A Brilliant Opener to Your Presentations

A Brilliant Opener to Your Presentations Here’s more on a brilliant opener to your presentations—the story or anecdote. 1. An anecdote briefly describes an incident that’s interesting, amusing or biographical. All three together are sure to get attention. That’s why many presenters start by saying “A funny thing happened to me…” 2. It’s critical to make the […]

Three of the Most Commonly Mispronounced English Sounds for Indian Speakers

Three of the Most Commonly Mispronounced English Sounds for Indian Speakers   In India, about 10 percent of the population are English speakers.  Of these, 226,449 speak English as a first language, while 125,000,000 speak English as an additional language. About 4 percent of the population consider themselves fluent Our Indian students live in: Boulder […]

Earn Your Audience’s Attention!

Earn Your Audience’s Attention!  Let’s turn our attention to those first words for your presentation. 1. The audience has given you their time. But their attention is something you have to earn. 2. The only way you get them thinking and participating is to seize their attention, to grab them. 3. Questions are good grabbers. So are […]

Three of the Most Commonly Mispronounced English Sounds for Chinese Speakers

Three of the Most Commonly Mispronounced English Sounds for Chinese Speakers In Asia, the number of English-users has surpassed 350 million, equal to the number of people who live in countries where English is the dominant language: the United States, Britain, and Canada. More Chinese children now study English — about 100 million — than there are Britons. […]

Pauses In A Presentation, Part Two

Pauses In A Presentation, Part Two For your weekly dose of clear English coaching, we have a weekly speech tip video below. Do you want to know a brilliant tactic for pausing at the beginning of a presentation? 1. Brilliantly effective is this: When you are first introduced, upon arriving at the podium or your location of delivery, take a […]

Three Most Commonly Mispronounced English Sounds for Spanish Speakers

Three Most Commonly Mispronounced English Sounds for Spanish Speakers Nearly 20% of Americans speak a different language at home. About 47% of the foreign-born population are Hispanic. The Latino population has doubled since 1990. Florida is home to the third-highest total of Latinos, or 22.8 percent of the state’s population. California and Texas are home […]

Pauses In A Presentation, Part One

Pauses In A Presentation, Part One If you are an ESLer, your audience welcomes pauses in a presentation. If it is a lengthy pause of more than two seconds, smile at them, so they won’t think you forgot what to say next.  1. Pauses give the audience time to process words when they are said in accented English. 2. […]

American Accent Training: What does it take to make a habit?

American Accent Training: What does it take to make a habit? How do you form a habit? Neuroscientists tell us it takes doing a new pattern a thousand times before we make a neural trace in our brains. Neuroscientists tell us it takes 70 days of practice every day to change a habit. They say it […]

A Powerful Point of View for Presentations

A Powerful Point of View for Presentations Remember this:  “The presentation is a moment of truth for the presenter. We can’t hide. We are exposed, for better or worse. The listeners decide whether they like us, believe us, trust us, and perceive whether we are secure in ourselves and confident in what we are saying.” — Kevin Daley […]

What Practical Real Life Difference Will an Increase in Intelligibility Make?

What Practical Real Life Difference Will an Increase in Intelligibility Make? Everybody wants people to grasp what they say, so a high intelligibility score is better than a low score. It is a no-brainer. Speaking accurate English sounds and words makes life much better for the speaker and the listener! Recall the range of scores for our […]