How you talk is still big business

Among close friends and family it has become known as the "work voice". At least an octave lower, leagues slower and my regional accent softened, it is the one I employ for important first-time meetings - and occasionally when drunk.

When it comes to the former, at least, it seems I am not alone, as demand for professional elocution lessons is soaring across the capital.

"People are looking for a competitive advantage in the employment market," explains Mark Singleton, of Bloomsbury-based speech specialists Speak Easily. "Classes which work on accent reduction are becoming more popular with bankers, senior executives and barristers, where people feel their voice has to 'fit'. Some people want to reduce their accent to communicate with more clarity - for others it's about social status," he adds.

While elocution and dialect coaching has long been used by actors for a specific part - Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna have reportedly reduced their American twangs for film roles - it is now becoming common with non-celebrities.

The Tutor Pages, an online directory of private tutors, saw an increase of 119 per cent for elocution enquiries in the past year, and its elocution teachers received more enquiries than tutors of any other subject.

One is Susan Nataly Coombes, who has many pupils in the City and has coached staff from JP Morgan, Barclays, Lloyd's of London and UBS. "It benefits people to communicate clearly and present themselves in the best way," she says. "If an individual wanted to reduce their accent, we would work on vowel sounds, the pronunciation of consonants and insidious elements of their speech."

Coombes - whose background as an opera soprano helps students with projection and pronunciation - advises that five to 10 lessons would be needed for someone looking to work on a strong regional accent. I have to admit, I am pleased when Coombes says that despite my accent, she can understand me perfectly.

At least until she calls back a few minutes later. "I've just listened to your voicemail," she says, "You talk very fast. I had to listen to it six times in order to take down your number - you could work on that." So despite my best efforts, there is work to do on my "work voice", after all.