Better Business Communication Day: January 26, 2015

Better Business Communication Day: January 26, 2015

Think about the last time you did business with a company and thought "That was pretty negative!" (For me, it was as recent as today.) What kind of experience do your internal or external customers have?

Better Business Communication Day is a day to focus on better communication. Here are three actions you can implement, either for yourself, to improve your skills, or for your organization.

Start with non-verbal communication. Smile at two people today as you walk down the hall. Give someone your undivided attention, away from laptops, etc, making him or her feel valued and really heard.

Answer the telephone enthusiastically, each and every time. When you smile as you say "hello", the smile alters your mouth shape and the different resonance pattern can be heard. 

You can make a contest out of this. In Japan, this is a national event, the All-Japan Telephone Answering Contest

Thank someone, preferably in writing, for something specific he or she has recently done for you. When was the last time you received such a specific thank you?  Make the note more powerful by e-mailing it to the person's supervisor, with a bcc: to the person.

If you have difficulty being clearly understood due to a strong accent, try speaking slower. Also write down the words that are hard for others to understand. See if you can use synonyms for them, if needed. An online dictionary with a pronunciation button could help you say the words.
Consider getting a "mystery shopper" to act as a prospective customer, and rate his or her experience with your company's communication. He would start by rating how positive the first telephone greeting of "hello" sounded, through dealing with any phone trees,  enthusiasm and listening skills of the sales staff to answer questions and take an order, to the final good-bye. Another option is to send a pretend order through the system, to see where the bottlenecks are in the process. Often these are due in part to poor communication. The results of this mystery shopping could be ear-opening!

Business Speech Improvement offers intensive, customized speech coaching for individuals and small groups. Use Better Business Communication Day to jump-start your communication improvement!

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!

Speech improvement: "Why doesn't my speech improve when I work on it by myself?"

As a speech coach, I get this question often.

A person decides to change some aspect of his speech. He tries to say a word differently, and sometimes sounds better. Then when he has a conversation, he sounds like he always does.

Does this sound familiar?

Here's what's wrong with this approach. A baby does not go directly from babbling to having a conversation, and neither should anyone else changing his speech.

Instead, make sure you are working on the right skills to change your speech.

(Many people don't know exactly what to change.) Then practice the skill in the same sequence as when you learned to talk: sounds, words, sentences, short and longer conversations. (Reading aloud can fit in well before conversations.) Over-practice each step, and listen to yourself on a recording, to make sure the skill is truly learned well.

How does having a speech coach help?  An expert speech coach knows  the right skills you need to develop, uses correct exercises to do it efficiently, and gives you sufficient feedback on how well you are doing. A speech coach has the expertise to get you through the process as efficiently as possible, so you don't waste time and effort,  and has the experience to know alternatives to use when needed.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive speech coaching, customized to your specific needs.  If your own efforts to improve your speech didn't work, visit Business Speech Improvement for expert help!

Speech training: what to ask

As a speech coach, one of the most common questions I get asked is, "Can speech training really help? When I talk to prospective clients at conferences, or on the telephone, they seem to focus on how I talk, not what I am saying."

Speech coaching with a motivated learner and an expert coach can make a real difference, based on my experience, if the learner is willing to continue practicing the newly learned skills.

When building trust with a listener, for any reason, it helps to emphasize the ways people are alike, and clear communication makes this easier. Maybe both of you like a certain sport, or a particular city or industry. Possibly the two of you are in the same company or are solving the same problem.

If your listener can understand how you are speaking, he can then focus on your message. Make this as easy as possible for your listener.

How do you determine an excellent speech coach? Look for someone who has considerable experience and qualifications in coaching corporate clients or individual adults. Ask about the class size, and how much feedback you will get from the instructor. Is the course customized for you to your specific needs, or does the entire class learn the same lesson even if some of them don't need it? Will you have time to get help saying specific words that are hard for you, such as peoples' names, processes or products you sell?

How many hours of instruction is the course? Is it done in an intensive manner, of 1 - 3 days long, or in 1-2 hourly sessions a week?  Intensive training offers faster results, less travel time, less time to forget what was learned before building on that skill, and may keep motivation higher. It should include some type of follow-up plan for skill maintenance.

 If the presenter is a speech-language pathologist, is not licensed in your state (which you should ask) and is offering speech coaching online, be cautious if she does not ask your state of residence. In at least one state, such coaching by speech-language pathologists who are not licensed there is illegal.

Speech coaches often specialize in the services they provide. Accent modification, presentation skills,
speech rate, executive communication skills, diction improvement,  sales communication skills  and more may be available.

If you need the coaching, but can't afford it, can't get to it,  or don't have time for it, are e-books with helpful tips available as an alternative? Although not as effective as regular coaching, they can offer some helpful information.

Business Speech Improvement offers intensive training in all of the skills mentioned above. It is located in Durham, NC (USA).