125. When is the right time to speak and when it is not?

The ability to say the right thing at the right time is a mark of a true master. I recommend working on listening skills and the conciseness of your speech if you want to develop this ability.

1. Successful communicators are paying attention to how people perceive their messages, understand who they are speaking to, and establish a rapport. It is important to pay attention to intonation and voice.
   Often, when we talk to others, we do not have the patience to listen. We hear a few words and very quickly we start anticipating what the other person will say. We even try to finish their sentences which are not very helpful, particularly for the person who is talking. Do not do that!

In order t say the right thing at the right time we should listen, pause, think and reply. This will allow us to create a better response and modulate our voice accordingly.

2. It is better to speak less and answer only those questions that are being asked of you. Make your answers clear and stress the key messages. You can learn about it with the apps Get Rid of your Accent and Fluent English Speech.

I have noticed, that some people try to talk a lot, and make silly jokes in order to feel comfortable. When people try to prove themselves they often speak fast and try to say all they know in a short period of time. In my opinion, it is better to not say much, instead, listen and smile more.

It would be wise to avoid negative and sensitive topics, such as politics, religion and money to avert conflicts and offending others.

Jacqueline Kennedy once said: "I sometimes have regretted what I said, but I have never regretted my silence."

124. What is the value of clear English in organisation communication?

By Olga Smith

Good English is important in organisation communication influences:

1. Clarity of communication within the organisation such as meetings, presentations and task assignments.

2. The reputation of the organisation when communicating with customers, clients and partners.

3. The professional success of the people

There are apps, books and video courses based on elocution lessons that help professionals to master this essential skill.

When you do not speak clearly in English that leads to a number of disadvantages.

Let me present a few examples given to us by our students:

"I work as an IT consultant, but because I speak with a strong Spanish accent and not all what I say is being understood, I am not invited to meetings. I know if I don't start to speak more clearly, I will be staring at the PC screen and have the same salary for many years to come..."

"After your accent reduction course I got promoted to an area manager, and now I want to master my speech even more as it became absolutely clear to me that communication is power."

"I am a dietician in Chelsea and all my clients have a posh accent (RP). In order to be trusted by my clients, I need to improve my accent".

Our Turkish student working as a Stock Exchange trader in London told us what her manager said to her: "If you don't lose your accent you lose your job". On the trading floor, people are so stressed and have no time to understand thick foreign accents.

My business partner from Silicon Valley told me that many Chinese and Indian IT specialists working there earn peanuts because it's difficult to understand their English. He further specified: they are making $100k now, but if they changed their accent they would make $400.

We have recently conducted research. We contacted native English people who work with non-native English speakers. We asked them what they thought about colleagues with a foreign accent that is difficult to understand.

These were their replies:
· Frustration
· Anxiety;
· Doubt if they are being understood;
· Accent distracting them from what is being said.

123. A very tricky English sound /ʌ/ as in "duck"

By Olga Smith

Almost all of the non-native English students who are taking our elocution lessons and courses make a pronunciation mistake with the sound /ʌ/ as in “duck”. Why this sound is so tricky? There are two main reasons:

1. This sound does not exist in many languages. Students tend to open their mouth too much and pronounce it with the sound /a/ as in “pasta”.

2. It is spelt with “o, ou, u” and students make a mistake by pronouncing it with /ɒ/ as in “box” because in many languages the pronunciation is the same as the spelling. In English, spelling and pronunciation are not the same because English inherited many words from other languages such as Latin, French and German and they left the spelling the same but anglicised the pronunciation. Below are the words where most students make a mistake:

   “company, country, front, stomach, oven, London, tongue, mother, love, money, other, monkey”

We recommend that you check your speech organ position for this sound in our video course Get Rid of your Accent Part One and then practise the sound with the apps Elocution Lessons, Get Rid of your Accent and Business English Speech. Lesson 9 in all apps and the video course.

If you fail to pronounce this sound correctly, your speech might be difficult to understand. You will see from the comparisons below that if you do not make this sound correctly the meaning of the word will change:

dark - duck, last -lust, branch - brunch, stark - stuck, hot-hut

Very often our students ask us how can they know where to use a particular sound. We recommend paying attention to the spelling and then practising with all our apps. The more you practise the quicker you will see the pattern.

122. How to speak in a business meeting

By Olga Smith

Speaking in a business meeting requires certain skills.  There are principles and techniques to follow for a meeting to be productive.

I noticed that many meetings are boring and time-wasting, and as a result, nothing was achieved or finalised. People just talked purposelessly for ages, trying to show off, interrupting each other, filling a short silence with empty words and silly jokes. 

How can you add value to a meeting? What can you say? How could you do it to be heard? How can you stop others from deviating from the meeting agenda? 

Below are the main principles for having a good meeting:

1. Time is money

Keep to a meeting time, have an agenda and write down your key ideas before the meeting. If others deviate from the meeting agenda, point out gently that you need to stick to this particular agenda. 

2. It is not personal, it's business

Based on that, business meetings are about business and not about emotions. The intonation should be neutral. Avoid very high pitch and screaming.

3. Two brains are better than one

Be a good listener and make notes of other people's ideas if you want to build on them. There is a saying: when you speak, you do not learn anything, but when you listen, you do.  

4. Clarity and concision

• When you speak in a meeting, make sure your speech is clear. Bear in mind that people might struggle to hear you if you have a strong accent. Download the app Get Rid of your Accent to make your speech clear

• Stress keywords. It will make it easier for others to get your ideas.

• When speaking, use pauses; do not say all your ideas in one breath. When people listen to us, their listening speed is slower than our speaking speed.

• Get rid of filler words and parasite words. Think before you speak and measure your words. Speak concisely with more pauses. Avoid saying too much and very quickly.

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