There has been so much emphasis on emotional intelligence in the last decade or so in business and corporate America. Soft skills-being able to communicate effectively and even persuasively, can play a huge role in one's success in business. This has been good for my business-I'm a corporate speech, voice and communications trainer. Another buzz word is empathy-the ability to identify and understand another's situation, feelings and motives. Studies correlate empathy with increased sales as well as improved intra-office collaboration.
It's also important to have empathy for people who may not come to these traits or abilities so easily and may even need extra training in a skill that many take for granted or just need a little polishing in. Most of the executives I work with struggle with issues like delivering strong presentations, staying calm and cool under pressure, streamlining messages, and speaking with a strong voice and clear, confident-sounding speech.
Another of my roles, and the first one I played in my professional life, is as speech/language pathologist. That means that I work with people on the autism spectrum-people who have empathy but may show it in different and not necessarily obvious ways, or people who stutter-who may be brilliant communicators but are challenged by producing speech fluently, especially in certain contexts. I also work with non-native English speakers (in both practices--it's understood this isn't a pathology) who are required to speak up clearly and confidently in a variety of challenging situations. The struggles my speech therapy clients deal with are similar to my corporate clients, but on a more exaggerated human scale.
If companies are going to walk the talk of empathy and of diversity, equity, and inclusion, they may also need to widen the scope of that empathetic thinking to realizing that a person with Asperger's or a stutter or a strong accent, or a communication and speech style not representative of the upper or middle classes may just need some extra coaching and support. Roles may need some adapting. What will become essential is bringing in professionals who are trained to support diverse communicators who are also able communicate well with management.
Businesses won't just be showing empathy and character if they do this, though. They'll also be showing brilliant business savvy, since it's already been established that teams consisting of members of inherent and acquired diversity are smarter and produce better overall financial performance. They also understand that creating and maintaining a welcoming, inclusive culture makes talented people want to join and stay.
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Sing it! Now hear me out-I'm not saying you should serenade your department with the results of the last quarter's earnings. But-singing your speech can actually be an excellent strategy for improving all aspects of your vocal delivery.
Here's why. When you sing, you are connecting your words on a continuous stream of air. This provides better breath support, and will in turn cause your voice to become more resonant; your sound will travel more easily to all parts of the room. Try speaking: ABCDEFG. Now sing it. Now speak/sing it.... Did you notice a less staccato quality and a smoother, richer sound? It will also produce a more polished, confident sound; one that is connected to your breath. In addition, you prolonged certain vowels (notes), giving your voice more time to raise and lower in pitch, making it sound more dynamic.
Now, let's get back to breath. If your...
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