May is Better Hearing and Speech Month for my professional association, the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA).
It is a great month to celebrate! Have you ever thought of communication as a right? From the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights it says,
“Communication is the most fundamental of human capacities. People need to be able to communicate to fulfill their social, educational, emotional and vocational potential.”
Barriers to communication impair an individual’s ability to …
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!
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.
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.
Does it ever feel like you are interrupted by your colleagues? Are others being more assertive and talking over you even when it should be your turn? If it happens frequently, make the following checks on your communication to determine why it is happening.
First of all, does it take you a while to make a point? Learning to get to the point quickly is a skill busy leaders need to master. Some non-native English speakers struggle to make a point because they lack the vocabulary. You may need to work on vocabulary building activities first.
“Trust is a powerful force that builds loyalty, increases credibility and supports effective communications. It gives you the benefit of the doubt in situations where you want to be heard, understood and believed.” From How Leaders Can Communicate to Build Trust, Ivey Business Journal
Let’s face it….likeable people are trustworthy. No one will buy into your ideas, products or initiatives if you aren’t likeable. Of course, you can’t force anyone to like you and you don’t want to sound insincere. Here are some ways to enhance the” Like-ability Factor” so that you are instantly more trustworthy through your speech, language, and voice skills.
When it comes to understanding someone who is from another culture who has a strong foreign accent, how do we listen more effectively to assure that the exchange is successful? Both the listener and the speaker are responsible for making sure that each party has understood. Both the listener and the speaker can use strategies to improve the situation. Here is a tip for the listener who is listening to the hard-to-understand person:
Be educated about the differences between languages. Certain languages have characteristics that are unique to that language. Since a language learner adapts what he knows about his language onto the new language, real differences in the way words are spoken occur. This fact can make the second language learner difficult to understand and can be a distraction to our ears.
There are many languages that don’t sound at all as rhythmic and melodious as English.
It’s that time of year again…holiday parties, festive decorations, and businesses competing for your money in an seemingly endless flurry of ads and discounts. I love this season despite a few hectic moments. I get to be with my family and sit down together to share meals and play games. If you are still considering gift ideas for your friends, colleagues or family, or perhaps you need ideas for games to play at the holiday party, I’d like to help you out by recommending some fun games that promote speech, language and cognitive skills. And these games are fun for both adults and children!
When if comes to appearing competent, articulate and qualified, small changes in the way you speak can boost your potential for business success. Speaking well may influence the listener on whether or not he or she wants to pursue a business relationship with you. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:
Do you ever feel like you have a great message to share but just can’t quite communicate it adequately to get people to act or be inspired? Maybe you feel no one listens and you don’t get the respect you want from your colleagues and managers. You aren’t alone if you do.
There are many potential reasons that interfere with a solid presentation. I like to think of these reasons as distractions. When a distraction is present, there is little hope of getting your message across because your listener will start paying attention to that. And once they are paying attention to a distraction, they are no longer listening to you. And once they are no longer listening to you, you have lost credibility and influence. Here is just one example of how a distraction interfered with a young executive’s credibility.
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month for my professional association, the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA).
