English skills
Some people are naturals when it comes to public speaking, talking over the phone or just communicating confidently. Some people aren’t. Their presentation might seem stilted or lacklustre, or colleagues might have commented on their pronunciation in some way. “Elocution lessons” is a rather old-fashioned term used nowadays to mean changing the way you speak.
Sometimes it’s just a problem of speaking in the right way for the target audience (eg, formal address, relaxed presentation, foreign visitors). Ear & Speak can help iron out some of these problems.
We can train professionals, managers or staff to:
- make presentations sounds more natural
- adjust the style of speaking for the right audience
- interact with foreign visitors without seeming patronising
- modify their pronunciation to be more easily understood in particular circumstances or to seem more in tune with customers or colleagues
If you are concerned about how to speak/communicate in a manner which is appropriate for your role, or which will help you fit into an environment better, we can provide language mentoring or elocution training.
The goals that people have are very diverse — most want to sound more professional, refined, or even “posh”, but others may want to sound more blokey or informal. It’s a matter of choice, and we’re here to help you achieve it. Read more about training.
Communicating your ideas clearly
A key issue for some native speakers of English seeking help from Ear & Speak is a problem with shaping and communicating their ideas clearly. Many people find themselves in customer service or relationship management roles where good expression is essential to building a solid career. Sometimes our clients are high school students preparing for debating or public speaking competitions (note that we do not write speeches for people).
If you would like help improving your style of public communication and crafting of ideas, just contact us.
If you are looking for comprehensive training in creating good presentations, I suggest you contact The Presentation Group.
Foreign language skills
Imagine you’re being posted to Japan, and your Japanese is very basic. Perhaps you lack confidence to improve or practise because your pronunciation isn’t very good. Or maybe you make mistakes on certain sounds (remember, ’s’ before ‘i’ is pronounced ’sh’; ‘h’ before ‘u’ sounds like a weak ‘f’…).
Remember that a language teacher is rarely an expert on pronunciation/accent, even if they’re a native speaker. With the expert help of Ear & Speak, you can improve your pronunciation, regardless of whether you’re learning Chinese or German or Spanish or Arabic or…
Perhaps you’re not an executive being posted overseas, but a high-school or university student who’s having a hard time with a foreign language? We can work through specific issues for you, or give you general pronunciation training in the foreign language.