How to fine-tune your accent to get a job
Our Mother tongue's influence gives many of us a strong Indian accent, which is prominently distinctive. Speaking with an Indian accent can prove to be quite a frustrating experience, especially when your accent is not neutral, as it can make it difficult for you to interact with customers who are native speakers. If you are aiming to get a job in a BPO, it's always important that you neutralise your accent than try to put on a fake one, as this will not help you in the long run. Moreover, instead of blatantly imitating the accent of a native speaker it would always be better for you to try and fine-tune it, as it has always proven to give better results. By learning step-by-step the nuances of sounds and also understanding the difference between stressed and unstressed words and syllables you can make sure that you pronounce right, which invariably will give you the accent you're hoping for.

What is an accent?
Anyone can add a bit of zing to their accent through practice. Continuous practice of sounds can gradually change the way you sound while you speak.

However before understanding the nuances of sound one has to understand what is meant by accent. A distinctive characteristic of speech, accent reflects your personality as it portrays the background people come from, be it different geographical locations or areas. The way you speak shows your background, upbringing and your educational class. A variation in pronunciation depends according to your social or regional setting, which is easily conveyed through your accent.

Why is it important to neutralise your Accent?
In today's business world, it's integral to do a little accent modification if you want to land yourself a job in a BPO or the IT sector; as the job requires you to interact with clients. English being the business language, being able to converse fluently and legibly is a necessity.

Today to jump a rung of the ladder in the business world, and to get a nice hike in salary, it's incredibly important that your accent is understood, as you can talk your way through if you sound confident. Moreover it does boost your confidence when you are easier to understand, and able to speak to people in different countries.

However as Indians we have a strong regional accent, as we don't say our consonant sounds appropriately and it's flawed. And the first thing needed to do would be to work on our consonant sounds, as it's the same for an American, British, Australian and Canadian; the only difference is that Vowels sounds are not the same.

Vowel and Consonant Sounds
Speech sounds are broadly classified into two - Vowels and Consonants.

When the air is obstructed by the lips, tongue, or teeth it makes the consonant sounds. On the other hand for the production of a vowel sound, the sufficient gap between the uppermost position of the tongue and the hard palate is quite wide enough for the air from the lung to run away freely without causing any friction.

There are about 26 letters in the English Alphabet and out of the 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) about twenty different vowel sounds are created. And these twenty vowels are further categorised into Monophthong and Diphthongs. Monophthong is a single vowel that does not change quality, while Diphthongs are vowel glides which take the position of one vowel and glides to another.

All vowel sounds are voiced and they are formed by the changing positions of the tongue and lips. As Indians we need to pay heed to the consonant sounds to speak clearly. The consonant sounds are voiced as well as voiceless.

Voiceless sounds can be produced when the air from the lungs goes unrestricted between the vocal chords and that's how voiceless sounds are produced. They are p, t, k, f, th, s, sh and ch.

Voiced sounds do not have the whispered quality like voiceless sounds, but they are technically the throat sounds. When the vocal chords are together, the air from the lungs goes between them by creating a vibration, and that's how voiced sounds are produced. The consonant sounds which are voiced are b, d, g, v, th, z, zh, j, m, n, ng, w, r and l.

The important qualities you need to remember in consonant sounds are that they are aspirated air sounds, which is technically called the stop or plosive. The stops are the p, b, t, d, k, g and these are formed by completely impeding the air stream and suddenly releasing them by causing a explosion.

Some of the traits of the consonants are that they are throat and friction sounds, where the throat sounds vibrate and does not let the puff of air to come out as the aspirated air sounds.

Friction sounds can be made by obstructing the air stream, where the air escapes only by pushing through the narrow opening by causing a friction, when passing through.

For example the T sound is an aspirated sound. When you are saying this aspirated sound place one sheet of paper in front of you, and say the Tah sound. Interestingly the puff of air comes out as it pushes the paper. The Tah sound is made by placing the tongue behind the teeth and by touching the roof of the mouth; e.g.: top, table and topple.

The G sound is not an aspirated sound; it's voiced and there is no strong explosion, e.g. go, gamut and get. On the other hand the Sh sound is a friction sound. Bring the teeth together by touching the ceiling of the mouth with the tongue and say ship, shan't and shall.

How to spruce up your accent?
To speak perfectly clear English, without sounding a bit muffled, one can always start with the Cicely Berry Jaw Relaxation Exercise.

A practice routine that every Voice and Accent trainer recommends, this is a good warm-up exercise, which when followed on a regular basis can help you loosen your jaws and ease muscular movement.

So what are you waiting for? Practice these sounds to perfect your accent! Start practicing these sounds now!

OOT(UT)	OHT	AWT	AHT	AYT	EET
OOD	OHD	AWD	AHD	AYD	EED
OON	OHN	AWN	AHN	AYN	EEN
OOP	OHP	AWP	AHP	AYP	EEP
OOM	OHM	AWM	AHM	AYM	EEM
OOG	OHG	AWG	AHG	AYG	EEG
OOF	OHF	AWF	AHF	AYF	EEF
OOV	OHV	AWV	AHV	AYF	EEF
OOS	OHS	AWS	AHS	AYS	EES
OOZ	OHZ	AWZ	AHZ	AYZ	EEZ
OOTH	OHTH	AWTH	AHTH	AYTH	EETH