Elocution & Pronunciation

Elocution tutors & lessons can help improve clarity of speech, pronunciation and public-speaking. At Mayfair Consultants we employ a specially-selected team of tutors whom have expertise in the art of elocution and public-speaking, including Received Pronunciation (RP). RP is the English Speech Standard and many tutors have a professional background often with Drama qualifications to hand. From private pronunciation tuition for children to elocution lessons for adults, whether pitched at a beginner, advanced or business level, we will find the best match for your needs.

It should not be a surprise to learn that many of the world’s greatest public speakers had stutters: the art of good speaking, involving clear elocution and pronunciation, is a practised one. Whether you need help with clarifying your pronunciation, refining you elocution, or improving your public-speaking skills, our tutors can help improve your confidence and spoken impact.

We offer elocution and pronunciation lessons both 1-1 in London and online worldwide using the latest hight definition voice and video technology. Our first-class elocution lessons aim to assist people in maximising their potential through improving their oral skills. Elocution refers to the “manner, style, art of oral delivery”. We give our clients the skills and know-how to ensure they deliver high impact interviews, pitches, presentations, negotiations or public speeches.

Elocution lessons give you the confidence to convey your meaning, the clarity to ensure you are understood and the class to guarantee positive results.

In short, pronunciation lessons aim to help you become a fantastic speaker. Every person is different and every client that comes to us for assistance has their own needs.

Firstly, the majority of our clients want elocution lessons for a particular purpose. Our high-flying clientele come to us because they feel by developing their oral skills they will have greater chances of success in public speaking, presentations, sales pitches, interviews or coaching.

Secondly, each client will want to concentrate on a particular area of concern. Elocution lessons can cover a number of areas including accent removal/softening, voice projection, pronunciation, stress, use of grammar/vocabulary, stammer removal, etc. During your lesson you can concentrate on one or all skills.

Our elocution lessons are delivered by a team of elocution experts. We draw on the capabilities and knowledge base of:

Actors
TV/Radio presenters
Elocutionists
English teachers
Singers
Drama coaches

Each bring with them a unique insight into getting the best out of you.

We shy away from off the shelf manuals and pre-packaged courses. We take a 100% bespoke approach to everything we do and elocution lessons are no different. We take each client as they come – addressing their particular needs. As such, each client is seen to individually and a short course designed and delivered specifically for them.

Speaking English correctly is no easy feat – it isn’t written or read phonemically and it’s notorious for its inconsistent and often bemusing ways of pronunciation. In addition to this, many of us have deeply embedded speaking habits that hinder our ability to be understood, whether that stems from breathing and voice projection, speech impediments and stutters, mumbling and poor enunciation, or monotony. Elocution lessons can be of enormous benefit to anyone who wants to master their voice and speech.

The English alphabet may consist of 26 letters, but in fact, spoken British English consists of 45 distinctive sounds. 19 of these alone are vowel sounds, made up of short vowels (‘fish’ ‘cat’ and ‘up’) long vowels (‘tree’, ‘rule’ and ‘horse’) and diphthongs (one syllable sounds made up of two joined vowel sounds such as ‘train’ ‘found’ and ‘cheer’). Of the remaining 26 consonant sounds, some are categorised as voiced (those that come from the vibrations of the larynx such as the ‘th’ in mother) and unvoiced (those generated by the tongue and lips such as the ‘th’ in thumb). Some speakers of English find it a challenge to produce some of these sounds crisply, but this can often be easily corrected with some training.

However, speech is more than the sum of its individual sounds, and elocution lessons will examine the joining of these sounds, the changes brought about in fluid, connected speech, and how this impacts strong and weak sounds. Next, it explores intonation – the fall and rise of speech – and stress – the strategic pauses and emphasis on syllables – both of which are effective ways of improving the expression and clarity of your speech.

Voice coaching won’t give you a new identity or change your speech beyond recognition. Instead, it aims to apply the latest techniques in voice coaching to accentuate the best features of your voice and enhance its strength, clarity and flexibility.

Elocution lessons will teach you how to use your natural voice to its maximum potential. Perhaps you have an important speech you need to deliver at work – you’d like to hold the attention of your audience but fear that your public speaking skills are inadequate. Or maybe you’re an actor trying to improve emotional expression and power in your voice. Perhaps you’re a teacher and you’d like to emphasise the clarity and pitch of your speech. Maybe you’ve struggled with a lifelong stammer or speech impediment that you feel is an obstacle to easy and effective communication. Or perhaps you’d like to adapt to a particular accent or soften your existing one. In all these cases, elocution lessons might be the best thing you ever do for your voice and career.

http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/find-out-more/received-pronunciation/ British Library Received Pronunciation Pages

http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/rpandbbc.shtml BBC VOICE

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/pronex/pronex.htm – Learner’s Dictionary with pronunciation exercises

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation – a guide to the sounds of English

http://www.johnkeithcommunications.com/pronunciation/dailyex.html – daily pronunciation exercises

http://engfluent.com/english-pronunciation-exercises/ – some more pronunciation Exercises

https://pronunciationstudio.com/blog/ – pronunciation articles and helpful tips

http://www.elocutionlessonslondon.com/category/featured/ – articles about elocution and effective speech

https://londonspeechworkshop.com/knowledge-hub/ – a speech and accent guidance

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/best/elocution – elocution poetry to practice pronunciation

http://www.learnenglish.de/pronunciationpage.html – pronunciation exercises and poems

https://www.englishforums.com/content/promo/english-pronunciation-and-accent-reduction.htm – English pronunciation and accent reduction

http://www.write-out-loud.com/dictionexercises.html – diction exercises

https://www.stammering.org – The British Stammering Association

http://www.stutteringhelp.org – The Stuttering Foundation

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/AdultSandL.htm – American Speech Language Hearing Association