Sound Hot: 4 Ways for the Asian-American Man to Sound Virile - Accent Reduction

In our last message about the sound of one's voice making an impression for better or worse, we talked about three different ways that the voice of an Asian-American Man (AAM) can work for or against him.  Three aspects of voice are accent, pitch and volume.  To make a good first impression on a woman, business contact or new neighbor, one wants to present himself as strongly and confidently as possible in each of these three areas.

Step One: Get an Assessment

Is your voice an issue?  The first step is to get an assessment.  The difficulty lies in making an objective evaluation of our own voice.  We literally cannot hear ourselves clearly.  As a benefit to our single readers, East West Attraction is doing a free 10-minute Voice Virility Assessment© in September of 2010.  Click here to make your no-cost phone appointment and get the code.  The East West Attraction assessment will focus on accent, pitch and volume from the point of view of male-to-female romantic interactions.

Readers who do not wish to take advantage of this opportunity (or for those outside the U.S. and Canada) can start by asking a trusted friend.  Make sure you ask open-ended questions while your friend gives you an assessment.  Ask what you are good at and what needs improvement.  Give them permission to be honest.  But still, sometimes friends have a hard time being objective and they also do not want to hurt your feelings.  They may be less than honest.

If neither of the options interests you, and you feel you may have a problem, you can ask for feedback as you proceed through the next steps.

Step Two:  Get Help with Your Issues

1.    Get Accent Reduction Training Online, With Books & Tapes, or In Person

If you are able to read this blog, then your language skills are probably alright.  You might need to tweak some accent imperfections.  Before we do that, let's ask whether it is even political correct to talk about accent. 

The goal here is to assist the AAM in meeting, attracting, courting, falling in love with and marrying an American woman, whether she is a white female (Caucasian), Latina (Hispanic) or black (African-American).  To do so, the Asian-American Man (AAM) needs to be attractive to her.  Do you want your differences or your similarities to be the first thing she notices about you?  Best answer:  Similarities.

If the first thing a woman notices is that you sound different and unfamiliar, i.e. "foreign", then the differences are the first impression.  Since the average reader of this blog is not a “Bruce Lee" or "Ken Watanabe" type, accent is relevant.  The AAM does not want the adorable brunette in the dairy aisle of the supermarket to wonder whether a lifetime with him will be spent trying to understand what he is saying.

Language professionals teach accent reduction both online and in person.  One example of online accent reduction is Accent Master Lynn.  Her website and YouTube videos describe and show her work.  She has a number of followers.  For Silicon Valley readers, check out Angelika Blendstrup, PhD.

Many language schools offer accent reduction classes.  Google or look through this directory to find one that specifically focuses on accent reduction in your area.  Accent is one of those things that professionals are really the most able to help with, unlike some of the other voice issues.  They understand linguistics and have the proper tools to use with English learners -- better than someone in the general population would have.

Amazon sells a number of books on the topic.  These are listed here as a courtesy for the readers.  These are a low-cost option but are also not very fun.  Who wants to sit at home after working a hard day and read about accents?  Mastering the American Accent with Audio CDs, American Accent Training: Grammar with Audio CDs, and Lose Your Accent in 28 Days (CD-ROM for Windows, Audio CD, and Workbook).

So that is four ways you can work on accent:  online, with a coach, at a language school, and on your own with books and CDs.  In the next post, we will discuss in more detail how to address issues of pitch and volume as well as personal speaking presentation.

To wrap up, there can be three areas to work on to project a strong, masculine voice:  accent, pitch and volume.  Each of these characteristics needs to be strong.  With some time and effort, you can sound masculine and confident to the ear of an American woman.  As you improve, keep evaluating how you are doing.  And, keep getting out there looking and chatting up the ladies as you practice your new skills.

As a benefit to our single readers, East West Attraction's matchmaker, Alicia Ballard, is performing a no-cost 10 minute voice assessment in September 2010.  The reader can make his no-cost phone appointment and get the code through this website.  There is no need to email us or call by phone.  The East West Attraction assessment will focus on accent, pitch and volume from the point of view of male-to-female romantic interactions.

Schedule the no-cost Voice Virility Assessment©

If the readers have more questions about this topic, please comment below or send an email.