I recently read an article about the voices of the apps Headspace and Calm. The experts consulted for that article reiterated what makes a voice effective in "putting people in the zone." One, the director of research and innovation at Brown University's Mindfulness Center, said, "The content obviously is important, but I think the tone, cadence,...
Every client who comes to my office is seeking some sort of change. They come because there is some aspect of their communication style that is impacting their life negatively. Oftentimes, it is for professional reasons; they come independently or are sent by supervisors or HR because it becomes apparent that their communication style is preventing...
One of the reasons we struggle with speaking a language different from our native tongue is simply that we don't sound like ourselves. The sounds, sound patterns, and music of our first language have shaped our perceptions of the world. We come to associate our speaking patterns with our identities. It feels phony and unnatural to produce strange...
I recently worked with a young Japanese American actor who needed an authentic Japanese accent for a role in a film. Being 3rd generation American, he had little knowledge of Japanese or its sound system. I will share with you some of the things we worked on.
Japanese speech sometimes gives the impression of sounding like a picket fence, with a lot less variation in pitch. It may be due partly to the fact that in English, there is a fixed word order, whereas in Japanese, any word can be moved to the beginning of a sentence, with an added particle (wa or ga). The...
When talking prices, giving instructions, or providing addresses and emails, especially when speaking over the phone, it's important to make sure that you are speaking clearly and pronouncing numbers distinctly, so that your listener does not misunderstand critical information.
If you're a professional who does a lot of business over the phone, listen up.