Unfortunately, if you are hard to understand, you will be perceived as less credible.  And here's why...a research study concluded that when people who are difficult to understand, the listener grows weary of trying to translate the message in their head. As they begin to think about what was just said and what it means, the listener stops listening to the speaker because they are still translating.  But the speaker may continue to talk! This situation becomes tiring for the  listener during a conversation or presentation because of the amount of work it is.  

Keep in mind...you may be the smartest person in the room, too, but if you aren't understood, it won't sound like it.  And once your listener is no longer listening to you, you are no longer credible.

Sandeep's frustration is what landed him with a new coach.  He just knew that he had to work on his communication skills if he wanted to stand out from the crowd at his organization.   

Sandeep (not his real name) was a brilliant software developer. His high level of technical knowledge was leading him on the path of becoming a manager and director of his company. His aspirations were very high and he knew that he was on the right track. But there was one problem, at the managerial level, Sandeep reported to various people including his direct reports, at staff meetings and to his bosses.

Sandeep didn't mind the presenting at staff meetings so much but he noticed that people were clarifying information for him after he spoke. Additionally, Sandeep had to repeat this message frequently. His native tongue was Hindi and even though he had an excellent grasp of the English language, he spoke extremely fast. Not only did he speak very quickly, but he pronounced syllables wrong in his words.

Sandeep’s intelligibility was moderately low amongst his peers, amongst the people who reported to him, and those to whom he reported. When Sandeep met people for the first time, his intelligibility was even lower.  

Sandeep was able to accomplish his goals in a short period of time in most of the conversations that he engaged in. Work was still needed in the area of stressful, high-stakes conversations but he consistently accomplished his goals in all other conversations.  

He was given new responsibilities at work that involved more communication opportunities. Three months post training, he reported that he no longer avoided situations or people and felt confident about pronouncing words with the correct syllable stress and the key sounds he improved understanding significantly. People at work were not asking him to repeat and his phone conversations were so much better. He was even slowly incorporating strategies into stressful, highly charged conversations.