(Interested in what I sound like? Listen to an audio version of this article in .mp3 format!)

Why do people need speech coaches? In one case, they are speaking English as a Second Language. English does not come naturally to their lips; they are hesitant and shy. In another case, they are natives of English who want to learn better public speaking, but are nervous and have never studied how to speak properly in this way.

At Languages for Victory, I seek to help people learn the English language as part of a broader strategy for success in life. Many people have wonderful plans, goals, and indeed, dreams; the English language is a practical tool for making these dreams into reality. Victory is both an attitude, and a process; the attitude for winning must be accompanied by training and improving the self.

Beyond speaking for public presentation is conversation. Conversation is an ancient art; my website uses a background from a piece of ancient Greek pottery showing conversations taking place in Palaestra, the ancient Greek school of wrestling. Conversation is the art of subtlety, of empathy, of cooperation; it is a critical component of inter-personal communication. Just as there is an art to war, and an art to swordsmanship, there is, too, an art to conversation.

When speaking, what we say is important, but how we say it, even more so; the style of our delivery greatly influences how easily the other person can understand and appreciate our opinions. To understand our opinions is good: to come to appreciate; sympathize with; share our opinions, is the ancient art of persuasion. Conversation is also the art of being a good listener; by combining the two, we come to master communication.

By properly listening to others, we make them feel important; we make them feel as though their thoughts and goals are important to us. By properly communicating to others, we make them feel valued; we make them feel as though they are part of our thoughts and goals. By combining the two, we come to master leadership.

Thus do we succeed.

My goal in launching Languages for Victory is to help others communicate their thoughts and ideas in no-accent American English. As a Canadian with a lifetime of listening to Americans speak, I am not only intimately familiar with their speech patterns; I do not have a distinct spoken accent of my own. This allows me to teach you English that can be heard and understood all across America. This ensures your English speech will be understood by the maximum number of people for personal and business advantage.

At present, my main vehicles for teaching English are eduFire (here's my tutor page) and Skype, where I am simply jeremiah.bourque. I am jbtutor on Twitter. While eduFire and Skype allow me to teach via the spoken word, I seek to educate others with every word I speak, and every word I type. This is leadership by example.

Please contact me to tell me how I can help you: your needs, your schedules. Whether you are learning English as a Second Language or are seeking to shore up an aspect of English as your first language, let me be your guide to better, more confident, more natural American English.

You deserve no less.