How a professor with a Cantonese accent improved student engagement

Editor's note: Please note that names may be changed for confidentiality purposes.

Who is this client? 

Several years ago, Chris immigrated from Hong Kong but had difficulty engaging students. He disliked the sound of his voice and felt that he sounded like a robot. When teaching the closed captioning for his lectures, it was always incorrect, making it difficult for students who relied on closed captions. As a professor, some key responsibilities were to: 

• Engage students.
• Present info in interesting and clear way.
• Be able to build rapport with students.
• Providing training and mentoring to teaching assistants and junior lecturers.
• Assisting with student recruitment, interviews and academic counselling.

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What were his goals? 

Chris wanted to work with a communication coach to make his voice less monotone and use his voice to engage students. Chris wanted to clarify his speech as he had patterns of mixing up r’s and l’s. By refining his speech, he would feel more comfortable emphasizing important content in his lectures.  

• Very → weary 
• Three → free 
• Bed → bad 
• Employee → empoyee 

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How did Speak Fluent's Speech Professional help Chris?

After 24 sessions, Chris emphasized essential points in lectures and engaged his students with a less monotone voice. There was a clear distinction between crucial points and points that were not important. The automatically generated closed captioning was now more accurate, providing relief for the students who relied on them. 

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Need some help with your communication? 

Our communication coaches are highly trained and provide support for various communication-related goals, including accent modification, public and professional speaking, and voice use. Book your free 15 minute consultation today or contact us and find out how we can help your speech needs today!

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