Drew Sisera - English Communication and Accent Coaching

09/25/2026

Sometimes the best thing you can do when you can’t find the right word is…

stop talking.

I actually demonstrated this accidentally during my session. I couldn’t find the word I wanted, so I paused and asked myself:

“What’s the right word here?”

Then I waited.

For English learners, silence can feel like failure. So they rush to fill it, choose a word they don’t really want, or continue building a sentence they’re no longer confident about.

You’re allowed to think. To pause. To search. To choose. To then continue.

Good communication isn’t about producing words as quickly as possible. It’s about becoming increasingly intentional with the words that come out so the listen doesn't have to work hard to understand your intentions.

09/24/2026

Some communication habits are difficult to change for one simple reason:

You don’t know you’re doing them.

I’ve recorded new clients who were genuinely shocked by how many filler words appeared in their spontaneous speech, not because fillers make someone a “bad speaker,” but because you can’t deliberately manage a behaviour you aren’t aware of.

So before correction comes awareness.

Record yourself. Listen back. Count. Find patterns.
..then start experimenting with alternatives, like allowing silence while you think instead of immediately filling that space with sound.

Eventually, I want that awareness to move from:

“I heard it in my recording.”

to:

“I noticed it while I was speaking.”

to:

“I caught it before it came out.”

That progression is where control REALLY starts developing.

09/23/2026

Grammar is embedded in great communication skills.

Your grammar SHOULD reflect your intention. If it doesn't, the listener either has to work harder to understand what you're trying to say or they won't understand at all.

Consider the difference:
"a framing phrase"
"the framing phrase"
"framing phrases"

Those tiny grammatical choices help the listener understand whether we mean one, which one, or multiple.

That’s why I didn’t simply correct my client when he said “using framing phrase.” Instead, I wanted him to reason through what he actually meant...

Are there multiple phrases? Is there one? Do we know which one?

Once his intended meaning became clear, the grammatical choice became much easier to understand.

That’s how I prefer to approach grammar whenever possible.

Not simply:
“This is wrong. Say this instead.”

But:
“What are you actually trying to communicate, and which language accurately represents that?”

Grammar isn’t just about producing correct sentences. It helps another person accurately interpret what your intention is.

--
A quick note for my fellow teachers: You’ll hear me simplify a few grammar rules while working through this with Chris. For example, my comment about countable nouns is specifically referring to singular countable nouns in this context, and my explanation of the as something “we both know” is a learner-friendly way of introducing definiteness rather than the complete rule.
I do this intentionally at times. My goal in the moment isn’t to give the learner every exception or grammatical condition at once. It’s to give them a rule they can understand, apply, and reason through independently. As their understanding develops, we can add the exceptions and complexity later.

09/22/2026

Absolutely magical day today 💫

Regina and I recently learned that we could volunteer to teach English at local Buddhist schools in Chiang Mai, so today we found ourselves at a Buddhist university tucked away in the lush northern part of the city, sharing what became an incredibly immersive exchange with monks, international learners, and faculty.

We encouraged everyone to face their fear of asking questions and vocalize whatever ideas came to mind. What started as a simple introduction about who we are and what we do turned into a nearly 90-minute Q&A.

We talked about English pronunciation, how culture shapes communication, confidence when speaking with more advanced English speakers, what to do when you don’t understand someone, life in Canada, religion, how I define success, and what five years of travelling have taught me.

I even played harmonica for everyone, an instrument many of them had never heard before. I connected the way we create different sounds by blowing, moving the tongue, and shaping the lips to something I teach all the time: pronunciation. In many ways, speech is music too. We’re constantly coordinating our breath, tongue, lips, rhythm, and timing to create different sounds.

We laughed, smiled, got curious, and had some incredibly meaningful conversations.

Also, almost everyone thought I was around 25, so they were shocked when I told them I’ll be 34 in just over half a year 😂

To top it all off, Regina and I were invited to join a meditation and mindfulness class. We practised walking and sitting meditation while learning about Buddhist philosophy from an incredibly thoughtful and patient teacher.

Today was a reminder that no matter how different our cultures, experiences, beliefs, or perspectives may be, communication is what allows us to bridge those differences.

Our words. Our eye contact. Our smiles. Our curiosity. Our questions. Our willingness to listen.

Communication is so much more than speaking the same language. It’s how we find ways to understand one another despite everything that makes us different.

09/22/2026

There’s a difference between:

“Repeat after me: pronunciation.”

and

“Let’s figure out why this word is difficult for you.”

The first might produce the correct word.

The second can teach you something about your speech.

That’s why I spend so much time breaking words apart, finding familiar sounds, exaggerating movements, comparing pronunciations, and slowly rebuilding.

I’m not only trying to correct the word in front of us. I’m trying to make the learner more aware of what their mouth is doing and give them strategies they can eventually use without me.

A correct pronunciation is great, BUT knowing how to troubleshoot your own pronunciation is much more valuable long term.

09/21/2026

I get asked about group classes quite often...and I understand why. Obviously, they can make coaching more affordable and give people an opportunity to learn together.

My hesitation has always been figuring out how to preserve what makes my coaching valuable in the first place.

A lot of what happens in my sessions is deeply personalized. I’m listening to how you pronounce something, how you structure an idea, which words you repeatedly misuse, what you notice, what you don’t, when you hesitate, and when something suddenly "clicks."

Then the session changes based on what I hear.

That constant back-and-forth is difficult to replicate at scale in a group setting. It doesn’t mean group learning can’t be valuable. It absolutely can. I just haven't figured that out YET.

Regardless, whatever format I use, I never want personalization to disappear simply because more people are in the room...

09/20/2026

Well… that was so much fun!! 😂

Tonight, I hosted my first live English Communication Q&A, bringing English teachers and learners together from different parts of the world for one big conversation.

No slides. No presentation. No prepared lesson.

Just real questions, real experiences, and a LOT of discussion (almost 2 hours worth!!)

We covered everything from pronunciation, confidence and multilingualism to teaching strategies, communication psychology, vocabulary, AI, and some of the technology I use with my own clients.

What I loved most was that the conversation didn’t just come from me. Teachers shared their experiences. Learners shared what English actually feels like from their side. We challenged ideas, compared perspectives, asked follow-up questions, and learned from each other.

And somehow our planned 90 minutes turned into almost...two hours. 😂

I think that says something really important. There's obviously a need in this industry for dialogue, for community, for support, and for more knowledge.

This Q&A session was not just an answer to that, but a calling for more to come.

Thank you to everyone who joined me for the first one!! 🙌

I genuinely had a great time doing this.

I think we might have to do another one. 👀

If you’d be interested in joining the next Q&A, let me know in the comments.

09/20/2026

One idea I keep returning to in my coaching is that understanding is a shared responsibility.

The speaker has a responsibility to communicate clearly, yes.

But the listener also has tools available when something isn’t clear...

They can paraphrase, ask questions, repeat key words, test interpretations, and request clarification.

That’s what I’m training here.

I intentionally gave my client a messy explanation and asked him to reconstruct my intention through questions...

Not:
“Did you understand?”

But:
“What do you think I meant, and what information do you still need?”

Successful communication isn’t measured by whether every sentence was perfectly understood the first time. Sometimes it’s measured by whether two people have the skills to recognize misunderstanding and work together until they reach the same meaning.

09/18/2026

My client was trying to say “next,” but it kept coming out closer to “lext.”

So instead of repeatedly telling her, “No, say next,” I temporarily stopped practising the word altogether.

We went somewhere her pronunciation was already successful:

no → not → new → need → neck

Every one of those words gave me evidence that she could already produce the initial N clearly. The sound itself wasn’t missing from her speech. The challenge was accessing and maintaining that movement in this particular combination.

Then we returned to next.

And she got it.

This is why you’ll often hear me jumping between seemingly unrelated words during pronunciation coaching. I’m looking for sounds and movements the client already controls and using them as anchors for something they’re struggling to produce.

Sometimes you don’t need to teach the mouth something completely new.

You need to help it find something it already knows how to do.

09/17/2026

3 DAYS TO GO! 👀

This Sunday, I’m bringing a small group of English teachers AND learners together on Zoom for something I’ve wanted to try for a while.

No slides.
No prepared presentation.
No sitting there quietly while I talk at you for 90 minutes. 😂

You bring the questions. We create the conversation.

Already, people joining have brought up questions about:
“How can I improve my pronunciation?”
“How do I stop rushing when I speak?”
“How can I help students actually USE the vocabulary they learn?”
“How do I correct pronunciation without constantly interrupting?”
“How can I structure my lessons better?”

And THAT is exactly what I want this to be.

Bring me the English problem you keep running into, share it with everyone, and let's learn from each other. Bring me the student you don’t know how to help. Bring me the pronunciation question that’s driving you crazy. Bring an idea you disagree with me about! 😂

We’ll talk, experiment, share ideas, practise, and figure things out together.

Teachers AND English learners are welcome!

📅 Sunday, September 20
⏰ 7:00–8:30 PM Thailand & Philippines
💻 Live on Zoom
💵 $20 USD
👥 Maximum 20 people

I’m intentionally keeping this first one small so we actually have time to talk to each other, rather than turning it into another webinar where everyone just watches.

If you want to join us, fill out the short form below and tell me what YOU want to talk about:

https://app.youform.com/forms/nzl2egb0

See you Sunday! 😎

Fill out my Youform