The speech coaching process - and you!

Have you ever wondered what happens during speech coaching?

It starts with goal-setting. What do you want to be able to do differently by the end of the process? Some clients want to pronounce American English more clearly, due to either a strong foreign or regional accent. Listeners have trouble understanding them, they report.

Other clients want to be able to speak more effectively at a department meeting, or to give a business or scientific presentation better.

Some clients want help to learn to speak slower, or to be more effective leaders. Others want help learning non-verbal communication, how to make "small talk" or how to speak more concisely, as their supervisor is requesting.

Others have different requests involving verbal communication.

After goal-setting, your communication will be assessed, and then customized training will be developed.

Coaching may take place in small groups, be done individually, or sometimes online. Concise e-books filled with practical tips are also available.

Clients comment that the speech coaching they received made a difference; they reported feeling more self-confident, were delighted that others understood them more easily, or did better with their careers. 

Better speech can have a big impact!

Learn more about Business Speech Improvement's speech coaching options now!

Nervous about Speaking in Departmental Meetings?

Many people report that they are nervous about speaking in departmental meetings. They are concerned that their ideas will not be accepted, or worse,  ignored and then presented again by another member of the group who takes credit for them. As a result, they are quiet when in fact they may have a valuable contribution to make to the discussion.

If you are one of the "silent ones", here are 3 strategies for speaking up at meetings.

1. Rehearse your comments ahead of time. Use a brief "executive summary" approach. State your main point or recommendation, and then the reasons for it in just a few sentences.  For those of you who are used to giving reasons or details first and then getting to the main point, this "executive summary" may be difficult at first to do. Writing it down first may make it easier.

2. Notice which of the people you plan to meet with is highly regarded by others. Present your idea to this person ahead of time and ask for feedback and improvements. Then present this idea to the group, being careful not to say it is "my" idea. Hopefully the other person will then offer support to your idea.

3. Communication cultures between companies and managers can vary. Some are more formal, while others may be more relaxed.  Use the approach prevalent in your company or department. If in doubt about the best approach, or if you are new to the company, choose a more formal one.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, customized communication coaching. Presentation skills coaching is available as a full day seminar for individuals and groups. Coaching for experienced speakers who want practice before a specific presentation is also available, and may be done online in many cases.

Top Nine Peeves about How Businesses Answer Their Telephones

A LinkedIn group of business professionals was asked for their "pet peeve" on how telephones are answered. Eighty-five responses came in, very quickly.

Pet peeve #9: Reaching a recording that repeats, "Your call is very important to us. We will be with you shortly". The caller was reportedly placed on hold for 45 minutes.

Pet peeve #8: The business associate who answers the call sounds irritated at being interrupted by a call, and is perceived as being disrespectful to the caller

Pet peeve #8 (a tie with the one above): When the company representative says, "Would you please hold?", and without giving the caller a chance to say anything, immediately puts him or her on hold.

Pet peeve #6:  Employee who answers a call with a script and sounds fake and excessively polite

Pet peeve #5: Answering the telephone without saying the name of the business and the employee's name

Pet peeve #4: Answering the telephone with very long scripted greetings instead of just the essentials (see # 6 above)

Pet peeve #3: Answering the telephone using a speaker phone

Pet peeve #1 (tied with the one below): When the company employee's English pronunciation is difficult to understand on the telephone and also may not understand the caller's questions.

Pet peeve #1: When the American-born customer service rep answers the telephone so fast and mumbles so that the caller cannot easily understand the greeting. The customer service rep has said this greeting hundreds of times, but it may be the customer's first time to hear it.

Customers in the USA are more diverse than ever, coming from many nations, may have a hearing loss or be speaking to you in a noisy place. Clear speech is crucial for your customers!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching in verbal skills, including professional telephone skills for understanding callers with strong accents. Check out your options now; one seminar is closing enrollment soon!

Non-verbal business communication skills

Only 7% of your business communication is conveyed through your words, according to a famous study by Albert Mehrabian, PhD. The rest is conveyed through a combination of your eye contact, facial expressions, and tone of voice. 

Do you have trouble making consistent eye contact, smiling and sounding friendly at  appropriate times, and using gestures to improve your communication, when necessary? Is your voice loud enough, but not too loud?

Start by asking your colleagues and friends for feedback on these issues,  as they are aware of your verbal image most likely. Choose one  goal at the time to work on. Decide when the behavior is done best, and when it is most difficult to achieve. 

These behaviors can be affected by certain cultural beliefs. Ask people who are of your culture, and of the majority culture, to judge whether your behaviors are appropriate.

Business Speech Improvement provides coaching in business communication, including non-verbal skills, accent modification, presentation skills, diction, and more. Click here to learn more about these services!

Speech coaching: by the hour or by the day?

Many people who want to improve their verbal skills, such as foreign-born professionals working in the USA,  ask if they should have a one hour lesson weekly, or do it in full day sessions. In general, full day sessions work very well. Here's why.

In full day sessions, you get the equivalent of 7-8 lessons in one day. Faster progress can be made this way. There is also less time wasted on traffic, and practice is done under the instructor's supervision. For people who are very busy or less motivated, there are very few reasons to cancel the class, if it is all done in full-day sessions.

Professionals from other countries who are in the USA for a short visit especially benefit from this intensive schedule. If they schedule the coaching before corporate events in the USA, their communication will be easier for others to understand.

Some people want to practice between lessons. If it is a public speaking class and students need to write new speeches between the sessions, that may be a valid reason.

Most learners, though, appreciate having the intensive instruction. Some courses also offer a follow-up plan, for skill maintenance. Depending on the seminar, this follow-up can be done on the telephone,  online, or in some other way.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive speech coaching on American English pronunciation improvement for non-native professionals, diction coaching for native speakers, instruction on how to speak slower, presentation skills,  and other topics. Get the details  and enroll online here!

Business Communication: 3 Tips to Improve Communication with Your Boss

Do you wish communication with your boss was easier? It can be, with surprisingly little effort on your part.

In honor of Better Hearing and Speech Month, here are three tips to help you improve your communication skills.

First, observe your boss carefully the next time you see him or her talking to someone else. Does he or she express the main point first, and then give the details or reasons, or are the reasons/details given first, leading up to the main point? The first method, called deductive reasoning, is more common than the second, called inductive reasoning.

When you talk to your boss, use the same method (deductive or inductive) as he uses - with a difference. Instead of giving a lot of details, give a one sentence "executive summary" with one sentence of the most relevant detail or recommendation.

Second, note how quickly and enthusiastically your supervisor speaks, generally. If he speaks in a slow, low-key way, try to imitate that when you speak to him, when possible.

Third, notice what else seems important to him. For example, it might be timeliness, from arriving on time to planning ahead for an event. Maybe he prefers that people who bring him problems also suggest solutions. Whatever it is, try to do it. If you don't know what he likes, see if you can determine why he praises certain people's work or actions.

Business Speech Improvement provides individual speech coaching. An e-book on communication strategies in 18 crucial areas for leadership is also available. Great speech makes business sense!

ADHD in the Workplace and Communication Challenges

Do you struggle with ADHD at work and notice you have some communication challenges, or do you have employees with ADHD?

Here are some common challenges relating to communication experienced by adults (including professionals) who have ADHD.

The first is impaired executive functioning: the ability to plan and implement actions. This ability, found in the frontal lobe, allows people to prioritize and

handle complex actions, such as scheduling and much more. More information can be found at http://www.help4adhd.org/living/workplace/wwk16.

Corporate speech pathologists and others now work with people who have difficulty with executive functioning. For example, if getting out of the house on time is the issue, clients can be taught how to develop a more effective schedule and consider the most common reasons they can side-tracked or delayed.

Distractibility, due to noises or visual stimuli, is another issue, and can affect planning and implementing. What distractions can you eliminate or cover up, with a white noise machine or headphones, for example?

Speech rates can be rapid in some people, to the point where others have difficulty understanding them. Some medications also increase speech rate as a side effect, so if your speech rate changes significantly during the day, check the side effects of any medication you are on. If you think the medication is causing the rapid rate of speech, talk to your physician.

Other speech and language issues may co-exist, but not be directly caused by ADHD. For example, central auditory processing impairments may  make understanding messages more difficult even though there is no hearing loss.

Pragmatics, or social language skills, such as knowing how to engage in small talk, start a conversation or end one, may also be difficult for some people.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, customized coaching  on communication improvement in the workplace. E-books are available as well. Great speech makes business sense!