Research has shown that silence is uncomfortable for the human ear.  Wayne Dyer, Motivational Speaker and Author, has also alluded to the idea that to sit in a quiet room without thoughts filling our minds is an honorable goal that brings us closer to a higher power.  In this article, we equip you with 11 […]

Do you know where to start to find out whether an accent specialist is RIGHT for YOU?  This article will equip you with 3 questions to help connect you with an accent specialist who’s right for you.  I was thinking of all of my clients as I was heading out of Indianapolis towards Chicago after […]

The Power of Discomfort What makes you feel good?  Some would say a sense of comfort makes them feel good.  Others would argue that they’ve learned to feel empowerment in moving through discomfort.  D0 you know you can have BOTH?!  You can!  There is a paradox of the human spirit.  We are meant to continually […]

How to Sound Natural One of the questions that comes up often is “How do I make my English sound more natural to English listeners?”  This question is important.  It implies that communication is complex.  If you are a speaker of English who is searching and trying  to make your speech more easily understood, we […]

You Need More than Reading and Writing Most traditional English as a Second Language programs focus on reading and writing-not on speaking.  This usually results in being able to communicate better through writing.  This is a problem.  It is not your fault.  It is not the fault of the instructors.  It is not even important […]

What are Challenge Sounds? Do you experience “Challenge Sounds”?  Non-native Speakers of English sometimes encounter difficulty pronouncing specific English speech sounds. When accented speakers encounter this, for our purposes, we will call these “challenge sounds.”  These challenge sounds are English speech sounds that consistently give you trouble.  They are sounds that are not in your […]

Pride: Positives and Negatives I recently was thinking about how my mother and father have provided me with so many wonderful gifts.  I am thankful that I can give them back the gift of pride in the work that I do.  Pride can be a complex concept.  There are negative aspects as well as positive […]

Commonalities of People with Different Language Backgrounds 3  COMMONALITIES when English is spoken between people of different language backgrounds are: We all want communication to be easy.  We can make it easy with some mindful auditory and visual listening strategies. Our bodies don’t usually lie when we don’t understand something.  Facial expressions and body language […]

6 Traditional Communication Tips As an accented professional  you have many tools available to improve your communication.  There are many ways to increase communication effectiveness between individuals with different language backgrounds.  Here are seven tips that both non-native and native English speakers can apply to improve communication effectiveness. Speak (or request the other person to speak) more […]

Effects of Communication Breakdown In the blog titled “Partnership between Accented Professionals and their Consumers”, we suggested ways for bridging the gap between individuals with different native language backgrounds.  In this blog, we offer ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS. I was recently discussing communication repair strategies with a colleague of mine, Drew Sissleman.  Drew brought up some very […]