elocution Lessons based on RP.

Book your speech analysis and elocution lessons today, email oriana_r@hotmail.com

Visit www.batcsglobal.com for more information.

24. Preparing to speak in public or giving a presentation

By Olga Smith

Is your speech clear and confident?

Speech preparation takes three stages: writing, editing and practising its delivery. Writing is mainly about what you say, but more effort goes into how you say it. In this blog, I will highlight the important points of speech delivery or how you say it. When you practice it, one of the first things you need to make sure is that people understand what you want to say. The clarity of your speech and the clarity of your messages are absolutely essential. There is nothing worse than a gabbled presentation with an unintelligible accent. There are four main enemies of clear speech: difficult to understand accents, rushed speech, lack of pauses and a quiet voice.

A difficulty to understand accent is a problem

Accents can be very charming, but for the purpose of public speaking your accent should be understood by your audience. When your accent is difficult to understand, people stop thinking about the main idea of your speech as they try to decode your words. They might stop thinking about what you are trying to convey, and start thinking about where you come from, for example. Another thing is that a difficult to understand accent is associated with a lack of education and low class. Thus it even influences your credibility. On the other hand, when you speak clearly, not only you become a pleasant communicator, but it also enhances your image.

Rushed speech

Many people have a tendency to rush their speech. Someone who is uptight and tense, and shows a lack of confidence and anxiety will tend to speak rather more quickly than someone who is relaxed and laid-back. Similarly, a person who is extremely intelligent and bursting with ideas will often tend to gabble as the thoughts come tumbling out. The thing is that people perceive what others are saying at a slower speed. There is nothing worse, when trying to impart a great deal of information to your audience (whether in a business meeting, a lecture room, or a court of law), than discovering that because you are speaking so quickly, very little of this information is being understood. Often the first thing that happens when a speaker is nervous and not at ease, is that he tends to gabble. It is always better to concentrate on speaking more slowly when addressing an audience, particularly if you are not speaking in your native tongue.

Quiet voice

There will be times when it is necessary to change the amount of volume we use when speaking. In normal conversation, no effort or changes will be required. When communicating with an audience, however, the amount of projection of the voice (or loudness) obviously depends on the situation you are in: how big is the room, how many people are you talking to, how far away are they, are you inside or out in the open? When I started public speaking, I was afraid that people cannot hear my speech as my voice was very quiet.

Tools to deliver a great speech or make a perfect presentation

Make sure you pronounce and articulate words clearly. Record yourself and hear how others perceive your speech. I am Russian and in 2004 I recorded my first Toastmaster’s speech. I felt shocked when I was listening to it because even I could not understand what I was saying. I started elocution lessons with Linda James and in about three months my life had changed completely. My speech became clear, confident and powerful. I have decided that Linda’s method and teaching can be useful for people like me. I decided to write a book with CDs. The international success of the book led to producing eight apps, four paperback and five audiobooks in the series Get Rid of your Accent. Two weeks ago we published a video course on Udemy entitled Get Rid of your Accent to provide a total solution for accent reduction online.

Our apps, books and video course content cover the main topics of speech

1. Learning how to pronounce English sounds using received pronunciation (RP) – RP is also sometimes called the Queen’s English, Oxford English or BBC English.

2. Articulation exercises to make your consonants clear and crisp;

3. Learning patterns of English intonation and vocal techniques;

4. Speaking in phrases rather than in separate words; knowing how to link words together.

5. 4Ps, Power, Pace, Pitch, Pace of your voice

More on Get Rid of your Accent | Elocution Lessons

23. The most difficult English sound for many nationalities

Why people have accents

 One of the reasons is that not all English sounds exist in other languages. For example, there is no [th] sound in Russian, French, Hindu, and many other languages. Many Russians pronounce [s,z] instead of [th] and instead of "think" they would say "sink". Indians pronounce [t,d] and instead of "that" they would pronounce "dat". The meaning of the word changes completely and as a result, others cannot understand what they are trying to say. This can be uncomfortable for both the speaker and the listener. Moreover, if one's speech is difficult to understand their job prospects and promotions are at risk.

Ten days ago we have published a video course entitled "Get Rid of your Accent" on Udemy. This course covers all English sounds of Received Pronunciation ( or as it was called in the past Queens English, BBC English, Oxford English). We have a limited-time promotion on it (75% discount). Using this course and our apps which are optimized for tablets, smartphones, and computers you can study anywhere, anytime!

The main benefits of this course to students

 You can watch each lesson several times and master the correct placement of your speech organs for English sounds to perfection. You will get unique tips and techniques for accent reduction which are not in our books and apps.

The enclosed video is lesson 36 from our video course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEc37sS95u0&feature=youtu.be

If you have problems with this sound, watch this video, then practice this sound with our apps and books for a week, 20-30 minutes a day. We recommend that you slow down your speech to allow yourself time to think before you speak and place your speech organs correctly. When you speak fast there is no time to think about the correct pronunciation.

I hope you enjoy studying with our apps, books, and videos. E-mail oriana_r@hotmail.com to book your speech analysis in order to check your progress and reduce the time and effort to achieve your goals.

Sincerely Yours

Sincerely Yours

Olga Smith

www.batcsglobal.com

22. Benefits of Get Rid of your Accent video course

• Download accompanying video courses Get Rid of your Accent Part One and Part Two where we demonstrate how all English sounds are produced in the mouth.
  We also share useful accent reduction tips for different nationalities which you will not find in our books and apps.

• Click on one of the videos from the Part One course.

• Click on one of the video from the Part Two course.

21. Accent reduction tools

By Olga Smith, a leading expert in accent reduction since 2006

In this blog we tell you about 5 useful accent reduction tips that will help you save time and money:

1. Get your speech analysis done. When students come to us for the first time we record their speech and tell them which English sounds and speech patterns, such as intonation, liaisons, articulation, etc. they need to work on.

2. Work on your accent daily, 20-45 minutes a day. Regularity is the key. People have accents because their speech organs are not trained for English sounds. Accent reduction is similar to your gym sessions' principles.

3.   Use the mirror to check your speech organs' positions. In our books and apps, we explain where to put your tongue, lips, and jaw for a particular English sound. If you have an accent your speech organs will automatically shape in a way you used to. Once you know how you should shape them, check in the mirror to make sure your jaw and lips placements are correct. Watch our video on YouTube and try to do it yourself.

4.   Repeat the same word, phrase, sentence or verse at least 3 times with clear pronunciation. In our books, we teach RP (Received Pronunciation) RP is also sometimes called the Queen’s English, Oxford English or BBC English. The more you repeat, the quicker RP will become your second nature.

5.   Record your speech regularly to check your progress.

More on www.batcsglobal.com

20. Can you afford to wait for society to change?

By Olga Smith

Superprof (an online tutoring database, has 2,868 online elocution tutors offering one-to-one lessons), reported that inquiries for elocution lessons increased by more than 23.5%, compared with the same period in 2015.

Here are some of the reasons to change one's accent which various people stated:

"Since I moved from Manchester to London two years ago, I have been mocked about my accent, which made me think about softening some of my rougher edges. Regional accents not only indicate where we are from but can reveal our social class, while a recent study found that broad regional accents can be a barrier to social mobility."

“I always thought, when I was going for certain parts, that having a northern accent might hinder my chances. When I was 19 or 20, I tried to change my accent a little. I just felt like people would take me more seriously if I spoke better.”

“It was something I was self-conscious about because people think that people with a Birmingham accent are quite stupid,”

 “Outside of parliament, people definitely will use it as a tool to have a go at you,” she says. “They’ll say you sound thick and you’re common and you don’t speak properly.”

Here are the research data about accent change:

1. "The associations between intelligence and forms of middle-class and elite speech and accent are deeply woven into British class structures."

2." A broad regional accent might hold you in good stead in some jobs, but can be a drawback in more upwardly mobile careers. “There maybe some kind of expectation that, if you’ve secured a good degree and aced teacher training, then why didn’t you modify your accent as a linguistic means to signal that you are moving up in the world.”

 3." An employer might send somebody for accent softening, and actually what they mean is that the employee’s voice doesn’t quite sound formal. The difference between sounding formal and informal lies in speaking too quickly, mumbling or reductions in speech such as the glottal stop – an abrupt silence that replaces T and, occasionally, other consonants at the end of words."

4. Other differences, such as TH-fronting, which is pronouncing “th” as “f” or “v”, can affect your employability. “The more somebody says ‘munf’ rather than month, ‘fru’ rather than through, we will consider that to be a marker that they are less employable. Because it is perceived to be a measure of socioeconomic status.”

The Guardian writer who came up with all these facts asked at the end: "Can we change society so that people aren’t told they have to change themselves?" I think if someone has passion, money and time to change the society they can go ahead and do it. It is a question of how long this change will take and whether it will ever change. I prefer to speak with RP now and be successful now. I cannot afford to wait for society to change. Can you?

19. Effective learning is to break the thing you learn into small parts

By Olga Smith

I am learning two things now: how to dance beautifully and speak Italian. I have a private dance tutor who is an incredible dancer. As a publisher of Get Rid of your Accent apps and books and RP (Received Pronunciation, in the past known as Queen's English or BBC English) I always strive to learn what works and what doesn't for students who are trying to learn new skills. In this blog, I want to share with you my knowledge about teaching and learning processes.

Learning to dance is very similar to learning to speak with a different accent. When I learn to dance I learn how to move my body the way I want. This is exactly what you learn during accent reduction: the first thing you learn is how to move your speech organs in the correct way. In our apps and books, the number one thing is to make it very clear how to place your speech organs correctly, secondly, you pronounce the sound on its own, then in words, sentences, and verses. It is a process, in which we break it up into small parts and our students learn very fast because it's simple and clear.

On the contrary, my dance tutor tends to show me a very difficult routine and asks me to repeat it. I cannot do it and then she shows it to me again in a very fast way, and I that doesn't help at all. When I asked her to show me little moves slowly I succeeded. I conclude: the number one thing in learning is to break the thing you learn into small parts and master each part separately. If you rush, you are likely to make mistakes.

I've just come back from Italy where I did a 3 weeks course in Italian. During my course, we were studying grammar and hardly had very little practice. By the middle of my course in Italy, I realized that I speak worse than before. Prior to this course, I practised a lot of speaking, listening and repeating and maybe my grammar was not as good, but I was more fluent. In my opinion, the number two thing in learning a new skill is 10% of theory and 90% of practice. Unfortunately, many tutors do it the other way around, 90% of the theory which makes them speak most of the time, and 10% of practice for students. That is probably why our accent apps and books are very popular because we follow these two rules and our students get the results instantly.

Find more information and tips on www.batcsglobal.com

18. Important rules of speech writing and presenting

A couple of days ago I've taught one of my students. He is a barrister and presents his speeches in Courts. He is highly intelligent and eloquent. English is his native language. When we started working on one of his speeches, we had to cut some words, put stresses and liaisons. My student was surprised by how simple rules that I taught him changed the quality of his speech. He said he never heard of these rules. He encouraged me to write a blog about the rules of speech writing and presenting.

Below is the list of main rules of speech writing and presenting:

1. Never start a sentence with a preposition "and". 

2. Stress the most important words that contain the meaning and the essence of a sentence. As a rule, we stress numbers, names, strong words like "never", "not".

3. Write short sentences and use short punchy words. There is a difference between a written and a spoken word. It' is fine to use long sentences if you write a Ph.D. thesis or a scientific article for a magazine because readers can read it several times if needed. But if you speak in long sentences, then your listeners might feel lost in words and lose the plot. Thus you might fail to deliver your message. Very often when I help to prepare speeches I often cut 30% of words. I would like to give you an exercise:

a) Write your speech, then record it.

b) Read your speech again and delete unimportant words. Record this speech again using pauses and stresses correctly.

c) Compare these two speeches.

You will find rules and practical exercises for speech in our apps "4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause" and "Fluent English Speech". They will help you to make your speeches impressive, powerful and interesting.

Yours

Olga Smith

17. They didn't get a chance to get a job because of their accent

23 January 2019

By Olga Smith

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend who works as a recruiter in Silicon Valley.

He conducts phone interviews, and if the interviewee is successful, he conducts a personal interview with a job applicant, many of whom are non-native English speakers. He said, “It’s harder to understand someone with an accent, especially on the phone. I feel frustrated because I can’t understand what they are saying.” He further added that regretfully, many job applicants do not have a second interview because of their strong accent.

 On average, it takes between one and three months to neutralize a strong accent and make one's speech clear and easy to understand. People start with a speech analysis, then book a few lessons and practice at home. This process of accent reduction costs around £500-£1,000 on average.

 My recruiter friend also told me an interesting fact, "We have many people already working in Silicon Valley who have strong Chinese or Indian accents. Many of them make $150k per year, however, if they spoke more clearly, they would find it easier to be promoted and could earn up to $500k per year."

 If you are looking for a new job or a promotion, why wouldn't you invest in improving the clarity of your speech?

 Our company, which has helped hundreds of people with strong accents to start a new job or get a promotion, has recently published an easy to use and powerful app, built specifically for business people: Business English Speech. 

 This app will give you four benefits to boost your career. It will:

1. Prepare you for a job interview
2. Improve your business emails writing skills
3. Enrich your business vocabulary
4. Improve your listening skills

 Download the app today.
When you find it useful and if you write a review, you will receive a FREE thirty minutes speech analysis with a written report that will speed up neutralizing your accent (usually it costs £120).

 Contact olga.smith.batcs@gmail.com to book your speech analysis. Visit www.batcsglobal.com to download a free lesson from our new app

16. Business English Speech is our new app

Olga Smith

Tuesday, January 1st, 2019

Here at BATCS, we work hard to bring you the latest and greatest books and apps for accent reduction. So we’re very proud to announce the availability of our newest app, Business English Speech. It’s the best single tool on the market to help you get a job and perform well in your current job and throughout your career.

The thing that makes BATCS stand out the most is our full line of apps, which complement our books. In some cases, we even have several apps to go with a single book.

It took us longer than usual to get this new app, Business English Speech, ready. Why? Because it’s one of our most ambitious apps.

The business book and app both use the speech style and vocabulary of leading business professionals, as you see in leading publications such as the Financial Times (also called “the FT”), The Economist, and The Times of London. And it’s the same speech style and vocabulary that you hear on the BBC and Sky News. The book and app include interviews with top UK professionals in areas such as finance - still the leading business in London - marketing, politics, diplomacy, and the law.

As you use this app, your speech will increasingly resemble what British people see and hear every day on TV and the radio, and read in the British press. This is the style of English that’s historically been called the King’s English or the Queen’s English, depending on whom was regnant at the time, and more recently called BBC English.

 The improvement in your speech makes people more open to and interested in the ideas you are expressing. You become more influential and more effective. As you use the app, it becomes much easier to get a new position and to advance in the role that you already have.

 Our lead app developer, Yury Kravchenko, has made this deep and interesting content available within the same app framework used across all of our Get Rid of your Accent apps, as shown in our app video.

 In the app, you can easily find the most troublesome sounds for your national language of origin. Then, you drill on those sounds, using business-oriented and professional-level vocabulary. The app will record you and help you compare your own pronunciation to pronunciation in a crisp and clear British English accent.

 For the book, we have been told again and again by customers that it immediately helps them to improve their performance at work. The app is exactly what you need as a professional who would like to succeed in this competitive world.

Note: We also recommend that you use our other apps and books to complement your work with the Business English Speech app. Why? Because you will get more complete training. In particular, we recommend two topics. The first is our Beginner book and app because they have the most-used vocabulary that will help in all of your conversations. The other is the advanced level, specialty app, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause. This app will improve your speaking skills in meetings and presentations.