ClearSpeak Pty Ltd has been providing professional speech training and audio services for over 30 years. Founded by Alison Kimble and Kent Fry, our focus is not only on providing quality commercial services but also charitable programs for the less advantaged.
We are authors of several training resources, which we produce and sell to trainers and students.
“To provide top quality English pronunciation and audio resources to enable users to enhance their social
and career potential through speaking English confidently and clearly”
Alison Kimble was born in the United Kingdom and has lived and worked in the UK, South Africa, Australia, Thailand and South Korea. She holds postgraduate qualifications in both Speech Pathology and Human Resource Management. In 1991 she established ClearSpeak Pty Ltd in Sydney, specialising in the fields of English pronunciation, voice and speaking style.
Following a break of six years in Thailand and South Korea, Alison once again operated from Sydney, Australia, providing speech and communication training to native English speakers as well as a wide variety of those from non-English speaking backgrounds. She now lives in Queensland with husband Kent Fry.
She pioneered the holistic training approach, the ClearSpeak Training Method, and has coached a large number of pronunciation clients by private tuition.
These include many Australian radio broadcasters, business people and professionals who speak English as their second language.
Her original training materials and products have consolidated ClearSpeak as a provider of professional, quality resources.
Her book Perfect Pronunciation is used by many colleges and universities internationally as a text for training teachers and speech therapists in the field.
Alison’s early career in a large general hospital included work with voice disability, stuttering and gender identity speech issues. Among others, she has published in the fields of Parkinson’s Disease speech and the Gay speech pattern. The breadth and depth of her experience has helped many clients achieve their desired image through adjusting their speaking style.
Seeking a new challenge earlier in her career, Alison completed a further post-graduate year in human resource management. She graduated from the Business School with the John O’ Meara Award for Best Student of the Year. She then went to work in two international banks, developing people management policies and systems; and rose to executive level in Australia before leaving to start ClearSpeak. Alison, therefore, has firsthand knowledge of the performance and communication demands of the workplace.
As a professional speech pathologist, Alison follows a strict code of ethics and clients are assured of complete confidentiality in all training they undertake with ClearSpeak. As a practising therapist, the professional body does not permit her to publish testimonials from clients.
Alison is a keen singer in the classical style and sings both solo and with choirs. She performs at no charge for charitable causes. Hear Alison sing in the following video extracts.
Publications
Books
Business With Style: A simple guide to Australian business protocol and manners(1992) 2. Sydney: ClearSpeak Pty Ltd
Perfect Pronunciation: A guide for trainers and self-help students. (2001) 3. Sydney: ClearSpeak Pty Ltd
Perfect Pronunciation: A guide for trainers and self-help students. 2nd ed. including DVD (2012) 3. Sydney: ClearSpeak Pty Ltd
Training Resources
ClearSpeak Adult Pronunciation Test (CAP Test)
ClearSpeak’s Pronunciation of the Order of Mass (Catholic translation 2011)
Professional Papers
Audiometric Weber and Rinne tests as compared to pure-tone thresholds, in South African Journal of Communication Disorders (1974), 21, pp 63-70 1
A clinical rating scale of speech dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease, in South African Journal of Communication Disorders(1978), 25, pp 39-52 1
Food for thought: Creating an integrated workforce in South Africa, in IPM Manpower Journal (1983), 1(10), pp 28-311 (Winner of the Fedics Food Services/Institute of Personnel Management Award for 1983)
A sensitive issue of style, in HR Monthly (June 1992), pp 16-192
What comes out when you open your mouth?, in Sydney Business to Business Magazine (February 1995), p 22 2
‘Straightening’ the ‘Gay’ Communication Style, in Australian Voice Journal (1997), 3, pp 43-49 2
Published under:
1 maiden name Alison K. Thompson
2 professional name Alison K. Kimble
3 Alison Kimble-Fry
About Kent Fry B.Comm (Econ)
Kent qualified as an Economist and established his early career working as a bank risk consultant. He is a Director of ClearSpeak Pty Ltd.
He retired from this field and now works both as ClearSpeak’s Resources Manager and as a Location Audio Recordist – primarily recording scripted dialogue on film sets. He has spent over fifteen years in all aspects of film production but his special interest is in location audio recording.
He produces the ClearSpeak video and audio training materials using state of the art equipment. He considers the audio to be as important as the pictures in any film production.
He provides high quality location audio services for several markets. Apart from professional assignments, he offers his time free of charge as a community service.
Servicing
Kent provides the location audio for the following feature films:
In addition, he has recorded a large number of short films, the most notable of which is Invisible Edge by Ian Thomson for Ian’s UTS Masters Degree in 2016.
