Sarcasm in the workplace exists at every level of management. Americans sometimes make comments that aren’t sincere or are meant to be a little degrading. In order to be sarcastic, we adjust our vocal tone and often times, our facial expression.Try saying, “great” sarcastically. What do you do vocally to make it sound sarcastic?
Are you always heard when you speak? There are many people who wish to project their voice more to be better understood.There are many people who wish to project their voice more to be better understood. In fact, many executives both male and female, ask me why others have a hard time hearing them and what they can do to project their voice.
There are two primary reasons that a voice lacks volume:
1) Inadequate breath support,
2) Inadequate mouth opening
Continue Reading No CommentsAre you ready to be coached?
Avoid wasting your money until you are ready. Let me explain…
You’ve decided that you have some communication issues that you would like to improve upon and a coach is the solution to help you achieve your goals. Resolving to make change is a wonderful goal but too often, people with best intentions are unable to achieve their goals. Too often, we have unrealistic goals and don’t realize how difficult change can be.
Continue Reading No Comments
While many things can go wrong in a presentation, don’t forget to consider all the things that you do well to awe your audiences. Here are 12 speech, language, and voice gifts to “give” your audiences every time you present. They will love you for it!
1. Optimal pitch–The pitch you speak at every day is your habitual pitch level. But does it match your optimal pitch level? The optimal pitch is where you vocal cords function their best. Too low or too high can be hard to listen to and could damage your vocal cords and make you hoarse.
Continue Reading No Comments
Would your speech compare to an SUV (using a lot of words to convey your message) or more like a Hybrid (speaking more efficiently using fewer words)?
In American business, we value conciseness. Communicating succinctly is an effective and powerful tool for persuading, convincing, or reinforcing messages. Speech that is too wordy is dull and boring and may leave the listener wondering what the point is. Similarly, a response that take 3-4 minutes to get to the point is too long to hold someone’s attention especially if the speaker veered from the main point in off-topic details. You or the speaker may have even forgotten what the question was after several minutes.
Continue Reading No Comments
Imagine the devastating effects of waking up on the day of your big presentation and finding that your voice sounds scratchy, hoarse and weak. Worse yet, it has disappeared completely! Nearly all of us rely on a well-functioning voice at work every day. If we were to lose our voice on any given day, the results could be disastrous.
Great professional speakers deliver speeches that are engaging to listen to and that also draw in their audiences visually. They keep their gestures to a minimum and use them purposefully to emphasize the content of the message. They make eye contact with each audience member as though they are the only people in the room. They express sincerity through a smile and appear to be relaxed.
Even if you aren’t a professional speaker, paying attention to your “visual presentation” in conversation is important! Do you make eye contact with the listener? Do you use your eyes, eyebrows and mouth to express your meaning? Or do you have more of a deadpan expression? Are your hands close to your sides, wide open or constantly moving out of nervous habit?
Continue Reading No Comments
Are you looking for a unique gift this holiday season for the board game lover on your list? Whether it is for a child or an adult, a native English speaker or non-native English speaker, building language skills is important for anybody at any level. How about a game that promotes language skill development or vocabulary building and promises hours of fun and laughter with your friends, family or colleagues!
Last week we discussed five tips for speaking in cross-cultural conversations. Today, we explore the last five tips and tricks:
6. Pause periodically to give your listener time to process what you have said.
If you are making a few errors in your speech, the listener needs time to figure it out or “translate” what was said. Give your listener this time by pausing briefly.
Have you ever felt frustrated that the conversation you had with a colleague or supervisor fell short of your intentions? Maybe you were trying to communicate something and it was clear that he/she didn’t understand what you said. Here are some ideas that may help you:
Continue Reading No Comments