Middletown -
You would never think the woman who teaches people how to drop that distracting regional
or foreign accent that interferes with their chances for career advancement was born in
Queens and raised in Long Island, N.Y. However, Dr. Patricia Gomola’s accent is imperceptible --
unless the corporate speech pathologist is doing one of her various impressions.
She taught herself how to drop that New York accent after moving to San Francisco when she
was 21. "I did what I have to do with other people," she said. Part of the
reason Gomola, director of the Speech and Language Institute in Middletown, entered the
field of speech pathology is that her brother was mute until age five due to a learning
disability. She has used her talent with accents in many different ways. While in
San Francisco, she did voice-overs for commercials using Asian, Italian or New York
accents.
Gomola of Portland has been a speech pathologist for more than 30 years, and has worked on
reducing foreign accents for more than 25 years. She entered the field of corporate speech
pathology about five years ago and specializes in reducing Asian, Indian and Hispanic
accents, but can help people convert accents from nearly any language or region of the
United States to Standard American English.
However, speech coaching does not include English as a second language. All clients must
have a grasp of the English language. A good way to judge if a client needs help is to
consider, if the client were talking, would people focus more on the client’s accent
than the content of the conversation.
The fairly new niche of speech pathology is designed to help corporations retain great
employees with a potential for promotions, who would be perfect for a higher level
position if their accent or mannerisms didn’t prohibit them. It is particularly
common to see foreign professors and physicians who need assistance. Gomola has also
worked with companies in the aerospace industry, communication field, government and
sales. "Better communication can give someone a chance to move up," she said.
It’s much less expensive to spend a few hours -- or even a few days in a group
setting -- with a corporate speech pathologist than to hire a new person for the position,
she said. Often that investment will also create a very loyal employee. "It’s a
quick fix which is neat," she said.
Gomola also serves as a board member of Corspan, which stands for Corporate Speech
Pathologists Network. Monday has been designated the first annual Better Business
Communication Day by Chase’s Book of Days, and Gomola is hoping that people at
corporations will be aware of those who may be having problems communicating on that day.
At her private practice, located on South Main Street, Gomola tape records a client
speaking before the session and then again afterwards. She said it’s amazing to see
how much of a difference even two hours of speech coaching can make. She evaluates a
person’s accent, slows the person’s speech down and then targets the area that
is the most different from Standard American English. For Asians, the letters R and L are
pronounced differently, and Hispanics often roll their Rs. Clients then practice the tips
until they can observe them all day. Some of the other most commonly treated
corporate speech conditions are slowing speed down, increasing eye contact and reducing
fillers such as "like," "you know," "I mean,"
"uhh"s and "umm"s.
On Monday, Gomola suggests following the 10 tips for better communication listed on the
Corspan Web site. Some of the tips include speaking slowly and clearly on the telephone,
especially when leaving information on voice mail, so the listener can write down what is
said; adjusting speech volume and rate to the other persons; keep your body and face
turned toward the listener, while practicing good eye contact and a strong handshake to
make a great first impression; use a microphone with group meetings of more than 20
people, since one in 10 people age 18 to 64 has some sort of hearing loss. More tips can
be found on the Corspan Web site, www.corspan.net. Additional information about
her practice can be found on Dr. Gomola's web site at www.speechdr.com
ŠThe Middletown Press 2003
Photo by Irena Pastorello- Middletown Press
