For Sounding Generally American
ACCENT REDUCTION
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If you're have an international or regional American accent, you may have been told that you need to "reduce your accent."
It's time to phase out that phrase.
It suggests that everyone except certain Americans has an accent. That's Hollywood-centric and 100% false.
An accent is defined as "a distinctive mode of pronunciation." The way these particular Americans speak is certainly distinctive, which means they have an accent, too.
There's another problem with the idea of "eliminating" an accent. It's quite common for people who have supposedly done so to find that their old accent suddenly returns when they're tired, emotional, or inebriated. That strongly suggests that they haven't eliminated anything. They've learned to produce a different way of speaking, and when their control over that new voice weakens, their habitual voice comes through.
So for people who want to "reduce their accent," including actors who want to work in American film and television, the goal isn't to reduce or eliminate your accent. It's to learn how to speak with a non-regional American accent.
That means developing the ability to make deliberate changes to your speech without having it be the only thing you can think about in the moment.
There is No Such Thing as Accent Reduction
What Is a Non-Regional American Accent?
A non-regional American accent is a form of American speech that isn't strongly associated with a particular geographic region. It feels neutrally American.
It is often the target for actors auditioning for or working in American film and television when the character isn't specifically written as having a regional accent.
The goal isn't to sound like someone from "America in general."
The goal is to give you enough control over your speech that your natural regional or international patterns don't unintentionally define the character.
How You'll Work On It
Vowels and Diphthongs
Accent work for an actor is different from simply trying to change the way you speak.
You need to understand what you're changing, why you're changing it, and how to reproduce it consistently while acting.
Depending on your starting point and the demands of the role, we may work on:
The rise and fall of your voice affects how your speech is perceived.
You'll work on developing patterns that support the target accent without turning the performance into an imitation.
Consonants
Consistency
Rhythm an Stress
Intonation and Melody
Connected Speech
Small changes in vowel placement can dramatically change how an accent is perceived.
You'll learn to recognize the differences between your habitual vowel sounds and the sounds you're trying to produce.
Consonants can reveal a speaker's regional or linguistic background just as strongly as vowels.
We'll identify the sounds that need attention and develop practical ways to reproduce them consistently.
American speech has particular patterns of rhythm, emphasis, and sentence stress.
Accent work isn't only about individual sounds. It is also about how those sounds move through a sentence.
Actors don't speak one perfectly separated word at a time.
Natural speech involves linking, reductions, changes in emphasis, and other patterns that affect how an accent sounds in real conversation.
The goal isn't to produce the accent correctly during an exercise and lose it as soon as the scene begins.
We'll work toward making the accent repeatable while you're listening, responding, pursuing an objective, moving, and doing everything else an actor has to do.
Accent Work Should Support the Acting
An accent that sounds technically accurate but disconnects you from the character isn't doing its job.
Your attention still needs to be on the other actor, the circumstances, the relationship, and what you're trying to accomplish.
That's why accent coaching should eventually move beyond isolated pronunciation exercises and into actual acting material.
We'll work with scenes, sides, monologues, or other material relevant to your audition or role so that the accent becomes part of the performance rather than something you're demonstrating.
If you're auditioning for a role that requires a non-regional American accent, you don't necessarily need months of accent training.
The amount of preparation depends on your starting point, the role, the material, and how significant the accent is to the character.
For an upcoming audition, coaching can focus on the specific sounds and speech patterns that are most important for that material.
You can also use accent coaching alongside audition preparation or self-tape coaching.
Preparing for an Audition
Preparing for a Booked Role
Once you've booked a role, the requirements may be more demanding.
You may need to maintain the accent across multiple scenes, emotional states, shooting days, or weeks of production.
Booked-role coaching can combine accent work with character and scene preparation so that the accent remains consistent without becoming something you have to consciously monitor every second.
If English is not your first language, the goal isn't to hide where you're from.
The goal is to give you another vocal option that you can switch on and off.
Learning a non-regional American accent can give you greater flexibility when auditioning for American productions, particularly when the character is not written with an identifiable foreign or regional accent.
The work is tailored to your existing speech patterns rather than treating every actor as though they have the same problem.
Accent Coaching for International Actors
Accent Coaching for Regional American Accents
You don't have to be an international actor to benefit from this work.
Actors from the American South, New York, New England, the Midwest, California, and other regions may have speech patterns that are useful for some roles but not appropriate for others.
Accent coaching can help you develop greater control over those patterns so that you can choose when to use them.
Accent coaching starts with identifying how you currently speak.
We'll look at the sounds, rhythms, and patterns that are most noticeable in your speech and determine what needs to change for the accent you're trying to develop.
From there, you'll practice the changes in increasingly complex situations.
The work might move from individual sounds to words, phrases, sentences, conversation, and eventually full scenes.
The goal is not to give you a collection of tricks.
It's to give you enough understanding and control that you can reproduce the accent yourself.
How Accent Coaching Works
Accent Coaching in Los Angeles and Online
Accent coaching is available in person in Reseda, in the San Fernando Valley, and online for actors anywhere in the world.
Online coaching can work particularly well for accent training because much of the work involves listening, speaking, repetition, and detailed feedback.
If you're preparing for a specific audition or role, you can also send the material ahead of your session.
*During the regular hours of M-F 10a-5p Pacific Time. Coachings outside of these hours are subject to a 1.5x overtime rate.
Pricing
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$150 / hour*
($75 / half hour)
Is accent reduction the same as learning a non-regional American accent?
Yes. "Accent reduction" is the term people commonly use when they should be using "learn a non-regional American accent."
Can you completely get rid of my accent?
That's not the goal, and may not actually be possible, at least not for anyone over the age of 18 (or possibly younger). The goal is to develop enough control over your speech that you can deliberately use a non-regional American accent when you want to.
Can actors with American regional accents work on a non-regional accent?
Yes. Regional American speech patterns can be just as relevant as international accents when a role calls for a more neutral American sound.
How long does it take to learn a non-regional American accent?
There isn't a single timeline. It depends on your existing speech patterns, how different the target accent is from your natural speech, how much control you already have, and how consistently you practice.
Can I prepare a specific audition with accent coaching?
Yes. Bring the audition sides or other material and the coaching can focus on the speech patterns that matter most for that role.
Can you help me maintain an accent throughout a booked role?
Yes. Accent coaching can be incorporated into booked-role preparation, particularly when the role requires the accent across multiple scenes or production days.
Do you work with international actors?
Yes. Accent coaching is available to actors from a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The work is individualized according to how you naturally speak and what you need for the role.
Can accent coaching be done online?
Yes. Online accent coaching is available worldwide.
Do I need to know what accent I have?
No. You don't need to diagnose your own accent before booking. We'll identify the relevant speech patterns together and determine what you're trying to develop.
