Speak Better with Rebecca Linquist

One of the biggest challenges for non-native speakers in any language is to master the nuances and intricacies of a language, and one overlooked area is setting context. It's tempting just to deliver the primary message without establishing relevance first, and even for native speakers, this can be missing. This episode discusses setting context in depth! Want to learn more? www.englishbytheh...

Beyond accent and voice quality, the content of our messaging does matter. This episode address what's involved in American English in perfecting your messaging to your audience. Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

This episode not only discusses how it's "different" but also what to do if you want to focus primarily on modifying your dialect, which is often related to vowel usage. What does that mean? This episode addresses it. Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

Many people believe they are STUCK with their voice, when in reality: you can change it! This episode discusses what to do if you have qualities in your speech like sounding "pitchy" or "squeaky" or on the other side too deep or even throaty. What can you do about it? Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

There's a lot of assumption, confusion, and misinformation around what an accent is and also how to change it. Is it impossible for adults to do? What would you have to do to get a good result? What are some best practices / strategies to get there? Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

We're often give the advice to "connect to our audience." What does that mean in concrete terms? What should we do and not do, and what challenges come up? How can we address them? What do non-native speakers need to know to do this better? Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

In this episode, Rebecca clarifies why some non-native speakers would do better to obtain a monotone first and then work on vocal variety rather than to attempt to change their intonation in American English directly from their native tongue. She also discusses what gives us a monotone expression in our speech and how to add the pitch range in our own voices that will support vocal variety, as wel...

Have you ever listening to someone speak and been blown away by how compelling and credible the person sounded? In contrast, have you ever listened to someone and been disappointed in how their speaking didn't live up to your expectations? Maybe that person was you, and you'd like to improve. Either way, this episode helps you create a framework for what makes speech sound credible and c...

What's the best way to improve your vocabulary if American English isn't your first language? This episode addresses how to go about acquiring vocabulary systematically in a way that affects your daily communication and integration of the words in your working or active vocabulary, instead of just playing the words and then forgetting them.  It also addresses how to choose what to learn...

As a non-native speaker, how can you get Americans to correct you?  As a native speaker, how can you give correction to non-native speakers without embarrassing them or coming off as offensive? What else can you do as a non-native speaker to learn to self-correct? This episode addresses all of these issues and more. Want to learn more? www.englishbythehour.com

This episode addresses points of resistance when changing an accent: what's challenging, what's important, and how to go about changing an accent when it comes to acquiring an American Accent.  In particular, Rebecca discusses how vowels impact accent and how to modify your vowel usage, what mouth movements and articulations patterns affect speech and accent, and the important role of wo...

Does having an accent matter? Have you ever noticed someone who speaks with an accent and the person comes across as credible, powerful and convincing, while someone else can speak with an accent and be confusing, unclear, and uncompelling. Why is that? This episode addresses the underlying issues of accent that determine whether it serves you or distracts from your speaking performance to have a...

Many people don't like to listen to their own voices, often because they don't like their voices, but if you don't know something, you can't change it. In this episode, Rebecca Linquist delves into how to modify a voice. through awareness, focusing on vocal fold engagement, solid, extended sound engagement, and articulation work.  Rebecca underscores the important of the order...

Hemming and Hawing is an American expression for clearing you throat or making unintentional hesitation sounds (hmmm, uh, um, right? or m-ok, for example).  Many speakers do this without awareness. Once you are aware, what can you do about it? It's often not enough to just notice it.  The solution is simple to  understand but can be difficult to implement consistently in practice. Rebecca Lin...

If we don't get feedback from our intended audience, we won't be able to improve. However, if we do get feedback, and it's negative, and we often take it too seriously, leaving us feeling less confident without improvement. Or, we may get only positive feedback if we don't behave in a way that lets others know we are open to constructive feedback. Either way, we need to gather...

For years, companies have offered products & services alleged to "improve your accent" or help you gain language skills, and it's wise to be skeptical about these claims. However, with AI in explosive growth mode, and the current large language models we have available to us today, can Chat GPT, for example, accelerate your acquisition of an American Accent? Rebecca Linquist sha...

This introduction to the Speak Better podcast with Rebecca Linquist (also known as "Linquist is the LInquist")  explores a range of areas to be addressed throughout her future podcast episodes, which are relevant to both native and non-native speakers of American English alike, including public speaking, accent, dialect, pronunciation, clarity, voice improvement, and much more!  Rebecca...