183. What factors contribute to a person's voice sounding good or bad?
When talking about voice, let’s consider its main characteristics:
Pitch
Power and voice projection
Pace
The tone of voice and intonation
Children have high-pitched voices. When they grow up, the voice becomes deeper and the pitch lower. Often, grown-ups have high-pitched voices. Often, they come to our elocution lessons and we help them to develop different pitch ranges. There are exercises in the app Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause that will create lower or higher-pitched voices and alternate between them to show different emotions and send particular messages.
The power of the voice or loudness depends on many factors. The power of the voice depends on the lung capacity, which in turn depends on breathing. Loudness can be trained as well with the app Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause. There are times when a soft and quiet voice is more effective than a loud one. At the same time, a loud voice can be essential for a public speaker, a lecturer or when you are out in the open teaching kids tennis, for example. Some people who tend to speak very quietly hardly open their mouths, and instead of speaking, they just mumble.
The pace of the voice depends on several factors, such as the geographic location where the person lives. The pace of life and so many other factors. In our experience, we had many highly intelligent students whose brain works so fast, and that leads to them speaking very quickly as their thoughts rush to come out. We recommend the lesson from our app Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause, to master pauses with simple yet effective exercises.
The tone of voice and intonation are very difficult to change. In my opinion, it is more psychological/inherited. copied from our parents, etc., rather than technical. Technically, there are a few intonation patterns. For example, the simplest pattern is simple rising. We use this intonation when asking a question. Simple falling is used when demanding or ordering people to do something, this intonation has an authoritative tone.
174. How to achieve good, fluent, educated English?
Listen to good English speakers such as Boris Johnson, Stephen Fry, etc. Listen to their speeches and copy the way they speak. For example, Boris Johnson knows how he can deliver a strong message and be heard with the use of specific, powerful, and colourful adjectives and adverbs that add strength, meaning, and urgency:
"profoundly optimistic"
"insidiously programmed"
"a deep human instinct"
"astounding achievement"
"deeply and dangerously wrong"
"vital task"
"overriding anxiety"
”colossal character”
Read classics. References to classic literature will add depth to your words and meanings.
Read poetry. Reciting poetry will immensely enrich your vocabulary. I recommend that you memorise new words, phrases and metaphors in the context, then try to use them in your speech. Aesthetics, colourful language, compactness of expression, and the use of metaphor make poetry a source of interesting expressions.
Remember, how you say it is even more important than what you say. Modulate your voice, stress key messages, and use pauses this will help you to achieve good educated speech. Fluent English Speech (British English) or Fluent American Speech (American English), and Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause.
I also recommend the app Business English Speech. It contains 43 lessons from the book Get Rid of your Accent for Business, Part Three, ISBN 9780955330025. It works best with an accompanying video course. This app was designed for top-level professionals, diplomats and lawyers. With this app, you will practice sophisticated English expressions and RP.
171. How effective are the accent reduction training programs?
The effectiveness of accent reduction training depends on three key factors:
1. The teacher’s expertise and experience
2. The student’s listening skills, consistency, and commitment
3. The quality of learning materials — books, apps, and video courses
Choosing the Right Teacher
Accent reduction should be taught by a qualified speech tutor (traditionally called an elocution teacher). A skilled tutor understands how sounds are formed — the exact tongue, lip, and jaw positions for each sound. This detailed knowledge makes all the difference. To get the best results, book a few elocution lessons with a qualified professional who can guide you through the process step by step.
What’s Expected from the Student
Accent reduction is a process - it’s about replacing old speech habits with new ones. And just like any habit change, it takes time, consistency, and effort. We usually recommend mastering one sound per week. Some sounds are easy; others need more focused work.
For example, the /w/ sound doesn’t exist in Russian. It’s produced with tightly rounded lips — almost like a whistle — and requires certain muscles. If those muscles aren’t trained, it may take time to build strength and control.
Think of it like the gym
You wouldn’t expect a six-pack after one workout - the same goes for clear speech. Aim for 15–45 minutes of daily practice, rather than two hours once a week.
How to Practice — Recommended Apps & Resources
For British English:
Elocution Lessons App (for essential English)
Business English Speech App (for business vocabulary)
For American English:
Accompanying video courses:
Pro tip: Listen to good RP (Received Pronunciation) speakers, repeat short sections, and record yourself to track progress.
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170. How to introduce a speaker
This blog post is useful for people who participate in public speaking events and social gatherings.
To introduce a speaker is a very important task. If you do it right you will make yourself popular.
The main principle to follow is to showcase the speaker's best qualities and talk very highly of his/her achievements, mentioning their awards, work and other contributions. Do your homework and find out the facts about the speaker.
Learn how to pronounce their name correctly and articulate it well when calling the person.
When calling the presenter smile, use a loud voice and upward inflections because it will make you sound optimistic and energetic. Maintain a straight posture and good eye contact with the audience. When the presenter comes to the stage shake his/her hand and make eye contact with him/her.
It would be fantastic to ask the audience to clap: “Let’s give a round of applause to our next speaker Simon Bird.”
Stress the most important words by saying them louder.
Below is an example of an introduction; I put the most important words in italic font:
“It is a great owner to introduce our next speaker, Simon Bird. Simon has a Ph.D. in Politics and is a Nobel Prize winner. It is impossible to overestimate his contributions to human rights in this country. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give our warm welcome and a round of applause to Simon Bird!”
You can master the skills of presenting and more with the apps Get Rid of your Accent UK1 and Fluent English Speech (British English) or American Accent App and Fluent American Speech (American English), and Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause.
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168. How do you deal with people who don't communicate directly ?
As Oscar Wilde once said: “The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered.” In English-speaking, Anglo-Saxon culture people see directness as a form of aggression, and being polite is above being sincere. It is absolutely vital to pay attention to subtle details of communication. Learn and understand these subtleties if you would like to build good business and social connections.
I recommend the following instructions if you want to master the art of subtle communication:
Master your listening skills
Create eye contact with a speaker and look at them with empathy and a smile. People relax when you smile at them
Observe the way a person speaks. Namely intonation, tone of voice, speech speed, loudness, etc. You can learn more about it in the book Get Rid of your Accent Part Two, Advance Level, and the apps Fluent English Speech and 4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause
Learn to read between the lines and pay close attention to words, voice, intonation, and facial expressions. Listen to the feelings and emotions behind words and voice, and respond to them appropriately
Imagine that you are a psychotherapist who is talking to a patient and that you are paid for listening
Allow a pause after what was said and connect with what was said
Work on your messages
Substitute negative words with euphemisms, for example instead of saying “poor” say “not bad”, instead of saying “I disagree” say “maybe I understand it differently”, and so on
Avoid giving orders, ask or request instead, for example, instead of saying “Do it!” say “Would you like to do it for me, please?”, and so on
Use a friendly tone of voice and intonation even when speaking about something difficult. You can master it with the app Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause
164. Be in control and exude authority
Good barristers, politicians and business leaders sound confident, in control and have authority in their speech and voice. Can it be mastered? Yes, and I will explain how.
First of all, in order to achieve authority in your voice be in control of your breathing. Good breath control will bring energy to your voice.
Secondly, good articulation will help you sound clear, more energised and powerful. You can master it with the apps Get Rid of your Accent UK1 (British English) or American Accent App (American English).
Thirdly, avoid sounding monotonous and saying everything on one level of pitch. Change the pitch, power and pace according to the emotion/meaning of a particular message. We can recommend the app 4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause if you want to learn and practice this technique.
To achieve authority, speak in a straightforward way and stress the key messages. To make the keywords stand out use a louder or quieter voice (depending on the meaning). Raise the inflection when saying keywords and vice versa, use downward inflection with unstressed words. Learn more about inflecltion and sentence stress in the apps Fluent English Speech (British English) or Fluent American Speech (American English).
Finally, think about physicality and be well in control of your posture and gestures. Have a good straight posture and gestures that support your messages.
What is the best way to practice it? Listen to speakers like Winston Churchill. Watch courtroom dramas and note how effective barristers speak. Here is a practical exercise for you:
Read a speech out loud and record yourself.
Underline stresses keywords and mark pauses in the printed copy of the speech. You can learn how to do it right with the app Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause.
Read the speech again and record yourself. If necessary repeat this exercise a few times.
If you need help book a few elocution lessons.
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163. Impact of modern technology on our ability to communicate in person
I believe that since the introduction of smartphones and messengers like Whats Up, Viber, and others people prefer to text and send images rather than speak.
It has both advantages and disadvantages. The obvious advantage is speed and convenience. The disadvantages are that people lose the art of communicating in person and do not know how to enjoy it. They lose their confidence when they have to communicate in person. These people are at a disadvantage in moving forward in their careers. Successful salespeople, CEOs, MDs, and top Politicians must have amazing in-person communication skills.
To master communication in person I recommend:
Learning to speak clearly
Learning to communicate not only thoughts but also emotions and feelings
Learning to use non-verbal messages, such as eye contact, posture and hand gestures to support your verbal messages
Many students who take our elocution lessons often tell us that they want to become confident communicators. Feeling confident is expressed by your body language, voice and words.
I recommend apps Get Rid of your Accent UK1 and Fluent English Speech (British English) or American Accent App and Fluent American Speech (American English), and Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause if you wnat to master your communication in person.
161. Android Apps to master English speech
This article will help you choose the best apps to master Received Pronunciation, clear articulation, expressive voice modulation, and the strategic use of pauses. These core speaking skills are essential for public speakers and professionals who use English as a second language and want to sound confident, polished, and persuasive.
All the apps featured share powerful, user-friendly functionality. You can listen to expertly recorded audio by professional actors, record your own voice, and instantly compare your pronunciation with the model—making progress measurable and motivating.
British English:
Elocution Lessons - Apps on Google Play This app is ideal for children and people who just started learning English. This app has 48 lessons. It contains short, commonly used phrases, sentences and verses that are easy to repeat and it also has useful tips for teachers of English. It is actually useful for everyone as it contains essential, everyday English.
Get Rid of Your Accent - Apps on Google Play This app is ideal if you want to get rid of a regional or foreign accent and to speak with Standard English or RP (Received Pronunciation). It has 42 lessons; it contains effective practical exercises to perfect all English sounds and perfect your articulation.
Fluent English Speech - Apps on Google Play This app is a follow-up to the Get Rid of your Accent app. It is ideal if you want to develop fluency in English and sound more like a native English speaker. It contains exercises for difficult and connected speech patterns, natural flow of speech, intonation, sentence stress and onomatopoeia.
Business English Speech - Apps on Google Play This app was designed for top-level professionals, diplomats and lawyers. It is the only app on the market that has both English pronunciation and business vocabulary training. It contains 43 lessons with material gathered from interviews with CEOs, CFOs and MDs of global companies and helps to develop proficiency in English.
Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause - Apps on Google Play This app is ideal if you want to get rid of monotonous speech and become a successful presenter and public speaker. It contains practical exercises for voice modulation and the use of pauses.
Get Rid of Chinese Accent - Apps on Google Play This app is the same as the app Get Rid of your Accent with an additional bonus - Chinese translations.
General American English:
American Accent App - Apps on Google Play This app is ideal if you want to get rid of a foreign or regional accent and master Standard American accent. It has 42 lessons. It contains effective practical exercises to perfect all American English sounds.
Fluent American Speech - Apps on Google Play This app is a follow-up to the American Accent App. It is ideal to develop fluency in your American English speech. It contains exercises for difficult and connected speech patterns, natural flow of speech, intonation and sentence stress
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160. How can I defend myself if I am being roasted?
Deal with people who challenge you immediately. You might have people around you who cross your boundaries and act in a disrespectful way towards you. Do not bend, stick to your values. Challenge them back by saying immediately (not after 5 minutes, an hour, a day, or a week): ”I feel you do not respect me and I am not prepared to continue this way.”
Express your feelings without judging others. When I was a child, I was too shy to do that and felt like a victim who could not stand for her corner. Thanks to my father I developed the gear to confront people who cross my boundaries immediately.
If you have the courage to confront the bully immediately you will kill two birds with one stone: protect yourself and help the bully to stop. Bullies when not stopped go into the rush and get high on the domination drug.
People are very different. Some people have higher energetic levels and strong leadership skills and they know how to manipulate others. There are people who allow others to control and manipulate them. Why? There are secondary benefits of acting this way: if you allow others to control and manipulate you, you are not responsible, you can blame others for what happened to you and do nothing. This is the reason why victims often choose to be victims - they can do nothing and just put all the blame on the abuser. Then they have the masochistic pleasure of feeling pain and feeling sorry for themselves. Ask yourself a question: What are my secondary benefits to me if I do not deal with people who roast me? It could be keeping the status quo. You need to go deeper and ask why you need to keep this status. Maybe this status allows you to not challenge yourself and go the extra mile to defend your boundaries. A few sessions with a life coach might help you discover your secondary benefits.
I recommend working on your confidence. Develop a straight posture and open body language. Master your speech, namely, voice projection and articulation. It will help you to have authority and power in your voice,e and you will be perceived as a confident person. You can do it with the apps Get Rid of your Accent UK1 and Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause.
If you look and sound confident, people will not attempt to roast you because bullies are looking for people who lack confidence and who cannot reply to them.
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158. Stop sounding boring and depressing!
Many of our students are high achievers, and they want their speech to be as sharp as a sword with which they conquer the world. They take our elocution lessons to feel confident to: - run meetings, - speak in front of a large international audience, - present sales pitches, - dominate in political debates, - speak in the High Court of Justice, - create educational video courses in the world's top universities, and so on. In other words, they want people to listen to them. We first work on the clarity of their speech and help them master RP (Received Pronunciation, actors master RP in drama schools in order to play upper-class characters in classic plays).
However, intonation and inflection are even more important if you want to sound interesting so that others enjoy listening to you. Here is just one example of how different patterns of inflection can be used. Most of the time we would use a simple falling inflection at the end of a sentence. Within a sentence that has separate phrases, we would use a rising inflection at the end of each phrase and finish the sentence with a falling inflection. Here are a couple of examples: “The plane, which is flying to America, was delayed.” ”The giant, who was called Bill, was very frightening.”
Using rising inflection where appropriate will make the speech much more interesting.
Usually, people sound really boring and even depressing if they constantly use a simple falling inflection. What I have noticed is that often people from a particular culture have a habit of using simple falling most of the time (for example, in an authoritarian culture like Russia). When I asked them to say something differently (with simple rising inflection or circumflex rising) they told me they felt unnatural. Indeed, our intonation and inflection are influenced by the environment we grew up in. Often, we outgrow or change our childhood environment and lift ourselves to the next level. Therefore, one might ask: Is the way I speak fitting my current environment?
When we record our students’ speech, they are often shocked to hear the way they sound. They want to do exercises that can help them sound more interesting.
I want to share these exercises with you.
1. Listen to good RP speakers; a small section at a time, a minute long or less
2. Analyse their inflection and make a note of when it rises and when it falls
3. Copy them
To eliminate the habit of constantly using simple falling, try this simple exercise: instead of telling people what to do, ask them to do it, and instead of demanding, ask for a favour. When we ask a question, our inflection rises.
It will also be useful to get rid of negative words in your vocabulary. Think about how you can avoid sounding negative. For example, instead of saying "We had another slow day", just say what happened: "Today our sales reached the same levels as yesterday".
You can learn and practise intonation/inflection and voice modulation with the apps Fluent English Speech and Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause. The functionality of the app is ideal: you can listen, repeat and compare your pronunciation and intonation with the model.
156. Tips to improve public speaking skills and boost confidence
You can boost your confidence by realising that you are a unique human being and that your contribution to this world is welcomed. What you do and say matters and has value. Do not try to copy others, develop your style, have fun and be happy.
What I have noticed is that people who lack confidence are not happy with their physical appearance. Such people are often victims of the beauty industry and spend a fortune on plastic surgery and procedures.
By daring to be your natural self, having a haircut that you fancy but that may not be in fashion and clothes that others might find odd-looking will boost your confidence; it will shout out “I don’t care what you think of me”.
Secondly, educate yourself and master the skills that you want to have and that might be of value to others. Monetise these skills and become prosperous. Money is a huge confidence booster.
To become a good public speaker, work on straight posture, correct breathing, speech, voice, use of gestures, and visual aids to boost your presentations.
Here are a few public speaking tips:
1. Practise articulation exercises regularly. This will help you to have clear and crisp speech
2. Use pauses. It is one of the most effective means in public speaking; it separates ideas, creates a dramatic effect, creates anticipation and so much more.
3. Stress key messages. This technique helps to make your speech easy to listen to
Click the link below if you want to find out more
155. How can I become better at small talk?
Small talk has three main purposes:
It helps to break the ice and create a friendly atmosphere
It is a great opportunity to size up the other person
It is an opportunity to showcase your personality and social status in a subtle way
What to discuss during a small talk? I would suggest something general, positive and relevant to the situation you are in. The typical topics of small talk are weather, holidays, school, university, places, sports, music, art, shopping, etc.
Topics that are controversial and those that might embarrass, offend or make people feel uncomfortable, such as religion, politics, and very personal things, should be avoided during small talk. Avoid talking about wars, your political preferences, judging people from different cultural backgrounds or your diseases and sex life.
I recommend that you smile and connect to a person on an emotional level by being understanding and sympathetic. This will help another person feel comfortable and safe.
Another thing you can do is adjust yourself to another person and create a rapport. For example, if you are a PhD in Quantum Physics and you talk to a builder. The topic of your dissertation would not be the best way to break the ice! What would work better when you talk to a person, try to find some common ground sport, for example. Or, if you see that the other person looks very sad, your laughter and a smile would feel odd. Perhaps, a neutral expression would work better. Be sensitive to people’s needs and feelings.
I recommend not rushing your speech and allowing space for pauses to make the talk relaxed and pleasant. Do not interrupt the other person; instead, listen and nod along when appropriate. Connect with what was said and continue by saying something to support the other person.
Avoid arguing, and try not to appear superior. Let the other person shine.
How can you showcase yourself during the small talk? First of all, by the way you speak and listen. If you boast and interrupt others, it can only show a lack of manners. If your speech is bare and primitive, that might imply a lack of education. People will understand that you have been properly educated if you use a rich vocabulary.
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153. Active listening checklist
Empathetic listening or active listening involves listening not only to the content but also to how it is said. Nonverbal messages that a speaker is using can give you clues. The foundation of empathetic listening is a sincere interest in a person speaking.
The checklist of what not to do during active listening:
Do not interrupt others’ speech
Do not anticipate what will be said
Do not finish a speaker's sentences
Do not judge, observe what is being said and how it is being said
I recommend the following instructions if you want to master empathetic listening:
Create eye contact with a speaker and look at them with empathy and a smile. People relax when you smile at them
Observe the way a person speaks. Namely intonation, tone of voice, speech speed, loudness, etc. You can learn more about it in the book Get Rid of your Accent Part Two, Advanced Level, and the apps Fluent English Speech and 4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause
Listen to the feelings and emotions behind words and voice, and respond to them appropriately
Imagine that you are a psychotherapist who is talking to a patient and that you are paid for listening
Allow a pause after what was said, and connect with what was said
Motivate yourself for active listening by knowing that a person who is listening is in a more powerful position than the one who speaks
More on Get Rid of your Accent | Elocution Lessons
152. Learn to communicate your emotions and feelings
I have noticed that many of us were not educated to communicate emotions and feelings. Instead, we were taught "how to think right." In kindergarten, school, university and then at work, even in the family, we learned how to think and speak appropriately.
The thing is we are not robots; we are humans with feelings and emotions. In Western civilisation, we learned how to neglect our feelings and just say "the right thing." We learned that expressing vulnerability is a weakness and that being tough is a real strength. Is it? I am not so sure about it.
We often communicate the feeling of frustration with anger and aggression. In England, where I live, it is very fashionable to express feelings in a passive-aggressive way. In other words, acting nicely but with hidden aggression. Is there a need to be aggressive or passive-aggressive? Is there a better way? How can we do it differently?
Where does the aggression come from? In my opinion, the basis of aggression is judgment. What often happens is we see that someone breaks "a rule" that we expected he/she should observe, and we are quick to judge and then may even attack that person. We evaluate, judge and attack.
What if we stop evaluating and simply observe? Instead of judging, we start observing other people's speech and observing our own reaction to it and what feelings and emotions we have at that moment. This process takes time. If we do this exercise on a regular basis it will become automatic. It will substitute our reactive/aggressive responses to communicating our observations in a calm, measured way. When communicating, it is much better if we look at the person with compassion rather than with judgment.
Observation is neutral, whilst judgment is negative. When we feel negative, our body reacts in a certain way: we get tense, become stiff, and shorten breathing. By pausing, relaxing your body and breathing correctly you will help yourself to communicate your emotions as observations.
Many students who take our elocution lessons often tell us that they want to become more confident. Feeling confident is expressed by your body language, voice and words. The key to confidence is calmness, feeling relaxed and at the same time in control of your emotions.
You can find useful breathing exercises and how you can use your intonation and voice to express different feelings and emotions in the book Get Rid of your Accent Part Two, Advanced Level and the apps Fluent English Speech and 4Ps, Power, Pitch, Pace, Pause.
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150. Annoying speech patterns
Going round in circles
It is so annoying when a person says something and then repeats it again and again. It is rather tiring when someone cannot stop expressing one idea and keeps repeating it endlessly. Such speech makes the speaker sound rather stupid.Beating about the bush
I know people who can speak for a long time and not really say much. Such speech lacks concreteness and sounds lightweight. My friend calls such speakers “cappuccino people”. Such speech makes the speaker sound rather shallow.Monotonous speech
Monotonous speech is so boring. As a result, listeners switch off very quickly. It also makes a speaker sound rather dull. The monotonous speech also lacks emotion and the speaker may sound like a robot. Actors learn how to modulate their voice in drama schools. You can master voice modulation with our book Get Rid of your Accent Part Two, Advance Level which is based on drama school training.Rushed speech
The human brain absorbs information slower than someone transforms it which is why rushed speech is difficult to follow. During our elocution lessons, we teach our students how to slow down the pace of the speech and use pauses in order to make their speech easy and interesting to listen to.Paracite-words such as “eeeh”, “em”, “like”, “basically”, “you know”, “so”, etc.
People often use parasite words to connect sentences and speak in paragraphs. When the speaker does not make pauses between sentences and speaks in paragraphs listeners cannot concentrate after the first idea and switch off. The full stop was invented to separate sentences and ideas. The pause between them allows listeners to absorb one idea at a time and get ready for the next one. You can practise this with our book Get Rid of your Accent Part Two, Advance Level.Wooly speech that lacks clarity
Such speech creates a considerable disadvantage for both the speaker and the listener. The speaker is perceived as uneducated and lacking confidence and the listener is frustrated as he/she cannot understand what is said. To overcome wooly speech start articulation exercises with our bestselling book Get Rid of your Accent Part One .
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149. Non-verbal communication
Nonverbal messages are far more powerful than verbal ones. Paying attention to details is the key when creating one’s image/brand, as well as understanding other people.
Eye contact and facial expressions are potent tools for non-verbal communication. You can express happiness, sadness, confidence, fear, surprise, and a full range of emotions with your eyes, lips, and mouth.
Your posture and the way you walk speak louder than words. People with good posture look powerful, graceful and confident. Bad posture is associated with old age and a low spirit.
In our book Get Rid of your Accent Part Two we talk about posture preparation as part of working on your voice power.
Gestures are an important part of non-verbal communication. Lack of gestures may be seen as stiffness of the body and show a lack of confidence. Scratching your head or any part of your body can look a bit simple and demonstrate a lack of upbringing. Touching and trying to improve your hair may show that you are not sure of your looks and feel that you are not enough. Too many gestures and repetitive gestures may imply that you are trying too hard to compensate for a lack of confidence.
People can learn to use gestures to their advantage. Empathic gestures, such as nodding your head,d show that you hear another person and understand them.
Finally, clothes, shoes, hair, nails, jewellery and makeup are also part of non-verbal communication. Clean, expensive clothes symbolise wealth, culture and status.
It is vital that verbal messages and properly supported and enhanced by nonverbal clues to create a credible presence and powerful messages.
146. How can developing your communication skills lead to financial opportunities?
The primary purpose of communication is to understand others and be understood. There are additional purposes as well such as informing, persuading, selling, introducing yourself to others, inspiring, entertaining, etc.
There are different situations where communication is a key tool.
People who take our elocution lessons prepare for their job interviews, presenting to potential investors, court performances (as barristers), negotiations, teaching, etc. I have noticed one thing in common among our students: they are all high achievers who need good communication skills.
People who buy our books and apps and take our elocution lessons and course tell us their reasons why they need good communication skills. Here are just a few.
They lack confidence when presenting
They feel that their colleagues do not always understand what they are saying and it can be disruptive and even frustrating at work.
They are not invited to meetings and they cannot chair projects because of difficult-to-understand speech
They are not getting promoted and as a result, do not have a pay rise
They cannot get higher-paid jobs where they need to present, chair meetings and discussions
After our elocution lessons and practising with our books and apps their speech and life changed for the better:
They feel confident when speaking and become successful at work
They get better jobs and their salary increases
They enjoy their work more including chairing meetings, presenting and speaking in public
To date, we have five books and nine iOS and nine Android apps plus two video courses for speech mastery. If you master your communication skills you will be able to get jobs, build successful business relations and grow your business.
145. Clear communication
Clear communication helps to avoid conflicts, misunderstandings, embarrassment and failures. Many of our students often ask how they can develop clear communication. I will share with you my tips in this blog.
Let me first list the facts that might lead to unclear communication:
1. Differences in cultural and educational backgrounds
2. Difficult to understand speech. This can be an unintelligible accent, rushed speech, bad articulation
3. Quiet voice
4. Lack of sincerity and integrity
5. Poor listening
6. Lack of attention to details
7. Lack of patience and psychological issues
8. People do not know what they want and just express their emotions and thoughts in a random way hoping that others think in the same way they do
How can we make our communication clear?
I recommend starting with mastering your listening skills. Use active listening. Pay attention to the intonation and voice. Is it sad and serious or lighthearted and happy? Does the person sound hesitant or confident? The truth might not be in words but in the intonation and emotions that people use when saying something.
Secondly, you can paraphrase what you heard to make sure that you understood correctly. You can use various techniques to paraphrase: synonyms, changing the word order, changing passive voice to active voice, etc.
The third recommendation is to observe people from different cultures and adjust to them. The same words in your culture might mean totally different things in another one as described in the Anglo-Eu Translation Guide above.
A few of my European friends married English men and all of them are complaining about the same: they never know what their husbands really think. I personally noticed that in English culture the social code is quite particular and being polite is above sincerity. So having clear communication with Engish requests skills such as reading between the lines and paying close attention to words, voice, intonation and facial expressions. I enclose a table that demonstrates that.
Finally, I strongly recommend that you work on delivering your messages clearly and concisely. Do not drown them in a sea of unnecessary words. Do not beat about the bush, just say it! Most people do not have the patience to listen and if you want to be heard be concise. Stress the important words. I said it many times and I will say it again: use pauses. Articulate well and project your voice. Do not speak with your mouth half closed. To help with these important skills we have useful apps, books and video courses for you:
iOS Apps(the same apps are available on Google Play as well)
1. Get Rid of your Accent UK1 and Fluent English Speech (British English)
2. American Accent App and Fluent American Speech (General American English)
5 Paperback, Kindle and Audiobooks to master English:
1. Get Rid of Your Accent: The English Pronunciation and Speech Training Manual
2. Advanced Level (Pt. 2) (Get Rid of Your Accent: The English Speech Training Manual)
3. Get Rid of Your Accent for Business: The English Pronunciation and Speech
4. GET RID OF YOUR ACCENT, PART ONE AND TWO: GENERAL AMERICAN SPEECH TRAINING MANUAL, Second Edition
2 Video Courses to master English speech:
Get Rid of your Accent Part One and Get Rid of your Accent Part Two
143. Why leaders should talk less and listen more
One of the most important tasks of a leader is to make decisions. To make good decisions leaders need information from others. The more silent they are, the more they are able to hear. Active listening without interrupting will enable leaders to notice finer details, particularly if they pay attention to the intonation and voice. They will also be able to notice nonverbal or body language signals, gather valuable information and have a bigger picture of a situation. That will be useful for making better decisions.
The second task of a leader is to lead people of different abilities, identify their strengths and use these strengths successfully. Active listening does help understand people better.
Finally, not giving away too much and being economical with words is a very useful tool in establishing a powerful position, particularly in negotiation, business meetings with rivals, etc. “The person who cannot control his words shows he cannot control himself and therefore unworthy of respect” (Don Corleone, Godfather). If one wants to assume a position of power he/she should always say less than necessary.
According to R. Greene, “The game of power is in many ways the game of appearances. When you say less than necessary you inevitably appear more powerful than you are which is the key to establishing the aura of power”. How does saying less than necessary gives you an advantage? R. Greene suggests that “your silence will make other people uncomfortable. Humans are machines of interpretation and explanation, they have to know what you are thinking. When you carefully control what you reveal people cannot pierce your intentions or your meaning”.
Remember, if you are in a leading position, your words are extremely powerful and every word counts. Once the words are out you cannot take them back. They can be used for you or against you. Your brief answers and silence will put people on the defensive and they will be trying to fill the gaps you left with all sorts of comments that might reveal valuable information about them and their weaknesses. Moreover, when people try to share as much information as possible they often say things that are not appropriate for the context and may appear silly as a result.
I personally have noticed that keeping silent is hard and in order to make myself comfortable I may start making small talk and if the other person is not saying much I feel weak, I try to talk more and say things I do not really need to say. In this situation, I make myself desperate for approval. I feel like people who use silence with me rob me of my power.
I noticed that if one tends to talk a lot it takes quite an effort to control this urge. It will take time, effort and mastery to possess the art of keeping silent and saying less than necessary.
I practice simple techniques to overcome my urge to talk a lot:
When planning a day I make a written note that programs me to reduce my speaking time by 80%
I make an effort to engage in active listening
I wear a bracelet that reminds me that I should control my urge to speak a lot
Instead of speaking, I use eye contact and other body language signs to interact with others, I let others speak more
I speak only when it is absolutely necessary and I try to keep silent otherwise.
Before saying anything I ask myself: is it necessary? how it can be interpreted? what are the dangers and consequences of my words?
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142. What are some tips for improving public speaking and presentation skills?
In my opinion, the qualities that are important for a public speaker and presenter are :
1. Good straight posture which creates a confident image
2. Great eye contact which the audience
3. Good articulation and clear speech
4. Good voice projection so that people could hear him/her
5. Ability to explain his/her topic in an accessible simple way so that people with different abilities can understand it
6. Ability to structure the speech and prioritise the important points to fit the set time
7. Ability to ask questions that encourage audience to interact with the speaker
I would like to give the following recommendations for a public speaker and presenter:
1. Avoid parasite words, swear words, and fillers like “so, you know, basically, like, em, ah”. People use these words when they are thinking and speaking at the same time. Simply substitute these unnecessary words with pauses
2. Use pauses to separate your ideas, do not say all of them in one breath and allow your students to digest one idea at a time. If you speak without pauses, your student
3. Speak about profound things using simple language
4. Get to the point. Avoid beating about the bush
5. Do not jump from one topic to another, use logic and finish one thought at a time.
6. Ask questions and let students do the talking
7. Download apps, books and video courses to master your speech and public speaking skills
iOS Apps: (the same apps are available on Google Play)
1. Get Rid of your Accent UK1 and Fluent English Speech (British English)
2. American Accent App and Fluent American Speech (General American English)
5 Paperback, Kindle and Audio books to master English:
1. Get Rid of Your Accent: The English Pronunciation and Speech Training Manual
2. Advanced Level (Pt. 2) (Get Rid of Your Accent: The English Speech Training Manual)
3. Get Rid of Your Accent for Business: The English Pronunciation and Speech
4. GET RID OF YOUR ACCENT, PART ONE AND TWO: GENERAL AMERICAN SPEECH TRAINING MANUAL, Second Edition
2 Video Courses to master English speech:
Get Rid of your Accent Part One and Get Rid of your Accent Part Two