The Accent CoachThe Accent Coach
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Jay Alexander Poulton

I coach senior professionals whose delivery has not yet caught up with what they bring to the room.

The Accent Coach is an executive communication and accent coaching practice that helps senior professionals operating in English be understood and taken seriously in the rooms that matter.

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Jay Alexander Poulton, The Accent Coach
Jay Alexander PoultonAccent and communication coach
  • 9 yearsCoaching executives one to one
  • 20+ yearsIn professional communications
  • ICF-trainedExecutive Leadership Coach
  • 35+ countriesHome to the clients I coach

What happens in the room

You have worked hard to get where you are, and the quality of your thinking is not in question. What brings people to me is what happens when they speak. Somebody asks you to repeat a figure. You watch a colleague stop following you halfway through a sentence. You come out of a meeting knowing the idea was right and the room took in perhaps eighty percent of it.

That gap is what I work on. The cause is usually mechanical rather than a matter of vocabulary or confidence, which is what makes it something you can actually change.

An ear trained where you only get one pass

Before I coached anyone, I spent more than twenty years working in professional communications, with training in broadcast journalism and Director-level roles at not-for-profits. Broadcast is an unforgiving school for a voice. You get one pass, you cannot ask your audience to stay with you, and anyone who becomes hard to follow simply loses them. That work trained me to hear the exact moment a sentence stops landing, and it is the same ear I bring to a boardroom.

I grew up in multilingual Montréal, which is where the listening started. Nine years ago I began coaching executives one to one, and I have since worked with leaders in more than 35 countries. I am an ICF-trained Executive Leadership Coach, trained at Canada Coach Academy. I have also published 35 books, mostly about sport, which is where I learned how much of holding an audience comes down to the way a thing is told.

The Voice Architecture

Everything I teach runs on one framework. It has five levers, and we tune them in order, because each one sets the conditions for the next.

  1. Breath

    The engine behind steady power and volume that never sounds forced.

  2. Articulation

    The mouth shapes that let every consonant be fully heard.

  3. Resonance

    The quality and placement of your voice, and how it supports clear, grounded delivery.

  4. Cadence

    The pacing and intonation that tell a room a thought is complete.

  5. Pause

    The most underused tool in executive speech, and the one that gives weight to whatever follows it.

The goal is clarity in Standard North American English, so your ideas land with the precision they deserve. You keep your own voice and your own identity throughout, and the work adds control rather than taking anything away.

What makes this different

Accent and executive communication in one engagement

Pronunciation and delivery are part of the same conversation. Work on the sounds that affect understanding alongside pace, emphasis, and the shape of your message.

Open to native speakers

I work with native English speakers as well as people who learned English later. The focus follows your speaking goal, from pronunciation to delivery under pressure.

A named method rather than general advice

The Voice Architecture is five levers tuned in a set order, so you can see what we are working on and why. That matters when you have to explain the engagement to a sponsor or a budget holder.

Your progress, on record

Every program starts with a recorded diagnostic, so you can hear yourself change from session to session. The Executive Voice Blueprint closes with a written report that puts your first and last recordings side by side. It is yours to keep and share if you choose.

One coach, every session

You work with me from the first diagnostic through to the last session. Nothing is passed to an associate, and nothing is delivered by a recorded course.

The people I am usually called for

  • Executives and senior leaders who need a room to settle when they start speaking
  • Foreign-born professionals operating at a senior level in English, particularly those recently promoted into roles with more visibility
  • Physicians and attorneys, where being understood the first time carries real consequence
  • Technical leaders presenting complex work to decision makers outside their field
  • Founders who pitch investors and speak publicly on behalf of their company

What changed for them

“Jay helped restore my confidence and improve my communication in executive-level meetings. I implemented Jay’s techniques, and it made an immediate difference.”
HeatherVP, Senior Leader · Automotive
“Jay’s coaching exceeded my expectations and has significantly improved my communication skills.”
Hiroshi H.IT Consultant
“Working with Jay completely changed the way I think about communication.”
Diego S.Account Manager
Read all testimonials

Three programs. One clear next step.

Choose the scope that sounds closest to your goal. Jay will help you decide which fits when you inquire.

5 sessionsA focused starting point

The Clarity Tune-Up

Targeted work on the specific sounds and words that cost you clarity. Find the handful that carry the most weight, build a personal sound list and practice until you can hear the change.

  • Pronunciation diagnostic in session one
  • Your personal sound list and recorded drills

A personal sound list and recorded drills you keep. No closing report.

A good fit whenA specific sound or word keeps getting in the way. If the problem is broader, particularly under pressure, start with the Voice Calibration.

Discuss my goal
10 sessionsMost popular

The Voice Calibration

Everything in the Clarity Tune-Up, plus breath, resonance, cadence and pause. Keep your volume to the final word, place the emphasis deliberately and hold your pace when the stakes rise.

  • Full Voice Architecture diagnostic
  • Work across all five voice levers

A one-page Closing Summary with your progress, key drills and a practice plan for the next month.

See a sample Closing Summary (PDF)

A good fit whenYou are understood, but sentences trail off, you speed up, or people talk over you in the meetings that matter.

Discuss my goal

Every program includes one-to-one Zoom sessions of 60 minutes, usually weekly, a diagnostic, a worksheet within one business day of each session, and WhatsApp coaching between sessions with a reply within one business day. Private program pricing comes in Jay’s first reply to your inquiry.

See what the work looks like.

The sample reports above and this worksheet use fictional clients and are marked as samples throughout. Your own materials are built from your recordings.

See a sample Session Worksheet (PDF)

You can send WhatsApp voice notes throughout any program. Short, specific examples are the most useful. Client voice notes stay confidential and are deleted when the program ends.

Which program fits?

Start with a defined pronunciation goal for 5 sessions; add rhythm and delivery for 10; work across voice, message, and audience for 15. You do not need to select a package on the inquiry form.

For teams and organizations

Keynotes for events, cohort programs for leadership pipelines, and sponsored coaching for individual leaders an organization wants to invest in. Format is scoped with you rather than sold off a shelf.

Coaching for teams

How it works

Format

Coaching is delivered one to one over Zoom, in sessions of 60 minutes, which means it works wherever you are. There is no portal to log into and no course to work through on your own.

First session

Every engagement opens with a full diagnostic session.

Between sessions

After each session you receive a worksheet built from your own recording, within one business day. Whichever program you choose, you can also send me voice notes on WhatsApp between sessions. I listen and reply with what to adjust within one business day, throughout your program.

Working with me

You work with me directly throughout. I reply to inquiries personally within one business day.

Conversations about clarity and authority

Emily Sander

Growing Vocal Authority: Insights for Executives from an Accent Coach

Watch on YouTube

The Beyond Fluency Podcast with Liam & Ramps

How Accents Can Still Humble the Highest-Level Executives with The Accent Coach Jay Poulton

Watch on YouTube

Tim Newman | Public Speaking Coach

Why Your Accent Isn’t the Problem: Building Clarity and Confidence in Communication

Watch on YouTube

Key facts

Practice name
The Accent Coach
Type
Executive communication and accent coaching practice, sole practitioner
Founder
Jay Alexander Poulton
Based
Canada. Coaching delivered online worldwide.
Core offering
One-to-one executive voice, communication and accent coaching
Programs
The Clarity Tune-Up, The Voice Calibration, The Executive Voice Blueprint, plus corporate keynotes and group programs
Method
The Voice Architecture: breath, articulation, resonance, cadence, pause
Pricing
Private programs are priced as packages of 5, 10, or 15 sessions. Pricing comes in my first reply to your inquiry. Team and event work is quoted after scoping.
Session format
One to one over Zoom, 60 minutes
Credentials
ICF-trained Executive Leadership Coach, trained at Canada Coach Academy. 9 years coaching executives one to one. 20+ years in professional communications, including Director-level roles at not-for-profits.
Clients served
Senior professionals and executives in 35+ countries
Also published
35 books, primarily about sport
Media appearances
English with Thiago; Emily Sander; The Beyond Fluency Podcast with Liam and Ramps; Tim Newman, Public Speaking Coach
Reviews
Trustpilot, Google Business Profile
Response time
Inquiries answered personally within one business day

Frequently asked questions

What is executive accent coaching?

It is training in how you produce speech, aimed at being understood and taken seriously rather than at sounding like somebody else. The work covers the physical mechanics of voice alongside the pronunciation patterns that make a listener work harder than they should.

Do you work with native English speakers?

Yes, and regularly. Native speakers come for authority, range, and delivery under pressure rather than for pronunciation, and the same five levers apply.

Will I lose my accent?

No, and that is not the aim. The work reduces the features that interrupt a listener while leaving your voice recognizably yours. Standard North American English is the reference point I measure against, rather than a sound you are being converted to.

How long does it take?

Most clients hear a difference within the first few sessions, and durable change takes a block of consistent work. The right length depends on which program fits, which is what the consultation establishes.

What does it cost?

Programs are priced as packages rather than by the hour, and the figure depends on which program fits what you are trying to do. I send pricing in my first reply to any inquiry, so you will not have to chase it.

Are sessions online?

Yes. All coaching is delivered one to one over Zoom, which is how I work with clients across 35+ countries.

Do you work with companies?

Yes, through keynotes, cohort programs for leadership teams, and sponsored coaching for individual leaders. Corporate engagements are scoped directly with the organization.

Start with a conversation

Bring one situation where your communication matters most to you right now. I will tell you what I hear, where I think the gap is, and which of the programs fits what you are trying to do. You will come away with a clear answer either way.

Request a consultationSee the programs