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Combinations - Combinations are the fusion of adjacent sounds or words. There are two types of combinations : blends (clusters) & contractions. Blends are combinations of two or more consonant sounds (e.g.. "str" in "street" or /ft/ in "lift". All of the sounds in a blend must be produced or the listeners will have difficulty understanding the word. Contractions are fusions of two adjacent words that make speech patterns sound less formal & more natural. Altering one sound at the end of one word and sound at the beginning of the next word produces a contraction.

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Contrastive Stress - Contrastive Stress pertains to changes in the meaning of a word that can be made by stressing different syllables within a word. In spoken English, there are pairs of words that are spelled exactly alike, yet differ in meaning (e.g.. conflict). If the stress is on the first syllable in the word "conflict", the word takes a noun form & refers to a state of argument. If, however, the stress is on the second syllable, the word takes the verb form and indicates a type of action. Listeners expect to hear appropriate contrastive stress.

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Consonant Voicing - Phonetics describe consonants as "speech sounds that are produced when the outgoing airstreams is partially or completely stopped by the tongue, lips or teeth". Voicing is an additional attribute of consonants that occurs when the vocal cords in the larynx vibrate.

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Dipthongs - Dipthongs are complex vowel sounds produced when two vowel sounds are combined.

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Front Vowels - American English has more vowel sounds than most other languages. Those vowels that are made by raising the front of the tongue higher than the back of the tongue are called Front Vowels.

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Intonation - Intonation is one of the prosodic features of speech. It is characterized by changes in the tone patterns used at the end of sentences. Depending on the meaning of the sentence, the intonation pattern called contour, drops or rises at the end of an utterance. If speakers do not use intonation appropriately their speech may sound monotone.

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Intrusive Sounds - Intrusive sounds entail the inappropriate of sound when clients speak. There are three types of intrusive sounds.

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Phrasing - Phrasing is a component of the prosody of speech (rhythm & melody) that involves changes in pitch and loudness levels within sentences.

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Sound Deletions - Sound Deletions involve the inappropriate deletion, or omission, of any sound within or at the end of a word. This includes the omission of vowel or consonant sounds.

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Speech Flow - Speech Flow is the smoothness of speech patterns. Two of the most noticeable features of Speech Flow, timing & rhythm, interact to produce speech that sounds smooth & melodic.

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Syllable Stress - Syllable Stress entails changes in the pitch and loudness of syllables within a word.

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Vowel Reductions - Vowel Reductions refer to shortening of the vowel sound in the unstressed syllables within words. Vowel Reductions are directly related to Syllable Stress.

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Word Endings - Word Endings are sound combinations that denote changes in tense, number or action. Among most of the common problems people have in using word endings are, omitting tense, plural or possessive markers at the end of a word.

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Word Focus - Word Focus is an aspect of prosody that involves emphasizing a particular word within an utterance.