She was preparing an important presentation to industry executives. The first run through of Jane's speech was stilted and frankly uninteresting. Immediately, she made eye contact with the audience, relaxed, used interactive techniques and humor and proceeded to deliver a dynamic presentation. The answer here was Jane perceiving that a speech for her was just like training, which she does successfully and regularly. She needed to dump the mental image of a speech being like the academic lecture of her college days.
Some people feel sensitive about their accents.
Through a series of drills, a speech coach can make selected modifications in pronunciation but more importantly show that accents are part of a person's persona and not necessarily an impediment to audience understanding. Plus unanticipated language constructions often evoke humor. Even Academy Award winning actors continue to study with a coach, so do CEO's, singers, musicians, dancers and Olympic athletes. Look at it as an investment in your professional development. You will come away with polish, refinement, encouragement, sophisticated feedback, confidence in new situations, better presentation skills, and a new dimension added to your communication portfolio.