Mary was a young emerging leader full of promise at the large company where she worked. Her skill set was exceptional… She was extremely bright and very creative. She exceeded expectations in most all of her work responsibilities and she was identified as a high potential. One area of concern, however, was around her communication style. I was asked to do an assessment. When she and I got together, she told me that she wanted to be perceived as self-confident, competent and credible. Mary looked the part…she dressed nicely, she stood tall and she made eye-contact when she spoke. Her voice however, did not align with the visual image or the way in which she wanted to be perceived.
Spring is here which means the trees and flowers will start to grow again. For many allergy sufferers it also means vocal issues, sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, and dealing with a drippy nose. To combat and overcome these annoying issues, allergy suffers usually turn to nasal sprays, antihistamines, neti pots and
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.
Are you trying to persuade someone (or a group) to see your point of view but your
message seems to allude them? Working with many clients over the year, there are speaking habits that are detractors and ultimately (but unintentionally) affect the speaker’s credibility. The speaker may be totally oblivious to the distraction, too, unless they have sought out the feedback or someone has boldly spoken up. Most people don’t give their opinion though as they feel unqualified to do so or they are afraid of offending the person needing the feedback. Since a lot of distractions occur without knowledge that they exist in the first place, here’s a crash course to help you identify potential issues. This checklist of common distractions are easy to fix with self-awareness and self-monitoring. Remember that any behavior that causes your audience to think about something else (and not you, the speaker) will take away from your message. As soon as that happens, your credibility suffers.
I hear this all the time. Many professionals tell me that they hate the way that they sound when they hear themselves on a recording (video or audio). Of course, there is a good reason for that…when you speak, you are hearing yourself from within your head, with all the amplification of sound waves bouncing off the bony structures of your head. When you are listening to yourself from “outside” of your head, it sounds completely different. However, the way you sound on the recording is the true you! Yikes. Does that make you cringe, too?
Many of you know how much I love to mountain bike. I started it a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. My biking friends taught me how to navigate rough terrain, climb steep hills, jump logs, and make difficult turns on switchbacks. It is challenging and fun and of course, being outdoors is a big plus!
I received a lot of great advice when I started that applies to the way in which we communicate. Let me share that advice with you. First, the piece of advice and what it means in the mountain biking world and then, how this guideline applies to the way in which you communicate.
It only takes seconds to make an impression. It seems the research varies from 1/10th of a second to 30 seconds (with an average of 7 seconds). The fact remains, we judge quickly and others are doing the same when we first meet. The question is, what can we do about it?
A lot of people take for granted the powerful tools they have to create lasting impressions that help them every day in their communications with business customers and colleagues and help them to achieve their goals and aspirations.
When I was first starting out as a professional, there were occasions that my employer wanted me to do some public speaking. I was absolutely mortified to have to consider this daunting task! First of all, it scared me to have to create a compelling presentation to a professional audience and secondly, I was afraid to speak and be in front of people who were judging me (as least, that’s what I thought). Because of my self-degrading thoughts, my voice sounded shaky and I didn’t project very well.
Did you know that your voice is changing as you age? Just like any other part of the body that changes (muscles atrophy, mucous membranes begin to thin and dry, coordination decreases), your larynx is subject to these changes, too. Voice symptoms you may notice include a vocal sound that is higher pitched in the male voice but a lower-pitched in the female voice, less volume and projection, more vocal fatigue, and even voice tremors. Additionally, if you are hard of hearing, your symptoms may be exacerbated.
If you need a well-functioning voice for work, here are some strategies you can use to keep up your strong voice:
This weekend, I will be attending the 2017 Voice Therapy Conference in Pittsburgh. I am attending for two reasons. First of all, I must get my Continuing Education credits to maintain my license to practice. Secondly, my absolute favorite part of speech pathology when I was in graduate school was in the area of voice. I had a fabulous professor who got me hooked on the capabilities of our tiny instrument, the larynx. I just loved to learn about the anatomy, diagnosing voice problems and helping patients learn to use their voices in better ways.
I still love to learn about our amazingly unique and complex larynx and I want to stay current with trends in techniques, so I am excited to attend! Here are a few amazing facts that I found fascinating….
