Confident Speech Software
Everyone agrees! It can be tricky to pronounce some words in English correctly. Confident Speech selected frequently mispronounced words and developed software to help you learn and remember the correct pronunciations. These self-study programs are easy, fun, affordable, and (best of all!) foolproof.
"Confident Speech Tips" Newsletter
"Confident Speech Tips" is the free e-newsletter from Confident Speech. Every issue features tips to improve your spoken English, culture briefs on American customs, and special offers. It is published 8 times per year.
(Problems? Just send us an email with your request: Client Support)
Scroll down to see sample articles from our newsletter.
Speech Tip: Varying voice pitch in English
English speakers go up and down with their voice pitch more than speakers of many other languages. Some of our trainees have remarked that English speakers at first sounded to them as if they were always speaking very emotionally. That’s just the way we speak! English speakers are probably no more or less emotional than people from other cultures.
There is a special way that English speakers go up and down with their voices. At Confident Speech, we have found that this is one of the easiest improvements that people can make. What a tremendous difference it makes in the way you sound!
What is the key to varying pitch in English? Click here to find out!
Culture brief: What is a comfortable distance?
In every culture, there are certain expectations about personal space. If you are too near the person with whom you are interacting, you may be perceived as excessively intimate. If you are too far away, you may be perceived as too formal, uncaring, or emotionally distant.
How near should you be when you are interacting with Americans?
The anthropologist Edward Hall studied personal space and found that Americans tend to favor a slightly greater distance than in many other cultures. For ordinary interaction with friends and acquaintances, Americans favor a distance of at least 2 feet (as for a handshake) and often as much as 4-5 feet. For more formal or business interactions, the distance may range from 4-12 feet. Within 18 inches or so of the person is reserved for intimate interactions: between very close friends, family members, and pets.