I can’t state this enough, “Everyone on the planet speaks English with an accent.” But, I work on accent reduction coaching more often than you think.

Recently, I was on a call with some coaches and it came up that I did this type of work. One of the other coaches said, “Oh, that’s too bad, I love hearing English with accents. Why would you want to get rid of that?” I agreed.

Because it’s about REDUCTION, not elimination. That’s a very big difference. The goal of accent reduction coaching is ensure that speakers are understood easily and improve their confidence with spoken English. Which is what anyone wanting to improve their public speaking skills seeks.

But, what does it mean to reduce an accent in the pursuit of clarity and confidence?

Sometimes it is about finding the simplest, easiest solutions.

A few years ago, I coached a native French speaker who worked in finance. Let’s call him Francois. His English was easily understood, and his vocabulary was fluent. Francois felt that when he spoke English with his large and internationally diverse personal network, he had no issues with being understood and feeling confident.

(Because, you know, everyone on the planet speaks English with an accent.)

When Francois was speaking to US English speakers, however, everything changed. He was asked to repeat himself often, which knocked down his internal confidence. His security in his clear speaking also took a hit.

Of course, much of this can be chalked up to lazy listeners. Lots of Americans have a bad ear for accents so it can take multiple interactions for them to understand.

And let’s face it, American English is flat and more monotone than most.

When Francois and I started working together we pinpointed that he needed help with emphasizing the correct syllables, with a focus on the American accent, because the majority of his clients were in the USA.

During the coaching process we discovered that much of the French language emphasized the opposite syllables in English. (It is not always true, of course, but it helped thinking of it that way.) I told Francois to go against all his instincts for what felt like the “correct emphasis,” and it helped.

As we went through our five sessions, Francois had one word he wanted to take charge of: Bourbon.

It’s a French word, after all, and he said it beautifully. However, he emphasized the second syllable which made it tough for bartenders and waiters at his networking events to understand.

He ALWAYS had to repeat himself and he hated it.

My first approach was to tell him that he had to forget that it was a French word and approach it “American” style. To emphasize the BOUR (pronounced Ber) and “remember the schwa” (uh) in the second syllable.

I said imagine it’s spelled like: BERbn.

He did. He nailed it in the session and practiced regularly. But, let’s face it, he had years of saying his favorite libation in his gorgeous French way, so it was a tough habit to break.

Finally, on our third meeting, I asked him, “What’s your favorite bourbon?”

“Makers Mark,” he said. 

So, I said, “Order a Makers.”

Simplest, easiest solution. Confidence and clarity achieved.