Sounds of English is a collaboration by Holly Gray and Sharon Widmayer that we first started to help our

ESL students improve their English pronunciation. However, it is also great information to help with
spelling and reading.

You will also find information about our past research and presentations, lessons and activities, our current
interests, and more

There are many more vowel sounds in English than the 5 (and sometimes 'y'!) vowel letters. Explore them
here.

Just like those vowels, consonant sounds aren't always the same as consonant letters. For instance, did you
know that the 'sh' sound is one consonant sound represented by two letters? And the letter 'x' is actually a
blend of 2 consonant sounds. Explore the consonant sounds here!

Why is pronunciation important?

Pronunciation is about so much more than accent! Many of the features that play a role in pronunciation
also are important in reading and writing.

 Understanding how to make specific sounds and how sounds are similar helps with spelling and
decoding (sounding out) unfamiliar words. This understanding of phonetics can help teachers and
parents understand kids' spelling and reading errors, too.
 Understanding stress and intonation helps speakers be more understandable. It also helps readers
develop their reading fluency.

Stress and intonation make a big different in comprehension! Not only that, but they help us convey
emphasis and feelings. Learn more about them here.

Pronunciation Cards (for Pronunciation Partners game)--

This set is for vowels and final consonants. Download all three parts and print them out. (These are
formatted to fit Avery 5388 perforated index cards. 36 cards total.) This game can be played in small groups
using the same rules as "Go Fish." The point of the game is to collect as many sets of 4 as possible. The
student with the most sets of 4 at the end of the game wins.

Pronunciation Bingo--

a great way for students to practice hearing and saying minimal pairs
Lessons & Activities

Lessons and activities are being updated and posted. Also, check out some ideas on our Pinterest pages.

Mixers--

Print out the sheet, separate the words, and hand them out to students as they come into class. Tell them to
find their partners or groups. Great warm-up or grouping activity.

Pronunciation Pyramids--a syllable game

Have students compete to build syllable pyramids. The teacher gives a topic (clothing, objects in the
classroom, animals, food, etc.) and students race to build a pyramid. (One syllable word at the top, the a 2-
syllable word, 3-syllable word, etc.)

Lights, Camera, Action--

an Internet-based listening, speaking, and writing activity using movie trailers

Digital Camera Vocabulary Practice--

The idea here is that students take pictures of themselves with a digital camera while they are doing the
action on the card. The card has to be in the picture. Not only do my students LOVE this activity, but the
digital images can be printed out and distributed to the students (One way to do that is to put them in a
PowerPoint presentation). Students get a kick out of seeing their pictures and it is a great vocabulary review.

Importance of Effective Communication in Business

Business professionals rely on effective communications to build strong internal partnerships while
developing a sound customer base. Whether asking permission to proceed with a sale or seeking an alliance
to move a corporate agenda forward, the way professionals express their ideas can impact how their
audiences perceive those concepts. Poorly communicated ideas, even when fundamentally sound, often fail
to interest their intended targets.

Features

Effective communication requires two or more parties to engage in a cycle of feedback that shapes their next
actions. For professionals to remain productive, communication should include a specific call to action,
backed up by persuasive evidence that reinforces the desired outcome. While a manager may choose to draft
a memo to his team about a policy change, the conversations that ensue after the memo’s publication often
determine the success of that request. Ineffective workplace communication can inspire passive-aggressive
behavior, including defacing a posted policy sign or a reversal of expected results.
Misconceptions

Organizations can determine if business communication is effective by measuring results, according to

according to author Asha Kaul, author of "Effective Business Communication." For instance, an ad
campaign may “go viral,” capturing the attention of millions of viewers. However, it can still fail if it
neglects to generate any real revenue for a sponsor. Building “buzz” only counts if a business can convert a
community’s chatter into bottom line results. While the effectiveness of external communications produces
more trackable revenue, internal communication leads to more nuanced results, including behavioral
changes or policy shifts.

Considerations

Business professionals must learn to make distinctions between internal and external communication. In
most companies, workplace culture defines the formality and the method of spreading ideas and sharing
feedback. Some businesses rely heavily on emails, while others have built a culture of meetings. Likewise,
organizations often use a narrow set of preferred communication channels to engage with customers. Mass
media advertising campaigns should complement the conversations between customers and local sales or
service agents. An employee who falls outside a company’s communication norms can be viewed as
inauthentic or “off message.”

Warning

Business professionals must learn to match the anticipated tone and style of communication, or risk
alienating their audiences. For example, partners in an established law firm may sanction employees whose
informal communication style lacks detail or professionalism. Likewise, workers in a start-up technology
company may alienate colleagues who come across as stuffy or detached in their email or presentation.
While ad agencies often help companies maintain consistency in their external communication, individual
professionals must learn to mirror the style of their intended audience to achieve real effectiveness.

Effects

Companies that achieve a culture of effective communication often benefit from enhanced productivity and
deeper customer relationships. Teams that have developed tight feedback cycles often complete tasks more
quickly, especially when they receive clear goals from leadership. Likewise, companies that understand how
to efficiently communicate their value propositions earn more business while spending less money on
advertising and public relations. Reduced employee churn and increased annual revenues both indicate that
teams have developed highly functional communication skills.

10 Simple Ways To Improve Your People Skills And Build Relationships

In my experience, the most important factor in gaining influence and achieving success is developing people
skills. Yet, nowhere in the formal education system — from kindergarten through college — are people
skills taught, even though nearly all of us use our people skills every day.

I recently spoke to a group of students and joked that the most valuable skill I’d learned in college was how
to interact and network with other people though social events that my university had hosted. More than
anything I learned from reading textbooks, I gained people skills through organizations and activities.

No matter what technological trends take over, people and how you work with them will always matter
most. Still, knowing this, it’s surprising to me how many people lack the skills necessary to bring
opportunity to themselves and their companies.

1. Understand someone better than you do your friends in just three minutes.
The key is to ask great questions that people are excited to answer and then listen attentively. Instead of
making small talk, ask deeper questions when you first meet someone, like “What is the most exciting thing
you’re working on right now?” or “If you had enough money to retire, what would you be doing today?”
This gets people to quickly open up.

2. Wear orange shoes.

At a crowded entrepreneurship conference, an investor sought by everyone walked up to Kerpen because of

the bright orange shoes he was wearing and ended up investing more than $500,000 in his company. Sure,
the investor didn’t invest because of the shoes themselves, but those shoes attracted him to Kerpen and
helped get the relationship started. Kerpen now has 33 pairs of orange shoes and wears one each day. You
don’t need to commit to orange shoes, of course, but think about what signature accessory you can wear
each day to stand out wherever you go.

3. Always accept the glass of water.

When someone comes over to your house, you offer them a drink, and if they refuse, you may feel like a
lesser host. So why do that to someone at their office? Instead, take the water, coffee, or soda they offer you,
put the person you’re meeting with at ease, and get comfortable yourself.

4. Make sure who you are online is who you are in real life.

Many people are still guarded about their online lives and social media. But the truth is that the more you
can embrace your authentic, even vulnerable, self online, the better. Authenticity breeds trust, and trust
breeds business — both offline and online.

5. Don’t sell it — tell the story.

The secret to persuading people is to tell an effective story with an engaging introduction and a compelling
narrative. When you captivate your audience with a story, you can inspire a vested interest in the outcome
that you want.

6. Go beyond the humblebrag.

Promote others unsolicited, and share their accomplishments across your social media streams. You’ll find
that, in exchange, others will be much more receptive when you share what you have to offer.

7. Mirror neurons, and maximize how a good mood goes a long way.

We all have mirror neurons that cause us to take on the attitude of the person talking to us. When you’re in a
bad mood, it’s actually contagious — but when you’re full of enthusiasm and optimism, that’s contagious,
too. When people feel enthusiastic and optimistic during and after a conversation with you, they associate
those positive feelings with you. You made them feel good, and they’ll remember it, which can help you
stay top of mind and build better relationships.

8. If you’re there to help, you’re there to win.

No one really likes conflict, but when you work with people, it’s a natural part of the process sometimes.
When you enter a conflict, position yourself as someone there to help both parties rather than take sides.
You’ll gain everyone’s respect and make it much easier to resolve the conflict to your liking.

9. Be unoriginal. (You can quote Dave Kerpen himself on this.)

You don’t have to use your own words to inspire people. Chances are good that someone’s likely said what
you want to say better than you can, anyway. Liberally quote famous leaders, both online and offline.
10. Buy a bonsai.

After meeting someone important to you, leave an impression by sending a handwritten thank-you note and
a small gift. What do you get the person who has everything? Try a bonsai — it’s exotic, small, inexpensive,
and easy to grow.

As leaders, we should strive to always improve our skills and continuously grade ourselves on how well we
practice what we should be. After Kerpen shared this list with me, I graded myself by double-checking how
and when I practiced these tips — and I realized I was failing at several of them, even though I agree that
they’re important.

For example, I can be really great at sending handwritten notes (though my handwriting resembles a second-
grader’s), but I noticed that I’d recently fallen short in this simple practice and hadn’t written a note by hand
in a while.

It’s important to read through lists like this to figure out what you agree with and what makes sense for you;
reflect on what your people skills are and how you can improve them. To help myself do this, I took the “Art
of People” quiz that complements Kerpen’s book to assess my skills. It was really interesting to find out
what my particular strengths were and then compare them to these tips to see where I stood. I challenge each
of you to do the same.

John Hall is the CEO of Influence & Co., a company that specializes in expertise extraction and knowledge
management that is used to fuel marketing efforts.

4.
I’ll be the first one to admit it: Small talk can be downright boring. Yes, it’s a widely accepted professional
pleasantry—but you and I both know that it often means buckling up for a seemingly endless string of
painfully mundane anecdotes.

After all, if you politely ask me during a networking event what I did over the weekend, you probably don’t
really want to hear about how I ate reheated lasagna for four meals in a row and avoided doing my laundry.
And, if you ask how my day was, you probably aren’t all that pumped about hearing the intricacies of my
last eight hours.

But, alas, we all feel the undeniable pressure to fill that uncomfortable silence—which results in some, well,
less-than-thrilling stories spewing out of our mouths from time to time.

However, it doesn’t need to be that way. I have a few simple tips you can implement to make even your
driest, most boring, snore-worthy story at least a little bit more interesting.

1. Be Prepared

Before we go any further, let’s take a look at the first part of the problem: Most people don’t think their own
small talk stories are interesting, simply because they aren’t actually telling stories. After all, responding to a
standard question like, “How was your day?” with “It was fine, how was yours?” doesn’t really count as a
compelling narrative.

So, the first part of the process is to actually tell a story. Whether it’s about the coffee you spilled all over
your desk first thing in the morning, an interesting project that kept you challenged all day, or a funny
conversation you had with a co-worker earlier, find something that has a clear beginning, middle, and end
that deserves more than a few short, halfhearted words.
Even if it isn’t a moving monologue that would be best complimented by a string orchestra soundtrack,
being armed with some sort of narrative you can build upon will be helpful.

2. Cut the Rambling

Let’s face it—small talk can be uncomfortable, which inspires many of us to awkwardly ramble and bury the
lead in our stories. After we’ve fumbled our way through plenty of filler words and completely unnecessary
details, we finally sort of, kind of, almost get to the meatiest part of the narrative.

Unfortunately, this lengthy introduction takes your already dull story and makes it even drearier. And, you
definitely don’t want that.

So, regardless of whether you’re sharing an anecdote at a networking event, in a job interview, or just with a
professional acquaintance you ran into, do your best to cut the rambling and get to the meat and potatoes of
your story. It’ll keep your audience that much more engaged.

3. Find Some Common Ground

Have you ever had a friend sit you down and force you to look through all of his or her photos from a recent
vacation? Chances are, you were bored to tears. It sounds brutal, but it’s human nature—we have very little
interest in things that don’t directly pertain to us.

If you really want your conversational partner to be engaged in whatever story you’re telling, it’s best to
base your chosen anecdote off of something you have in common.

Whether it’s a shared interest or a contact you both know, talking about something that at least somewhat
resonates with your conversational partner will help to keep his or her interest—even if your story itself isn’t
all that gripping.

4. Don’t Skip All the Details

You might be tempted to cut out all of the details involved with your story. And, true, they can feel
somewhat flowery and unnecessary at times—and you definitely don’t want to drone on for ages in an effort
to adequately describe something totally insignificant.

However, remember that a few details are also what gives your narrative a little life and interest. So, resist
the urge to eliminate all of them.

Think about it: Would you want to listen to a story where the scene was never set and all adjectives were
removed? Probably not. Your anecdote about that presentation you aced doesn’t hold the same impact if you
skip the part about how nervous you were about it.

So, while you don’t want to overdo it with the unnecessary minutiae of your story, don’t hesitate to get a
little theatrical and descriptive to keep things interesting.
5. Keep it Short

With that being said, you should still make an effort to keep your story fairly brief—after all, it’s called
small talk for a reason. If your anecdote takes longer than a minute for you to get through (yes, you need to
leave time to breathe), then it’s probably a little too long-winded.

I get it—you worry that a concise narrative will lead to even more awkward silence. But, remember that
you’re having a conversation—not putting on a performance. You don’t want to monopolize the discussion
and never give your partner a chance to respond.

Small talk is a simple pleasantry—not something that’s designed to dig into your deepest thoughts, feelings,
and ambitions. It’s great for filling the silence in a long line or during an awkward introduction, but there’s
no denying that it can also lead to some pretty mundane stories being shared.

Before launching into an anecdote just to say something, ask yourself this: If someone else were telling you
this story, would you find it at all interesting? If your answer is, “Absolutely not,” you’re probably better off
asking questions of your partner to keep the conversation moving—or, when in doubt, leaning on that
faithful standby of chatting about the weather.