What is your body language saying in your photograph?

Do you have professional or personal photos posted online in networking sites or in paid advertisements? What is your body language conveying to viewers?

A remarkable number of photos show people with their arms crossed. This indicated a closed, or defensive, attitude. People looking at them often perceive this as someone who is not open to
others, which is exactly the opposite of what you should be conveying. Get your arms down!

Other photos show people frowning or looking very serious. While a serious expression may work in some professional settings, in a social networking site that indicates someone may not be friendly. The frowning expression is bad for all photos for publicity.

A third issue is whether a person appears relaxed in the photograph. People want to associate with others who appears comfortable with themselves.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills (and body language). Seminars and e-books are available.

Speaking clearly - tips for success

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to speak more clearly than others? Clear speech makes communicating your message easier, and gives the speaker a more polished verbal image, causing others to notice.

Here are three simple tips to speak English more clearly. First, make sure your rate of speech is appropriate. Slow down when you are speaking to young children, seniors, people who may not understand your professional/technical terms and concepts, and people with hearing loss. Second, make sure you are saying the final sounds of words clearly, especially if they are at the ends of sentences or phrases.
Third, if English is not your native language, or if you have a strong regional accent, find out what sounds, if any, you are mispronouncing in standard English.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, customized training in accent modification, diction, grammar, communication for leaders and more. E-books are also offered onsite on those topics.

Getting Ready for Holiday Events? Don't Forget the Conversational Skills

As the holiday party scene heats up, more people will be making small talk with strangers at social and business events. However, many find it difficult to make conversation with others.

"Small talk is important as a way to find out what you have in common with others,"
reports Katie Schwartz, CCC-SLP. director of Business Speech Improvement. "It increases the comfort level and makes conversation more targeted towards your goal. This may be asking for information, getting to know a neighbor, or making a sale."

Schwartz, author of the e-book, "Small Talk: Connecting with Others" (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) says that with preparation, making small talk can be easier. Here are three tips she recommends:

1. Think about your goal before talking to the other person.
2. Plan 3-5 questions before the event. Try a statement, followed by a question.
For example, "This is a great barbeque! What's been your favorite food here so far?"
3. Ask follow-up questions about the other person's answers.

Giving someone else your full attention and showing you want to listen to him or her is a real compliment, says Schwartz.

"Small Talk: Connecting with Others" is an economical e-book chock-full of practical tips on starting, continuing and graciously ending conversations. Want to know how to get someone talking, join a group that's already established, or politely leave a boring conversation? The answers are in this book...get it now before your next gathering, at http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?EBooks.

Business Speech Improvement (www.businessspeechimprovement.com provides intensive coaching and economical e-books on verbal communication.

Two things to listen for if you are self-conscious about your speech

Do you come from another part of the country and are self-conscious about how you sound? Do people ask you where you're from? Is this affecting your work or social life?

If you want to change your speech patterns, you need to listen to others whose speech you admire to find out what they are pronouncing differently than you. For example, they may say a certain vowel differently, or have a different intonation pattern or "lilt" to their speech. Record your speech and listen to it so you can analyze what you want to do differently. Start by saying the new sound in single words. (Use a dictionary to get a list of the words with that sound.)

A great set of speech archives of different dialects of English is at http://accent.gmu.edu/.

Professional Diction and Grammar/Regional Accent Modification is a intensive course offered by Business Speech Improvement. A rare Open Enrollment class will be offered in June, 2010. For details, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes .

Your Front Line's Verbal Image

What is your "front line", the first people to talk to a prospective client or vendor, saying, and HOW are they saying it?

Research shows that 93% of the first impression is non-verbal, but based on factors such as tone of voice, rate of speaking, dress, facial expressions, etc. Only 7% of the first impression is based on words alone.

Today I spoke to a member of the "front line" of a multi-million dollar company, about working for them as a vendor. She answered the phone at 10 AM sounding bored and uncaring. A few minutes later, she said of the staff member to whom she referred me, "I think he does stuff like that." Her information about the staff member's responsibilities was very inaccurate, but her language was worse - it was appropriate for a first grader, not for someone who should have had some college background!

If you work in marketing or public relations, are your efforts being undercut by poor communication skills of your "front liners"?