Accent
Reduction
Training
Voice and Accent - A Comprehensive Toolkit
Review
Implementation
• Post Assessment &
Feedback and Action
plan
Classroom :
Evaluation
• Establish program objectives
• Consonant & Vowel Sounds
• Analyze the data
• Pronunciation
• Intonation
Pre assessment
• Pre assessment of the
participants ‘Entry Level’
Introduction
• Ice breaker
• Expectations of the
training program
• Purpose
• Listening Skills
INTRODUCTION
Unit 1
Voice and Accent
What
 Ice Breakers
Purpose/ Why
 The day the training begins is usually the
2nd day for them. They need to break out
of their shell and start interacting with
each other to help build rapport.
How
 The ice breakers need to be used with the
class per the instructions in the
attachment.
Process Template:
Ice Breakers
Sample
SHARE A SECRET
Ice breakers
with
instructions
This is a good ice breaker for Day 2 in a session where the
participants hardly know each other.Would work very well with a New
Hire group.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.
Pass around a plate full of peanuts or Candy mid way through the session and encourage them to pick up
as many as they want.. Make sure you pick up a few as well.
Unit 1
Voice and Accent
What
 Introduction
Purpose/ Why
How
 To discuss the objectives of the program
and the game plan for the training
sessions.
 To encourage the participants to
participate and improve their speech
pattern.
 To motivate to learn
 Checking their expectations. Capturing them
on a Flip chart.
 Taking them through a Communication
Dissection/Breakdown
 Communication Tree
Process Template:
 Linking the above to their Expectations.
 Desensitization: Identity Crisis.
 Structure of training: MID Path
Objectives
 Defining Accent and Global English.
 An overview of what we will cover in the
training.
 Laying ground rules for the training.
 Assessing the recordings, Pre-Training.
Structure of training: MID Path
Introduction – Our Training is based on the following structure:
MOTIVATION … You can lead a horse to water BUT…
Speech patterns are old, old habits we have engraved in our biological and psychological systems. To change
these patterns requires effort and dedication and skill. However the greatest factor influencing this change, is an
inner motivation from the individual to really make it happen.
Without this motivation, a trainer can give a million techniques, but they will not work. The individual is
responsible for WANTING his/her speech to improve, only then will the attention and effort follow, leading to
mastery of the skill.
Unit 1
Voice and Accent
Purpose/ Why
 Pre Assessment
How
 To understand the improvement areasWhat
for
the trainees so that training inputs are
tailored to their individual needs.
 Recording of (a) Free Speech
 Reading the passage Shrill Girls
 Assess the reading & recording on the
parameters in the assessment sheet.
Process Template:
The English Language
Assessment Sheet
Sample
S.No. PARAMETERS
Parameters
Rating
1.
The specialist says correct consonant sounds
2.
The specialist uses correct long and short vowel sounds
Fit For Floor
Fit For Training
Not Fit for Floor
Unit 2
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Relaxation
 In order to incorporate changes in our
pattern of speech we work on the smaller
muscles of the mouth like the lip, tongue
etc.. This also means that we need to let
go of the stress in the larger muscles.
 Relaxation also focuses on getting rid of
the mental stress that we carry with us, so
that we gain confidence with the new
things we learn.
How
 Take everyone through the Relaxation
Exercise in a quiet room with the lights
dimmed.
Process Template:
Relaxation Exercise
Sample
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step by step
procedure for the
Relaxation Exercise.
1.
Unfold your arms and legs. Do not slouch or be too stiff.
2.
Sit back in your chair; adjust the height of the chair to your requirement.
Unit 2
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
How
 Formation of Speech
 To acquaint ourselves with the scientific
process of the formation of sound and
Voice.
 What is a Sound?
 What is Voice?
 Explain the difference between Sound
and Voice.
 Explain the biological process.
 Voice is formed on the out breath, explain
using examples.
 Breath Control
 The English language works on a 10 beat
rhythm as opposed to the 4 beat rhythm all
the Indian languages follow.
 This makes the English sentences longer ,
and because we are used to a 4 beat, we
tend to pause at the wrong places leading
the listener to believe that they are not
speaking to a native English speaker. Since
we know that the Voice is formed on the
out breath it is important that we are able to
control it.
 Practicing exhaling with an open mouth.
 Practicing the sound ‘f ’ on the out breath.
 Stretching the sound from 4 to a
maximum of 20 seconds/counts.
CONSONANTS
Unit 2
Voice and Accent
What
 Consonant Sounds.
Purpose/ Why
 Clarity in the consonant sounds drives
clarity in speech.
 The purpose of this document is to
introduce the consonant sounds used in
Global English and remove MTI from the
speech.
How
 Definition of consonants. How are they
formed.
 Importance of studying Consonants.
 Sounds vs. Letters.
 Types of consonants, Voiced and
Unvoiced- definition.
Process Template:
Consonant Sounds
Sample
Unvoiced
Types of Consonants
with examples
Voiced
p
b
f
v
s
z
t
d
sh
zh
Unit 2
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Places of articulation of consonants
 Empowerment:
Understanding the technique of creating a
sound empowers the trainee to create the
same sound in new words, independent of
the trainer.
How
 The technique for producing individual
consonant sounds.
 Practicing individual sounds with each
trainee.
 Practicing the technique with Examples.
 Consonant Drill
 Target Sound Practice.
Process Template: Technique
to the formation of sounds
 Application in passages.
Sample
Target Sound Practice
1.
Take the sound you want to work on. For eg. W
2.
Once you have explained the technique of creating the sound, have them
create the sound in slow motion. Eg. Round the lips, create an ‘oooo’ and
SLOWLY move to ‘a’.
3.
Make them implement the sound in isolation repeatedly.
Unit 2
Voice and Accent
What
 Focus on Vs and Ws
Purpose/ Why
How
 Vs and Ws are sounds that are usually
confused by an average Indian speaker.
 To move towards global comprehensibility
it is important that we understand this
difference and incorporate it in our speech.
Process Template:
W’s
V’s
Sample
Practice words with
V and W ‘s in
Primary, Middle
and Final position
 Technique of the formation of the sound.
 Individual sound practice.
 Examples with V’s and W’s in different
position in a word.
 Word practice.
 Sentences for practice.
 Application in passages
 Target sound Practice as homework.
Passages
Practice sound ‘ V’
Practice sound ‘W’
Vaccine
Divide
Cave
Waddle
Brewery
Brew
Valuable
Driver
Connive
Wafer
Coward
Cow
Value
Environment
Cove
Waffle
Cower
Meadow
Valve
Envision
Dive
Wag
Dwell
Sew
Passages for ‘V’
sound practice
THE RIVER VALLEY
Passages for ‘W’
sound practice
THE BOOKSHOP
The river valley has always been home to an unrivaled variety and wonderful diversity of wildlife,
including voles and vixens.
Every Wednesday, William works at the village bookshop. He waits on customers, collects orders,
records purchase details and operates the computer.
Unit 2
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Focus on Ls and Rs
 The Global ‘L’ and ‘R’ differ from the Indian
‘L’ and ‘R’ sounds in terms of articulation.
 Understanding this difference and seeing
how it is translated in speech, will assist us
in understanding the American client better.
Process Template:
L’s
Sample
Practice ‘L’ sounds
Application at the beginning,
middle and at the end of
each word.
Practice ‘R’ sounds
Application at the beginning,
middle and at the end of
each word.
How
R’s
 Introduction to the American R and
formation.
 Introduction to the American L and its
formation
 Introduction to the schwa sound and its’
effect on speech.
 Practicing words with ‘L’ in the tertiary
position.
 Discussing how ‘R’ is spoken differently in
British and American accents. Practicing
words using ‘R’:
In American it is always curled.
In British it is curled only in the beginning
and sometimes in the middle of the word.
(Raise, praise, but not in pardon) It is
eliminated in the tertiary position (Water)
In the Indian accent, it is always rolled like a
running rrrr.
Initial
Medial
Final
Liar
Milk
Fill
Land
Slip
Full
Initial
Medial
Final
Ray
Grow
Here
Rifle
Word
Share
Unit 2
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Passages for practice
How
 Once we are familiar with the correct
sounds we should be able to apply them in
our spoken English.
 We begin with the application in simple
sentences, moving on to passages
Process Template:
Patter Exercises
Passages
 A passage is read out by each trainee. It
can also be given as homework.
 In both cases, the target sound as well as
the other sounds are checked by the
trainer for correction.
 Checking for Breath Control and pauses
will also assess the rhythm in which they
speak : 4 beat or 10 beat.
 Pronunciation is checked and the trainee
is provided with corrective feedback.
Sample
1. A Big blue badly bleeding blister.
Read out each sentence
keeping in mind the
correct consonant sound.
2. Stop touching Ted’s toes.
3. The dainty dancers danced in the dark.
4. Seven slick slimy snakes slowly sliding southwards.
Check consonant sounds
‘t’, ‘d’ and word ends.
On dark nights, I sometimes dream of little dwarfs who like
to ride through the woods and along country roads on tiny
donkeys. On cold stabbing nights they try to invert riddles
to the sound of the wind.
VOWELS
Unit 3
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Vowel Sounds
How
 Vowels are what convey emotion in our
speech. As English is a secondary
language for us, we are unable to convey
emotions in English.
 Openness of sounds adds clarity to our
speech. This opens doors of
communication.




Definition of vowels.
Importance of vowels
Sounds vs. Letters
Types of Vowels.
Process Template:
Vowels
Sample
VOWELS:
Vowels :
Types
Vowel sounds are produced by the uninterrupted flow of breath. These sounds
carry emotion and give due weight to a word.
LIP VOWELS are those vowel sounds that are crafted by the shaping of the
lips.
Aa
aw
oh
oo
Unit 3
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Types of Vowels
How
 Showing trainees how to create the varying
shades of vowels, enables them to
incorporate this skill into their speech.
Process Template:
The Powers










Application

Practice the formation of the Lip Vowels.
Listen individually.
Support with Examples.
Practice the formation of Tongue Vowels.
Listen individually.
Support with examples.
Vowel Chant. Transitioning Lip Vowels and
then the Tongue Vowels in one breath.
Application of this exercise in language.
Group practice.
Stretching each sound to a maximum of 12
seconds.
Application in poem “The Powers”
Sample
Check on the
openness of vowels
Application of
Vowel sounds
THE Powers whose name and shape no living creature knows
Have pulled the Immortal Rose;
Ae
ow
aw
I
ay
e
oo
oh
At
Out
Ought
I’d
Ate
Eat
Ooze
Own
Unit 3
Voice and Accent
What
 Shades of Vowels
Purpose/ Why
How
 It gives us a comprehensive understanding
of the varying vowel sounds used in Global
English.
 Apart from the basic sounds there are 92
shades existent in the English language.
They are nothing but the shorter versions
of the basic sounds. This addresses and
checks the Long and Short Vowel
problem.
 What are Shades of Vowels.
 Practice each sound, supported with
examples.
 Group practice.
 Exercise: Take them through the “e” and
“ae” sentences.
 Exercise: Take them through the “I” and
“ee” sentences.
Process Template:
Shades of Vowels
Sample
Look
Lord
Lout
My Lord, look at this lout.
Combination of various
Consonants with different
shades of vowels in words
and sentences.
oo
ay
ee
Moon
Mane
Mean
Pool
Pain
Peep
LED
LAD
He led the lad home.
SET
SAT
Anna sat down after losing the first set.
IT
EAT
I eat it.
DEED
He did the deed
DID
Unit 3
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Consonant - Vowels combinations
How
 A word is formed by combining vowels and
consonants in various ways.
 Once we know how consonants and vowels
are formed and have worked on them in
isolation, we are ready to combine these
and practice them leading us closer to
effective speaking.
 Combine all vowels with a single
consonant. Build words with that to
support the use of this exercise.
 Practice the consonant clusters with the
trainees.
 Give examples of the consonant clusters
from the poem: “The Powers”.
 Keep checking individually as well.
 Group Exercise: They can form words
using the consonant clusters and give you
a list by the next day.
 The poem: “Fear No More” focuses on
Breath Control. Begin by reading one line
in one breath gradually moving to a
stanza in breath ensuring the correct
consonant and vowel sounds, apart from
breath control.
Process Template:
Consonant Clusters
Sample
Oo
Placement of consonants after the
vowels sound.
Consonants sound.
Combination of 2 unvoiced or 2
voiced consonants after the vowel
sound.
aw
ah
ay
ee
ow
i
ItI
OOT OHT
ImI
OOM OHM AWM AHM AYM EEM OWM IME
Oo
Placement of the Vowels after the
oh
oh
AWT AHT AYT EET OWT
aw
ah
ay
ee
ow
ITE
i
IdI
DOO DOH DAW DAH DAY DEE DOW
DI
ItI
TOO TOH
TI
Oo
oh
aw
TAW
ah
TAH TAY TEE
ay
ee
TOW
ow
i
ImI&IdI
OOMD OHMD AWMD AHMD AYMD EEMD OWMD IMD
IkI&ItI
OOKT OHKT
AWKT AHKT AYKT EEKT OWKT
IKT
Unit 3
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Diphthongs
How
 In English, sometimes one vowel letter may
denote 2 different vowel sounds together.
Process Template:
Diphthongs
Berlin Wall





Listing the basic diphthongs.
Check for understanding.
Words for Practice.
Using them in Sentences .
The “ei” and “aei” difference. Explain
using the Berlin Wall exercise.
 Quiz individually to check for
understanding of the sounds.
Sample
A combination of 2 vowels
forming a diphthong
Combining the consonants
with the two sounds to check
the difference in meaning.
/ay/ as in “eight” = /e/ + /i/
/oi/ as in “oil”
= /aw/ =/i/
Air
Ear
IbI
Bare, Bear, Blare
Bear
IpI
Pare, Pair, Pear
Peer, Pier
Unit 3
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
How
 Often we confuse the pronunciation in
basic words that are either spelt the same
or pronounced alike.
 This exercise also helps build vocabulary.
Rhyming Vowels
Process Template:
Rhyming Vowels
Fear No More
 Create a word list on the board using the
sounds “oo” and “ew”.
 Add on the columns for ”ow” and “o”
sounds.
 Practice with the class.
 Quiz the trainees on the sounds of the
words.
 Read out the poem “Fear no More” .
 Begin with each trainee reading out one
line at a time followed by 2 lines in 1
breath.. and so on, moving to maximum
number of stanzas in each breath.
Sample
List the words and
sort out the different
pronunciation
Reading out the
entire stanza in a
single breath.
Vowel Sounds :
oo
ew
ow
o
Blue, Blew
Cue, Dew
Bow, Vow,
Bow, So,
Jew, Slew
View, New
How, Sow
Sow, Sew
Fear no more the heat o' th' Sun,
Nor the furious Winters rages,
Thou thy worldly task hast don,
Home art gon, and taken thy wages.
Golden Lads, and Girls all must,
As Chimney-Sweepers come to dust.
Unit 3
Voice and Accent
What
 Combination of Learned Sounds in Speech
Purpose/ Why
 Now that we have gone through all the
consonant sounds as well as the vowel
sounds and practiced them, it’s time to
apply them in a passage and practice the
crispness of the consonants along with the
openness of the vowels.
Process Template:
Under Milk wood
Sample:
 Check for Word
endings.
 Check for Vowel sounds.
 Check for consonant
sounds.
 Check for Breath Control.
 Check for correct sounds,
vowels and consonants.
How
Exercise
 Use the passage “ Under Milk wood”.
 Step 1: Whisper the passage together to
emphasize the crispness of the
consonants
 Step 2: Chant the passage together to
emphasize the openness of the vowels.
 Step 3: Stand at the corner of the room,
leaning there, cup your mouth and read
out the passage as loud as possible,
without screaming and keeping in mind
the correct sounds and breath control.
UNDER MILKWOOD
And the shrill girls giggle and master around him and squeal as they clutch and thrash,
and he blubbers away downhill with his patched pants falling and his tear splashed
blush burns all the way as the triumphant bird like sisters scream with buttons in their
claws and the bully brothers hoot after him his little nickname and his mother's shame
and his father's wickedness with the loose and wild barefoot women of the hovels of
the hills.
We wondered why we were made to vent in their van with chairs one could barely sit on.
PRONOUNCIATION
Unit 4
Voice and Accent
What
 Syllables
Purpose/ Why
How
 Understanding syllables is the first step
towards correct pronunciation.
 Pronunciation in turn leads us to
comprehensibility and effective speech .




Why are syllables important.
What are syllables.
Learning to count syllables.
Making words with 1,2,3,4,5,6 & 7
syllables.
Process Template:
Syllables
Sample
A syllable has a vowel sound. Usually there is a consonant sound between it and the next syllable.
What are syllables,
Counting them.
Look at the number of syllables in the following words:
Great
Paula
Beautiful
Unit 4
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 The Basic Rules
How
 Empowerment:
In the English language there are a 101
exceptions to 100 rules that exist! What we
offer are guidelines. These guidelines will
help trainees tackle new words even in the
absence of the trainer.








Process Template:
The Basic Rules
The Past tense rule
Practice
The Plural rule.
Practice
The Compound Noun rule.
Practice
The Acronym rule.
Practice.
Sample
Please remember the fact that ‘ed’ becomes an extra syllable only when added to words
ending with ‘t’ or ‘d’. This is the only time the past tense has an extra syllable.
Past Tense Rule
Projected
Pleaded
Please remember that ‘es’ becomes an extra syllable only when added to words ending with a hissing
sound. When the original word without the ‘es’ ending, ends with a hissing sound, only then does the
added ‘es’ become an extra syllable.
Plural Rule
Office/offices
Promise/Promises
Beach/Beaches
A combination of two words is called a compound noun, like soft/ware. In English, the stress usually falls on the first
part of the compound noun
Compound Noun
Software
Acronyms
Protected
Hardware
Carpool
Acronyms (words that are made from the first letters of a group of words) are very common in American English. The stress in
acronyms is almost always on the last letter.
UCLA
USA
MTV
Unit 4
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Syllable Stress
How
 This is the next step towards correct
pronunciation.
 Comprehensibility problems mostly occur
due to the misplaced stress in a word
rather than the incorrect sounds of the
letters.
Process Template:
Stress Rules
 What is Syllable Stress
 How can it be shown.
 Rule 1: Only 1 stressed syllable in one
word.
 Support with examples.
 Rule 2: As the word expands .. The stress
moves forwards.
 Support with examples.
 Rule 3: If we stress on 1 syllable more
than the others, then the preceding vowel
sound reduces.
 Support with examples.
Sample
STRESS
Syllable stress
Examples for
Syllable stress
When we learn to break a word into syllables, the idea is to keep in mind that there is only one syllable in a word
that gets stressed.
Organize
Industry
Technology
Organization
Industrial
Industrialization
Technological
Unit 4
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Pronunciation
How
 Pronunciation is the key to Global
Comprehensibility.
 A majority of the communication lapses are
due to to incorrect pronunciation A guide to
easy pronunciation that lists a few rules
helps us find our way around with new
words.
Process Template:
Pronunciation Rules
Exercise
NOTES:
The trainer need not take the trainees through the
entire list.












Rule 1: “-ology”
Rule 2: “- shn”
Rule 3: “- ity”
Rule 4: “- ic/ ics”
Rule 5: “- ical”
Rule 6: “-ically”
Rule 7: “- ial”
Rule 8: “- ially”
Rule 9: “- ious”
Rule 10:“- meter”
Practice the rules using words.
Exercise: Have the trainees count the
number of syllables and find the stressed
syllables.
They should be taught through examples only.
Sample
Common word ends
Examples off words
with the common
word ends.
Counting syllables
and Syllable Stress
-ology
-tion
-lity
-ic/-ics
Biology
Station
Ability
Physics
-ically
-ial
-ially
-ious
-meter
Pious
Kilometer
Basically
Official
Financially
-ical
Practical
A/bi/li/ty
Cha/ri/ty
E/me/rald
In/te/rest
Pro/ba/bly
A/cci/dent
Che/mi/cal
En/gi/neer
In/ves/ti/ga/tion
Pro/cess
Unit 4
Voice and Accent
What
 Application of Syllable Stress
Purpose/ Why
How
 Once we know what the rules are, it is
easier for us to apply them in the words
that we use on a day to day basis.
Process Template:
State Names CITI terms
City Names






List of State Names .
List of Citi Terms
List of the major city names.
Top American names for Boys
Top American names for Girls.
Process specific pronunciation guide to
the frequently used words.
 Auto Loans Car makes.
Am. First Names (M) Am. First Names(F)
Sample
STATE
State Names and
Pronunciation
CITI Terms
American Names
for Girls
American Names
for Boys
City Names
Pronunciation
Alabama
Al-a-BAM-aa
Alaska
a-LASS-kaa
CITI Terms
Pronunciation
Adjustable
ud-JUST-tb-bl (a-just)
Amortization
am-er-tz-AY-shn
Amanda a-MAN-daa Danielle Dan-ee-ELL
Laura LAW-raa
Aaron - AER-rn (like Karen) Damion - DAY-mee-yn Jeremy JER-rm-mee
Raymond RAY-mnd
State Name : Important City Names and Pronunciation
ALABAMA : Birmingham (BER-ming-ham), Huntsville (HUNTS-vill), Mobile (Mo-BEEL), Montgomery (Mn-GUM-ree)
INTONATION
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
 Intonation
Purpose/ Why
How
 The Indian languages follow a 4 beat
rhythm that does not give much room for
intonation. English on the other hand
provides ample opportunity for this,
especially since it a language based on a
10 beat rhythm.
 It is imperative that we understand how the
tone of our voice effects communication.
 What is pitch.
 What is Intonation.
Process Template:
Intonation
Sample
INTONATION:
Terms
Definition
Speech, like music, has pitch changes that create a melody.
WHAT IS PITCH?
Pitch is the frequency at which we speak.
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Noun-verb change
How
 The same word may at times be used as a
noun and at others as a verb. In both these
cases the pronunciation will differ. This
may lead to comprehensibility problems.
 The stress pattern in a noun and a verb.
 Practice reading out the words and the
sentences in the class.
 Ensure each trainee practices this
individually.
Process Template:
Noun-Verb change
Sample
NOUN
Read out the Noun and the
Verb form, application in sentences.
VERB
SENTENCE
an accent
to accent
His Scottish accent, accented his English.
a convict
to convict
The convict was convicted for 12 years of hard labor.
a desert
to desert
Sam deserted Denise in the desert where she ate her dessert.
an envelope
to envelope
She took the envelope from his hands and enveloped him in a bear hug.
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Emphasis : Word Stress, Questions and
Strong Agreement.
 Stressing on a particular word in a
sentence also conveys a meaning. E.g.:
“ I have too”, “I have to” and “I have two”
How
 Methodology: How do we stress on a
word more than the others.
 Support with examples.
 Practice the Exercises.
 In questions which word do we stress on.
 Stress in strong Agreements.
Process Template:
Emphasis
Sample
EMPHASIS
Emphasis:
Meaning &
Importance
Emphasis is used to show extra emotion in our speech. By giving extra stress to different words in an English sentence,
we can actually change the meaning of the sentence.
WORD STRESS:
Word Stress
In every word in English, there is one main emphasized syllable. The vowel sound in this syllable sounds higher in pitch,
longer, and louder, and this is called stress.
Practice:
Practice
Word Stress
1.
I’m going to the store.
(I am, Not you)
2.
I am going to the store. (Are you going? Yes, I am)
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Question and Statements
How
 Apart from its grammatical structure, a
statement differentiates from a question by
the intonation pattern as well.
 In case a statement is read out like a
question, the listener gets confused about
the meaning, or thinks that the speaker is
uncertain, or that the speaker sounds
condescending.
Process Template:
Contours
Questions
 The pitch at the end of the statement.
 Pitch at the end of a question.
 The absolute no-no’s of intonation: Sing
sing, rocket climb.
 Different ways of intonating questions.
 Practice on the questions and statements.
 Role Plays: Enact out Role play 1 to the
class. Have them prepare the remaining
role plays in pairs and present them to the
class.
Role Plays
Sample
QUESTIONS OR STATEMENTS.
Difference in
Intonation.
Whenever our statements end with a rise in the volume, it confuses the listener and they spend time trying to
figure out whether the last sentence was a question or a statement and more often than not they
assume it to be a confirmatory question to which they reply a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ which may surprise us as we
never expected a reply!
Exercise A:
1. Sure I can help you with that.
Practice with
Different
Intonation.
2.
The turn around time would be 2 business days. 
Exercise B:
1. Can you see? 
2. Does he play golf? 
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
 Numbers
Purpose/ Why
How
 An American’s life revolves around
numbers. Be it a social security number,
phone number or account number.
 Numbers may be as long as 10-12 digits at
times. Reading them out in one go
confuses the listener.
 Discuss why we break the numbers in
smaller groups.
 How do we do that using Intonation.
 Practice.
Process Template:
Intonation with Numbers:
Sample
INTONATION WITH NUMBERS:
How can we
Intonate Numbers
effectively.
When we take calls we often come across groups of digits which may be as much as 2 to a maximum of 12 digits.
They may be Apartment numbers, Account numbers, transit routing numbers, Zip codes, Social security numbers
or Telephone numbers.
Telephone Numbers:
310-526-9546
1-800-354-9561
Examples
Social Security Numbers:
356-65-9856
527-45-5447
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
 Choices
Purpose/ Why
How
 We often have not one solution, but many
options. How should we put them across to
the customer?
 Relate to the intonation pattern.
 Practice with questions.
Process Template:
Choices
INTONATION WITH CHOICES:
Sample
INTONATION WITH CHOICES.
Practice
1.
Do you want Tea or Coffee?
2.
Do you want Black or brown?
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
 Pauses
Purpose/ Why
How
 The role of pauses is very important in our
speech since a pause defines when a
certain thought has ended and a new
thought has begun.
 In addition, it aids the management of
breath as well.
 Explain the importance of pauses.
 Practice using the sentences.
Process Template:
Role of Pauses
Sample
ROLE OF PAUSES.
Significance
In written English, we use punctuation to show where the pauses
in the sentences should be.
Example:
Application
Finally,// each time you prepare a solution// you should take into
account / the temperature of the liquids.// Don’t mix these two
liquids together / unless they have the same temperature://Room
Temperature.
Unit 5
Voice and Accent
What
 Practice
Purpose/ Why
How
 Many of us need to break out of a shell that
restricts us from experimenting with the
pitch changes. These exercises focus on
breaking out of old habits and establishing
new ones.
Process Template:
Stories
Trench Coat
Gollum
 Lead by example using the 3 short stories
in which the places of inflection have been
marked out.
 Use Archie comics hand outs to groups of
3s and 4s, have them act out the story in
front of the class.
 The passage “Dark Trench Coat” can be
used to practice Intonation.
 Practice using the passage “ Deep down
here… Gollum”.
Assessment Sample
THREE LITTLE PIGS
Words that need
To be stressed
Once upon a time there were three little pigs. They lived with their kind old mother near a
large, dark forest. One day, they decided to build their own houses. The first little pig used
straw. He took his straw-cutting tools and his new lawnmower, and built a little straw
house. The second little pig used sticks. He took his woodcutting tools and some old
paintbrushes and built a small wooden house. The third little pig, who was a very hard
worker, used bricks.
UNDERSTANDING
AMERICAN ENGLISH
Unit 6
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 American Accent
 Since we are dealing with the American
customer it is important that we understand
how the accent differs.
How
 Explain the American sound shifts.
 Support with examples.
 Play audio file: “Arthur The Rat”. Fill in the
blanks.
 Discuss the various accents in US:
Southern, Californian, Eastern
Process Template:
The American Sounds
Sample
The American
Sound Shifts:
Accents occur in the mouth, but have to be breathed out. There are three factors that make the
American English different to the Global English.
1.
The “AW“ change:
The British AW sound changes to the AA sound in the American English
Examples: Bob, Dog, Doctor etc.
FLUENCY
Unit 7
Voice and Accent
What
Purpose/ Why
 Fluency
How
 Once a person learns the correct sounds
and pronunciation, he/she needs to be able
to translate it to speech.
 This translation of thoughts into speech
using the correct sounds is Fluency with
the speech.
 Introducing various topics to the class
 Have each trainee express their thoughts
in 2 minutes.
 Give constructive feedback.
Process Template:
Free Speech Topics
Sample
Free speech
topics
1.
Window Exercise
2.
Sell the Object
3.
Hot Seat
4.
My favorite Vacation Spot