Ideal for those who speak English as an additional language or have a regional English accent and want to improve their accuracy, clarity, and confidence in spoken English.
Combining EAL approaches to stress and intonation with professional speech training, this highly-effective methodology will move you from a position of relative accuracy closer to absolute accuracy. This is an ideal training programme for international business individuals who need to upskill their English pronunciation.
International actors also need to soften their accents and demonstrate a developed understanding of English intonation and stress when performing in English for self-tapes, casting and auditions.
How it works?
Improvement results from modifying the spatial distances and behaviours of the speech articulators, the lips, tongue, and jaw. Optimal approaches to English intonation are hard-wired in through technical drills, prepared reading activities and improvised speech contexts.
An initial programme of 10-hours, with regular self-practice is recommended for optimal benefit.
Received Pronunciation is a prestige model of Neutral English eminently suited to ambitious business professionals and a pre-requisite for professional actors.
The RP template covers 25 vowels and 24 consonants and build stress on vowel length and prominence, strong and weak forms of function words adopting stress-timed rhythm as a core fundamental of intonation.
This template can be covered in 2-4 hours, but it usually takes 10 x one-hour lessons to learn the behaviours and practise them well enough to start to hardwire these into your muscular memory patterns.
For professional actors needing to audition or provide self-tapes in Received Pronunciation: sessions can be used to hardwire the accent convincingly onto sides and dialogue.
Practical formats
- One-to-one training is offered in one-to-one and small group formats remotely by Zoom, Skype Teams and Facetime with face-to-face formats by arrangement.
- A diagnostic takes places in the first lesson and forms the training outline in individual coaching.
- Small group trainings (Accent-softening) are delivered at two different levels: Level One – covering vowels, consonants, linking consonants and the schwa, and Level Two – focusing on function words, weak and strong stress, pitch, pause and pace and patterns of inflection in connected speech,
- For small group trainings on Received Pronunciation, the template (key vowels and consonants, speech patterns, lip-rounding, verticalization, linking consonants and strong and weak forms of function words) is delivered over 10 hours.
Coaching is offered remotely by Zoom, Skype, TEAMS, Facetime (or other virtual platforms by arrangement).
Face-to-face training is held in London, I’m Essex-based, so also offer coaching from Leigh-on-Sea/Southend.
If you are interested in booking either one-to-one or small group training in either accent-softening or Received Pronunciation, please email Anne at anne@confidentlyspeaking.co.uk or text or call 07932 440043.