Improving your Pronunciation and Confidence

Are you looking for a way to improve your pronunciation and confidence while speaking?  Chris Redd, one of our teachers in San Francisco, has a great idea for you!

1. Find a recording of a speech you really like or by someone you really admire.
2. Find a transcript of the speech and listen to it while you read.
3. Now record yourself saying the speech.
4. Compare yourself to the speaker. Is your pronunciation different in some places?
5. Practice and rerecord several times until it’s perfect.
6. Now listen to the original speech and your speech. Has your pronunciation improved from your first try?  Good work!
7. Start on a new speech! The best way to improve your pronunciation is by listening carefully and practicing again and again.  Practice makes perfect!

Don’t know where to begin?  Why not try Steve Job’s famous Stanford graduation speech: http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die

If you’d like to find more famous speeches by Americans you can listen to the top 100 speeches in American history here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html

Good luck and keep practicing!

Find out more about learning English with St Giles by studying at St Giles San Francisco.