Speak Better with Rebecca Linquist

What do you react to in communication that weakens your effectiveness or undermines your confidence? Just being aware of it is the first step. After that, it's all about being in control of your responses, realizing what your options are, and more mindfully choosing a response that matches your communication goals.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

It's hard enough in your native tongue to show the right level of confidence by sounding assertive, not aggressive, let alone to do it in another language. This episode discusses what you need to navigate to sound confident and show conviction without being perceived as being aggressive or over-confident, a fine balance at times!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

When learning to perfect your speech in American  English, exaggeration is a great way to learn new patterns and strengthen the right muscles. This episode discussion what to exaggerate and how to do it systematically to create results!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Many of us don't realize what muscles we engage when we speak, and often non-native speakers spend hours practicing without getting results because they are using different muscles or not engaging them the same way a native speaker would. Also, we attribute certain personality qualities like shyness or lack of confidence to someone who speaks with weak muscle engagement. Learn how engaging the right muscles in the right way can enhance your speech in  American English!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Many of us exercise for our health, but there are added benefits for your voice if you use certain types of exercise, like  Zumba. In this episode, Rebecca discusses how movement with sound can enhance your speech, act as a warm-up, and essentially fast track you for success by getting the double benefit of supporting your health and your voice!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

One of the biggest questions prospective speech and accent reduction clients have asked over the years is how to get their companies to pay for their coaching. It's a big game changer for the organization people work for, so it's important to involve them in the process, and it's often the only way you can get the systematic correction you need if you are someone who struggles with speech and accent. This episode addresses those issues.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

This is without a doubt THE most common question people ask when it comes to speech in general, and even accent in particular. The most common feedback non-native speakers are given by American English first language speakers is to SLOW DOWN. Is this good advice? If not really, then what can you do instead? Let's explore this!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Japanese and Korean speakers have even, flat tones that make their languages similar, especially when it comes to mastering the American English accent. What can these native speakers do to improve their ability to learn the American accent? Let's find out!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

There are many flavors of Spanish from Mexican to Peruvian to Argentinian to Ecuadorian to Castilian, and many more! What do all these flavors of Spanish have in common when attempting to learn American English? Listen to this episode to learn more!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

What about commonalities when it comes to "tonal" languages that generally have a number of different tones native speakers can control. How are these languages different from American English and what can speakers of these languages as mother tongues do to improve their spoken American English?Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

A common response to the question of French speakers acquiring an American Accent is "Why would they want to?" Of course, Americans in general have a fondness for the French accent, yet many native speakers still desire to change it, possibly to "fit in" or simply to be heard and understood. Learn what French speakers can work on to acquire an American Accent more readily.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

The diversity of India includes potentially 122 major languages and 1599 "other" languages, potentially dialects?  (according to Wikipedia). Regardless of the actual number, this level of diversity calls for an episode of its own on commonality when acquiring an American Accent.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

It's even easier to identify commonalities when comparing languages that have certain similarities, as these do. This episode dives into what Russian, Ukrainian & Bulgarian first languages speakers can all work on to improve how their speech is "heard" and responded to by American English speakers and listeners.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

We often assume that every first language has different issues with acquiring an American Accent, yet many non-native speakers share more in common than they may realize. This episode seeks to capture the areas non-native speakers have in common to help demystify and uncomplicate what's required to obtain an American Accent.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Sounding confident is the ideal, but some of us come off as arrogant or indecisive instead. How you change that? Listen to this episode.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Why do so many people struggle with the American "r" sound? How is it different? Does it matter? What happens if you use a different "r" sound when speaking English? If you want to acquire the American "r" sound in your speech, what should you do? These issues and more are discussed in this episode.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

When speaking to others, we often make facial movements and gestures, and sometimes we don't make any at all. We also make these movements in different ways and at different speeds. Often we aren't aware of what we do, and this episode addresses the non-verbal side of communication in American English.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Speech qualities can allude many of us. We may not know we have a certain quality, and we may find out about it from others and not know how to change it. Learn more about what "throaty" articulation refers to and how you might address it.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

We all intuitively know that our non-verbal communication speaks louder than our verbalized speech, but have you ever thought about how the two fit together? If there's a disconnect, you could be alienating your audience by sending messages that are not consistent. Especially if you are working on your speech in American English and have made some changes, it's important to revisit how well your speaking patterns sync with your movement and expressions. This episode addresses these issues.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

In American English, we need to use all of our "articulators" (our lips, tongue, jaw, and mouth) to ensure we create sounds that are well formed and clear. This episode discusses the exercises you can do to work on effective articulation in American English.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

It's critically important to ensure you have the best posture and breathing  working in your favor when speaking to others. How can you become aware of your patterns and shift them if needed? This episode addresses these issues.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

A common concern for people working on their speech, delivery, accent and presence, is how do you integrate everything you learn? This episode addresses how to stay focused on what you need to change to ensure results when dealing with multiple sources and areas of change.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

If you are nervous about public speaking, or if English isn't your first language, you may "script" your presentations, but as you will realize over time, these "scripted" presentations are not as powerful as they could be. How can you move from "scripted" to "unscripted" without losing your messaging to engage your audience more fully? This episode addresses that issue.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

As speakers, we all want  to sound natural and authentic, but how do you achieve that when your first language isn't English, and there are many best practices to follow? This episode addresses that topic.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

We are often told to "check" for things with our audience: whether they are engaged or not, how well they understand, or how clear we are being. This episode addresses how to do that in American English effectively.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

One of the biggest challenges for non-native speakers in any language is to master the nuances and intricacies of a language, and one overlooked area is setting context. It's tempting just to deliver the primary message without establishing relevance first, and even for native speakers, this can be missing. This episode discusses setting context in depth!Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Beyond accent and voice quality, the content of our messaging does matter. This episode address what's involved in American English in perfecting your messaging to your audience.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

This episode not only discusses how it's "different" but also what to do if you want to focus primarily on modifying your dialect, which is often related to vowel usage. What does that mean? This episode addresses it.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Many people believe they are STUCK with their voice, when in reality: you can change it! This episode discusses what to do if you have qualities in your speech like sounding "pitchy" or "squeaky" or on the other side too deep or even throaty. What can you do about it?Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

There's a lot of assumption, confusion, and misinformation around what an accent is and also how to change it. Is it impossible for adults to do? What would you have to do to get a good result? What are some best practices / strategies to get there?Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

We're often give the advice to "connect to our audience." What does that mean in concrete terms? What should we do and not do, and what challenges come up? How can we address them? What do non-native speakers need to know to do this better?Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

In this episode, Rebecca clarifies why some non-native speakers would do better to obtain a monotone first and then work on vocal variety rather than to attempt to change their intonation in American English directly from their native tongue.She also discusses what gives us a monotone expression in our speech and how to add the pitch range in our own voices that will support vocal variety, as well as why tonal speakers sometimes go "monotone" even those they possess the ability to use vocal variety in their speech.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Have you ever listening to someone speak and been blown away by how compelling and credible the person sounded?In contrast, have you ever listened to someone and been disappointed in how their speaking didn't live up to your expectations? Maybe that person was you, and you'd like to improve.Either way, this episode helps you create a framework for what makes speech sound credible and compelling in American English.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

What's the best way to improve your vocabulary if American English isn't your first language?This episode addresses how to go about acquiring vocabulary systematically in a way that affects your daily communication and integration of the words in your working or active vocabulary, instead of just playing the words and then forgetting them. It also addresses how to choose what to learn and how to go about acquiring new vocabulary.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

As a non-native speaker, how can you get Americans to correct you? As a native speaker, how can you give correction to non-native speakers without embarrassing them or coming off as offensive?What else can you do as a non-native speaker to learn to self-correct?This episode addresses all of these issues and more.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

This episode addresses points of resistance when changing an accent: what's challenging, what's important, and how to go about changing an accent when it comes to acquiring an American Accent. In particular, Rebecca discusses how vowels impact accent and how to modify your vowel usage, what mouth movements and articulations patterns affect speech and accent, and the important role of word stress.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Does having an accent matter? Have you ever noticed someone who speaks with an accent and the person comes across as credible, powerful and convincing, while someone else can speak with an accent and be confusing, unclear, and uncompelling. Why is that?This episode addresses the underlying issues of accent that determine whether it serves you or distracts from your speaking performance to have a noticeable and obvious accent, and what areas to explore if you are interested in modifying your accent.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Many people don't like to listen to their own voices, often because they don't like their voices, but if you don't know something, you can't change it. In this episode, Rebecca Linquist delves into how to modify a voice. through awareness, focusing on vocal fold engagement, solid, extended sound engagement, and articulation work. Rebecca underscores the important of the order in which you create change to ensure it's sustainable and then clarifies the kinds of work that goes into voice training, including working with pitch, volume, and breath, allowing you to change your underlying habits in a way that endures.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Hemming and Hawing is an American expression for clearing you throat or making unintentional hesitation sounds (hmmm, uh, um, right? or m-ok, for example).  Many speakers do this without awareness. Once you are aware, what can you do about it? It's often not enough to just notice it. The solution is simple to  understand but can be difficult to implement consistently in practice. Rebecca Linquist explains the process in detail of physically closing the mouth so as not to allow breath to escape, eliminating the hemming and hawing, but also requiring other changes in your breath, self discipline and pre-planning with focused practice to ensure success when you are speaking naturally.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

If we don't get feedback from our intended audience, we won't be able to improve. However, if we do get feedback, and it's negative, and we often take it too seriously, leaving us feeling less confident without improvement. Or, we may get only positive feedback if we don't behave in a way that lets others know we are open to constructive feedback.Either way, we need to gather candid feedback so we can analyze it, look for patterns, and choose what areas to address. It informs our practice and drives our improvement. Rebecca Linquist shares in detail what to do about feedback: how to elicit it, how to use it, and how to integrate it into your natural speaking habits to improve your overall performance.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

For years, companies have offered products & services alleged to "improve your accent" or help you gain language skills, and it's wise to be skeptical about these claims. However, with AI in explosive growth mode, and the current large language models we have available to us today, can Chat GPT, for example, accelerate your acquisition of an American Accent?Rebecca Linquist shares her experiences with language software in general and then gives specific examples and suggestions from her client experiences to help guide you in using Chat GPT to augment your accent improvement journey for any first language, including Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Spanish.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

This introduction to the Speak Better podcast with Rebecca Linquist (also known as "Linquist is the LInquist")  explores a range of areas to be addressed throughout her future podcast episodes, which are relevant to both native and non-native speakers of American English alike, including public speaking, accent, dialect, pronunciation, clarity, voice improvement, and much more! Rebecca introduces herself and her experience and lays a framework for what topics the podcast will seek to shed light on and delve more deeply into.Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com