Academics are experts in their field but, unlike primary and high school teachers, don't receive training in teaching methods and in particular, communicating to a large audience. One of my current clients does not have 'pronunciation' problems as such but definitely needs training in voice projection as technically his speech was OK but he was still very difficult to hear and understand.
Work on breathing, voice projection, pausing and focus stress has made his lectures much clearer.We also looked at his answering of questions which tended to be a little too 'long winded'. Initially my client didn't think that he needed assistance but after listening to his own speech realised that some improvement was necessary.Working one-on-one can be extremely beneficial as the course is completely customised to suit this person's very specific needs. I can also be flexible in my mode of delivery. I will be sitting in on some of his lectures and giving immediate feedback. This is type of communication training is essential to people whose level of English is high but who need improvement in areas such as structuring talks, lectures or in this case voice projection and answering questions.
