Classes to reduce accents increase

Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Tom Zabkowski dreams of one day becoming a firefighter; and on paper, he appears a near-perfect applicant: The 29-year-old served honorably in both the U.S. Army and the Illinois National Guard, and his r sum touts his commercial driver’s license as well as his numerous athletic interests.

Yet Zabkowski feels there’s one thing holding him back.

“My accent,” said the Poland-born plumber, whose family immigrated to Chicago when he was 10. “In formal interviews I want to sound professional, but I often find myself avoiding words I want to use.”

Earlier this year, Zabkowski began taking classes with Laura Kessler, a Chicago “accent reduction coach,” who teaches her clients how to correctly pronounce their words. For Zabkowski, that means a lot of work on his “R’s” and the long A “Ay” sound, which he had gutturally growled into an “Aygh.”

“Fire,” Kessler said during a recent lesson, as Zabkowski stared into a mirror, working to shape the tricky sounds found on the Chicago Fire Department exam application.

“Fi-yah,” he replied.

“Fi-your,” she corrected.

Zabkowski tried again: “Fi-your.”

“Good!” She exclaimed. “You’ve been practicing!”

Employment experts say it’s not just Zabkowski who’s putting in the effort to make himself clearer and more marketable — in this down economy, every advantage helps when applying for a job, and accent reduction is part of that. “It’s become much more mainstream,” said Stephanie Bickel, whose Chicago-based firm, Speak By Design, now employs six voice instructors.

“The way you answer the phone, the way you speak with someone is very important for connecting to people.”

Today, Bickel said that the majority of her business continues to come from immigrant workers who feel they’re not being understood, such as Jesus Paz-Albo, a 35-year-old Spaniard who teaches Spanish in the Chicago public schools.

“I was making some mistakes speaking English, and I wanted my students to get more of what I was saying,” he said.

But Bickel noted that this year, she’s seen an uptick in U.S.-born clients who think “no one is listening to them.”

“There’s been a noticeable increase in [American] men and women seeking to lower the pitch of their voices,” Bickel said. “It’s a trend that seems to be recession-related.”

One such Bickel client is Patricia, an out-of-work strategic planner who declined to give her last name. Patricia, who recently relocated to the Midwest, said she possesses an MBA and has had a successful career, but she’s always felt that her colleagues didn’t take her seriously because of her high-pitched voice.

“Despite the fact I’m 55, I still sounded like a high school cheerleader,” she said.

And so, Patricia began voice coaching in April, working to increase her vocal range and improve her pitch. She said she saw improvement after just one session, although it was a lot tougher task than she imagined.

“It’s been worth it, and it’s a huge confidence builder.”