The Ancient Technology of Talking - Story from my friend in Egypt
February 12, 2011 by Admin · Leave a Comment
I received an email from Egypt this Thursday from my old friend Essam; he got me thinking about the robust and timeless importance of face-to-face conversation. He reported:
“One of the biggest blunders committed so far by the Egyptian regime in its current crisis was the decision to shut down the Internet service and Mobile service all over the country on Thursday night before the ‘Friday of Anger’. By doing this, the smart decision makers thought they would isolate the demonstrators and prevent them from communicating with each other, thus reducing the number of people who would show up on Friday at the el-Tahrir square and elsewhere in the country. Based on this naïve assumption, the former minister of the interior, el-Adly, expected a maximum of two thousand demonstrators
When people were cut off from the rest of the world on Thursday night they started going out to the streets to find out what was going on, they started searching for their friends and relatives to inquire about their well being. They talked to each other face to face and agreed to be there all day on Friday. Suddenly tens of thousands showed up on Friday, instead of the two thousand the brutal el-Adly was prepared for.”
When someone pulls the plug on our electronic devices, we can always use the ancient technology of talking to each other. It is the part of the Basic Guarantee that comes with being human. (Even with the plug in, the Egyptian people have only a 40% literacy rate.) For this to truly be the Egyptian People’s revolution, they all must be able to speak out together.
In effect, he gave them their voice.
Carol Fleming, Ph.D., is the author of “It’s the Way You Say It”! Becoming Articulate, Well-spoken and Clear. A comprehensive guide to vocal development and improvement of communication skills. For people who want to make their speaking more impressive and find their voice. She can be contacted at telephone 415.391.9179 or send her an email at [email protected]
The King’s Speech….and yours
January 3, 2011 by Admin · Leave a Comment
See that fine fellow above? Notice the epaulettes, the stripes and braid, the sword and medals. The dignity and confidence. Clearly, he is on top of his game. What could possibly ruffle him? I’ll tell you; speaking in public. King George VI was a stutterer. His concern about the stutter was debilitating and humiliating.
These are the two problems one has to deal with in any speech disorder. There is the actual speech problem itself, and then there is the array of feelings (misgivings, embarrassment, shame) that accompany it. Together, these two components can prevent many a person from
- adding their voice to the debate
- expressing their opinion
- seeking professional advancement
- speaking up for their rights
- singing in the great choir of life
Many, many people have concerns about the way they speak. People you know, like your buddy, your boss or the guy that fixes your appliances. If you hear something that draws attention to the way they talk you can be pretty sure that they will probably have some sensitive feelings about it. We want people to respond to what we say, not get distracted by how we say it.
There are trained professionals to help people in this situation – speech pathologists – who are in the best position to offer the best remedies available and that recognize and respect the feelings behind the speech.
There are people who believe that they are ‘stuck’ with their speech problem and don’t know that genuine help is available. Perhaps you are one such person. What a good New Year’s Resolution it would be to find yourself a speech pathologist and start working toward better speech.
The King did and so can you.
How to Help Employees Speak Their Best
December 2, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
Here’s a difficult situation for you employers:
You have a perfectly good employee, adequate, even good in most ways, BUT, there’s something about the way they talk that is a problem: for you, for them, and for your customers.
What do you do? What should you do?
The first issue would be your ability and willingness to offer them some help.
Let’s say you are in a position to offer some speech therapy, voice coaching or communication consulting to them. You would consider this because of the investment you have already made in their training and because you sense that they would really benefit from this instruction.
The second issue has to do with how you broach the topic.
You are embarrassed because you think you are going to embarrass them, right? How do you tell someone that their speech is not good enough?
Here’s one way:
“ Pat, you are particularly good at managing your work flow and keeping reliable records. You show a good grasp of the marketing issues we have to consider. We’d like to see if we can’t bring up some of your communication skills to the same level of excellence as your other abilities. We think you would be good with more actual sales exposure. We’d like to invest in your professional development by supporting a two month program of Communication Development training.”
There. How does that feel?
I’d love to hear your reaction to this approach. Let me know if it has solved a problem for you.
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If you would like to help someone (family, friend or employee) work on their speaking skills, you might consider the gift of Dr. Fleming’s Holiday package: Speak Your Best!
Click here to learn more about Dr. Carol Fleming’s Gift Package, Speak Your Best!
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"It's The Way You Say It"
is the first comprehensive guide for speech and voice improvement. Click here to purchase Dr. Fleming's book from Amazon. Network With Me
