Easily Eliminate Speech Conditions
​ Keeping You from Being Understood

Frequently, when I work with people on reducing their accent, I find other issues that are reducing their intelligibility that are unrelated to their accent. 

If one of the following speech conditions applies to you, correction will optimize your speech communication and accent reduction. As a speech and language pathologist, I can help you with all of these issues. - Ela Britchkow, Speech and Language Pathologist

Stutter | Lisp | Soft Voice | Nasal Voice | Rapid Speech Rate | Uptalk

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We are here to help you with your accent and speech conditions. 

Fluency (Stuttering)

​People usually know if they are stutterers, although I have come across many who have never really sought help to reduce or eliminate their stuttering. More than 70 million people worldwide stutter, which is about 1% of the population. It makes sense when you are working on improving your English pronunciation that you also receive help with stuttering. 

Lisp

A lisp is a speech impediment that affects the way an individual says words that contain the letters s and z. Most lisps are caused by incorrect tongue placement when speaking. Overbites and underbites can also cause an individual to have a lisp.

Many of my clients come to me for accent reduction and I find that they have a lisp that was never corrected and is present in their own language as well as in English. If you have a lisp, there are many effective techniques and exercises that we can work with to teach you to eliminate it.
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Read blog about eliminating a lisp

Voice Disorders

​Approximately 7.5 million people in the United States have trouble using their voices. Disorders of the voice involve problems with pitch, loudness, and quality.

• Pitch is the highness or lowness of a sound based on the frequency of the sound waves.
• Loudness is the perceived volume (or amplitude) of the sound.
• Quality refers to the character or distinctive attributes of a sound.

Many people who have normal speaking skills have great difficulty communicating when their vocal apparatus fails. This can occur if the nerves controlling the larynx are impaired because of an accident, a surgical procedure, a viral infection, or cancer.

Quiet/Soft Voice

American English speaking volume is a very important part of oral communication in every language. Whether you are speaking to one person or ten people, you must be able to speak loudly enough so that your audience hears you comfortably.  

How do you know if you are not speaking loudly enough?   If you tend to speak too softly, you may notice people asking you to repeat, to speak more loudly, or to clarify what you say. Expressions on people’s faces can also let you know that something is wrong.  If you see people leaning forward in their seats, frowning, or turning an ear toward you, these are clear signs that you are speaking too softly.  

Read blog about soft voice disorder

Nasality

In the English language, there are only three sounds that should vibrate in your nose: the m, the n, and the ng sounds. What this means is that any word you say with any of those letters or sounds will vibrate in your nasal cavity to some degree. Words like, mail, man, plan and ring for example. The result may be a whiny sound or a twang. 

To see if you are a nasal speaker, place a finger on each side of your nose very gently. No pressure. Say the word “believe”. Did you feel any vibration? Again, just grazing your nose with your fingers, say the word “away”. Did you vibrate? Now say the word “and.” If your nose vibrated on any of the three examples above, you may have some nasal issues. If you vibrated heavily on all three sounds, you could potentially have serious nasal issues.

To get rid of unnecessary nasality takes time and practice, but it can be done.

Read blog about nasal voice disorder

Speech Rate

Speech rate is the term given to the speed at which you speak. Studies show speech rate alters depending on the speaker's culture, geographical location, subject matter, gender, emotional state, fluency, profession or audience.

Generally people are not conscious of their habitual speaking speed, and if they are understood by those listening, there is little reason to change. However, changes of audience and speech purpose can force a need to become more aware of speaking speed. For example, a shift from one part of a country to another, from a slower speaking area to a faster speaking one, and vice-versa.

Similarly, someone with naturally fast speech who takes a job requiring presentations to colleagues or customers, will find themselves having to slow down in order to communicate effectively.

Compared to American speakers, Slavic speakers have a somewhat faster speech rate. Generally, slower is more intelligible than faster speech. Appropriate pauses allow your audience time to digest what you’ve said and process it.

Read blog about slowing down your speech

Uptalk

Uptalk is a speech pattern in which phrases and sentences habitually end with a rising sound, as if the statement was a question. Also known as upspeak, high-rising terminal (HRT), high-rising tone, valley girl speech, Valspeak, talking in questions, rising intonation, upward inflection, interrogatory statement, and Australian Question Intonation (AQI).

Confidence is important when you’re trying to build credibility. If you don’t sound confident, it’s easy for people to dismiss or be skeptical of what you’re saying, however valid it may be. One vocal habit that undermines your credibility is uptalk, the tendency to speak as though you’re asking a question. Many of us are guilty of this, and sometimes it’s so subtle we don’t even realize we’re doing it.

The awareness of uptalk is critical for you if you are in a leadership role, or working on getting to that level. How you sound with your statements will determine if people believe you or not. If you uptalk every declarative sentence, people will read it as uncertainty and lack of knowledge.

Read blog about correcting uptalk
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Thanks for reading my link about overcoming speech conditions.  If you have any questions let me know.

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