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In a recent study at Charles University in Prague, researchers examined how accents can affect listener perception. Among their findings was the fact that when intonation differs from standard, such as shorter or longer vowels on stressed words, listeners rate speakers as more "nervous-sounding." Even if you are confident during your presentation, interview, or conversation at work, your listeners might think you are nervous based on hearing your accent. Learning to use American intonation, specifically stress patterns and correct vowel length, will help you come across as the knowledgeable and confident speaker you are. Read an interview with the researcher Jan Volín here. 
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When the letters “ng” are together at the ends of words, they sound different than when they are in the middle of the word. In the middle of the word, they are usually pronouncing with the “ng” sound, plus a hard “g” to start the next syllable. For example, the words hunger and finger can be broken into two syllables: hung+ger and fing+ger. At the ends of words, however, the “ng” combination only makes the single sound “ng.” A common accent error in American English is to add an extra sound to the end of ng, similar to ng in the middle of words. This makes words sound like thingk or doingg, and is a noticeable error. To change this accent pattern, try listening to the following pairs of words. Notice how the ng words do not have a stopped k or g sound at the end. Next, try saying the words, making a distinct difference between the nk word and the ng word.
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