Elocution Lessons.

The work

Elocution is the craft of being clearly and easily understood. It covers how you form sounds, how you breathe, how fast you go, where you put the weight in a sentence, and how much your voice moves while you speak. Done well, it makes people lean in rather than concentrate. Done badly, or not at all, it makes capable people sound tentative.

These are one-to-one lessons for adults, run by me, online, at £140 an hour with the first thirty minutes free. Most people take between six and twelve sessions. If you would like the definition and the history before the sales pitch, I have written what elocution actually is separately.

What I cover

Five things, in roughly the order they tend to need fixing.

Articulation. Consonant precision and vowel clarity, so that word endings stop disappearing. This is the fastest-moving part of the work and usually the one people notice first, because “hands” arriving as “hans” makes a listener do a small piece of repair on every third word. Take that repair work away and you sound sharper without sounding harder.

Breath. Support from low in the ribs rather than high in the chest, so your voice does not thin out at the end of a long point. Most people who are told to project have learned to shout politely, which is louder at the source and worse at the back of the room. The fix is more air, not more effort.

Pace and pause. Where most executives lose an audience. Nearly every client I record in a first session is speaking faster than they think, and almost nobody believes it until the playback. Pause is the change that does the most for the least effort, and it is the one I start with.

Emphasis. Which word in the sentence carries the weight. English signals what matters by stressing it, and a speaker who stresses everything, or nothing, hands the listener no map. This is quietly the highest-leverage item on the list and the one least often taught.

Pitch and range. Resting tone and how far the voice moves — what people are describing when they say someone “sounds senior.” Also where rising intonation turns your statements into questions, which is the most expensive habit in this subject.

Who it’s for

Three groups, in practice.

Leaders who have been told, usually vaguely and usually late, that they mumble, rush, trail off, or sound quieter than their job title. Often it surfaces in a performance review as something unhelpful like “gravitas.”

People working in English as a second or third language who are entirely fluent and still being asked to repeat themselves. This is almost never a vocabulary or grammar problem. It is stress, rhythm and a short list of specific sounds.

And people who have heard a recording of themselves on a video call and thought: that is not how I want to come across. That is the most common way this starts.

What this is not

This is not a clinical service. I do not treat stammers, lisps or any diagnosed speech or language disorder, and I do not prepare candidates for clinical examinations. If that is what you need, a speech and language therapist is the right professional and I will say so on the first call. Hoarseness lasting more than three weeks warrants a GP referral rather than a coach.

It is not accent reduction either. The aim is to be understood the first time in the voice you already have, and I will talk you out of trying to erase an accent — it makes people speak more slowly and more carefully, which reads as hesitancy, which is worse in a boardroom than any accent has ever been. More on why the naming matters.

And it is not public speaking training, though people often need both. Elocution works at the level of the sound. Public speaking works at the level of the room. If listeners ask you to repeat yourself, start here. If they hear every word and you still lose them, start there.

How it works

Sessions run 60 minutes, weekly or fortnightly, online over video. I am based in London and every client works with me directly — no associates, no rotating coaches, and a deliberately small number of people at a time.

Every session is recorded and sent to you. This is not an administrative detail; it is the method. You cannot correct what you cannot hear, and you cannot hear your own speech from inside your own head, because bone conduction makes your voice sound fuller and lower to you than it does to anyone else. The recording is what closes that gap, and it is why the work is online: recording a room is harder and helps less.

The first thirty minutes are free and are a real diagnostic rather than a sales call. I record you reading and talking, tell you what I actually hear, and give you a short specific list. If that list says you need a speech therapist, or nothing at all, you will hear that instead.

After that, a single session is £140. Blocks bring the hourly rate down: £520 for four weeks, £750 for six, £960 for eight. Six is what most people choose, because it is long enough to record you at the start, do the work, and record you again.

How long it takes

An honest answer, since the internet is short of them.

Articulation and word endings move within three or four sessions, because they are motor habits and motor habits retrain quickly once you can hear them. Pace and pause change almost the moment someone stops disbelieving the tape. Emphasis takes a little longer because it is a thinking habit as much as a speaking one. Pitch range is slowest and improves partly on its own once everything else is in place.

Most people hear a clear difference in themselves by session six and take about twelve to make it stick under pressure — and pressure is the test that matters, because a skill that only works in a calm room is not a skill yet.

What I will not promise is that it changes how people treat you. I cannot know that and neither can anyone else selling this. What you can check yourself, inside a fortnight, is whether you are still being asked to repeat things.

Getting started

The first session is free, thirty minutes, and you will leave it with a specific list whether or not you book anything else. Book a time, or read the free elocution course first — eleven lessons, no account, the same material I teach one to one.

Common questions

How much do elocution lessons cost?

£140 an hour for a single session, falling to £130 in a four-week block (£520), £125 over six weeks (£750) and £120 over eight weeks (£960). Ongoing month-to-month coaching is £270 for two sessions or £520 for four. The first thirty-minute session is free.

How many elocution lessons will I need?

Most people hear a clear difference in themselves by session six, and take about twelve to make it permanent. Articulation and word endings move fastest. If you are preparing for one specific event, four sessions is usually enough to change how that event goes.

Are the lessons online or in person?

Online, over video, wherever you are. I am London-based and the practice is deliberately online: it lets me record every session and send it to you, which is the part that does the work. Recording a room is harder and helps less.

Will elocution lessons change my accent?

Not unless you want them to, and I would talk you out of it. The aim is being understood the first time, in the voice you already have. Accent and clarity are close to independent: plenty of people with strong accents are perfectly clear, and plenty with mild ones are not.

Do you teach children, or prepare people for LAMDA exams?

No. This is adult, one-to-one work with people who speak for a living, and I do not prepare candidates for graded speech or drama examinations. If that is what you need, a LAMDA-registered teacher is the right person.

What is the difference between elocution lessons and speech therapy?

Elocution is coaching for people whose speech is within normal range and who want it clearer. Speech and language therapy is clinical treatment for diagnosed disorders. If you have a stammer, a lisp or a voice that keeps giving out, see a therapist or your GP first. I will say so on the free call.