Have you ever wanted a steak so badly your mouth watered? Everything you see, smell, and taste reminds you of that juicy steak you want from your favorite restaurant. Finally, you decide to go out and order a steak with all the fixings. You have your baked potato, your salad, and your steak and all that’s left is for you to dig in to all that deliciousness. You cut your steak and discover that it’s raw inside. It’s brown on the outside with a frozen red center. You become terribly disgusted and your desire for that steak rapidly diminishes. Your appetite is ruined. Can you imagine this?
Now change the subject of this story from the steak to you. Imagine walking into your place of business with a nice fitting suit, impeccable hair, shoes polished, and an overall well-groomed presence. You’re ready to conquer the world. If you are an employee, your boss is highly anticipating your presentation, or maybe you are gearing up to close a powerful sale, which could catapult you into a high-paying executive position. Perhaps you are an entrepreneur and you are preparing to meet with a few financial sponsors to help grow your business to the next level. You look and feel wonderful and you’re ready to close the deal. The time has arrived and you start delivering the goods. Once it’s over, you wait for the promotion offer to arrive and/or the financial backing of your sponsors to roll in. However, your boss decides to promote someone else and/or your sponsors decide your business isn’t the right fit. You can’t figure out what went wrong. How did this happen?
This happens to someone every day in their career and/or business. Your speech and voice image doesn’t match your exterior presence. You look the part but you don’t sound the part. In order to build a lasting partnership, there has to be a mutual trust between you and the person to whom you are partnering. Having the same communication style is critical to advancing in your career and shattering the glass ceilings. Examine your speech and voice image:
Is your speech filled with fillers such as (um, like, and you know?)?
Do you speak too fast or too slowly?
Do you have a heavy, raspy, or whiny voice?
Do you practice up speak constantly in conversation?
These are a few communication barriers that are possibly costing you money in your business, failed promotions, and/or an “I’m sorry we went with someone else” letter. Start giving your speech and voice image the attention it deserves.
Nicole Spruill, CCC-SLP
CEO of The Spruill Studio for Speech and Voice, Inc.
