Speech Cycles
It has taken me many weeks to send a new newsletter due to very good reasons - I have been busy with the last stages of editing and proofreading my book and welcoming new clients for speech coaching. My year is ending on a high note, I hope yours is, too.
Everything is coming together. I have been revising the format of my private instruction in accent modification so it more closely matches the rationale that I describe in my book. The overall goal is to reduce cognitive load by making it easier for people to practice more frequently without more quantity of work at one time.
Speech Cycles
The name of the book will be, “Thinking About Speaking: The Adastra Approach to Mastering the American Accent.” A big thank you goes out to all of you who voted in that newsletter asking for your input! The approach I describe in the book is a “cycles” method which applies small, consistent actions over time. Changing speech is a skill that takes time but like learning any new skill or concept, breaking it down into smaller parts makes it less intimidating and more manageable.
I’ve divided a year into three-month cycles to create a structured approach that allows skills to be introduced gradually and integrated with each other and into daily speech. Committing to a year-long program might seem like a big step, but I’ve designed it to not feel too overwhelming or too time consuming in daily life.
Cycle Structure
The lessons in each cycle build upon the previous ones, increase in detail, and integrate the speech features. We begin with structured practice (reading) and slowly progress to unstructured (conversation).
The purpose of cycling through information is to gradually add more to remember so you have time to gain control of some speech features before having to balance all of them at one time.
Basically, you need time to remember how to say something before too much pressure is on thinking of what to say.
Cycle 1 - Essentials - Jump into what is most applicable to your speaking situations.
Cycle 2 - Advanced Control - Add more speech features and gain control of your voice.
Cycle 3 - Mastery and Analysis - Analyze your own ability to make changes to your speech.
Cycle 4 - Continued Support - Meet with me as needed for practice and maintenance.
Monthly Format
This program is structured in 3-month cycles. Each cycle includes:
Speech Evaluations - A comprehensive evaluation before the start of the program and at the end, with monthly shorter evaluations to assess progress.
1 Lesson per month - A new speech feature is focused on for practice and control.
3 Individual Practice Sessions each month - Gain more control and awareness.
Weekly Practice Recordings - I provide feedback videos for each recording.
Daily Mini-Practice Prompts - Emails with specific sounds and words to practice.
Moving Forward
This cycles approach asks for a longer time commitment from each client I work with and it requires more time commitment from me as well. This means I’ll only be able to handle a limited amount of clients at a time, and I’m looking forward to it. The long game has its rewards of being a part of someone’s small gains on a weekly and monthly basis.
Specific Practice
There will always be situations where I can help people with their English speaking skills for a speaking event they need to prepare for in the short-term. I’ll keep time aside for that because it’s so cool to see how a presentation or interview preparation improves in such a short time and how much more confident a speaker feels as a result of our work together.
Meetup Groups & YouTube Videos
I’ll keep doing my Meetup groups for pronunciation practice and intonation practice and posting a video after each one on my YouTube channel. I think it’s amazing that more people are finding and watching my videos even if they can’t attend the Meetup because there are people from all over the world making comments on them. I now have 4,000 subscribers and since I originally thought nobody would watch those videos if they didn’t come to the Meetup, I’m happily surprised that more people find them useful than I expected.
Thankful
Thank you to all clients past, present, and future. It takes courage to take the first step to contact me when you decide to start making changes to something as personal as your speech. It also takes a leap of faith that I am the person you choose to help you make those changes. I learn something new from every person I work with and it’s always a reminder that curiosity and perseverance are essential for progress.
Thank you to all my Meetup members who have met almost every single week for the past few years. They have truly demonstrated commitment to the long game and it’s been wonderful to hear their progress over time. They ask very insightful questions, are supportive and encouraging to each other (and to me!), and are always the bright spot in my day.
Thank you to family, friends, colleagues, clients, students, readers, and watchers! The work I do is mostly solitary and I appreciate every comment and word of support and for listening. I am grateful to have so many people to share my highs and lows with.