Communication Skills Tip: Big Wins Take Big Risks

Taking risks is part of my nature. But big risks? The last big risk I took was when I jumped out of an airplane in 2004 to go parachuting. I didn’t feel that I had anything to lose. I was at a crossroad with my business and I wasn’t sure which way to go. I carelessly said to a friend of mine one day, “I want to go parachuting.” She said, “Me too.” And the next thing I knew it, she had everything planned and I was driving upstate New York to jump out of a plane. It was absurd. And it was far from who I was. I like to take risks, but I like to have my feet on the ground while I’m doing it. Yet, it seems to me that taking another big risk is imminent.

I’m sitting here looking at a vision board I made for the future of my career and one of the cutouts is a phrase that reads: “Big Risks. Big Thinking. Big Goals. Big Wins." Seemed right when I cut it out. Yeah, that sounds like me. I want to think big and win big. So, let me get down to business with this risk-taking and understand what it is I need to do to catapult myself to the next level of my success. Hmmm…well, I’m an artist; I’m a communicator; I’m a lover of people and personal development; I’m also a hippie of sorts, a naturist, and a dreamer. As you may be able to see, being the entrepreneur and business woman that I am is a little complicated—at least by the looks of my self-definitions. But, I am a big dream catcher (as a business partner of mine, Lisa Parker, would say), and I do believe that there is a way for me to merge all of my interests into a business. So, if I had to do something hugely risky, like jump out of a plane, in order to propel myself into the next phase of my business life, what would it be? I’m not so sure yet. (Your suggestions are welcome.)

When it comes to learning and development, I coach my clients the same way: Think big, take risks, set goals, and win. It sounds so simple to write. And it even feels so compelling to pursue. Still, there is the reality of the obstacles that peak at the most unwanted moments. As I mention in Lanartco’s Tip of the Week, April 29, 2009, how we face those challenges is how we come out of each storm. I’m no different from any one of you out there right now. I’m digging deep and reaching high to make things happen—sometimes, I’m even floundering. Kind of like when I jumped out of the plane. To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com

Communication Skills Tip: Business Writing as Unusual

I started writing journals at the young age of 10. I have been writing consistently since that time and have books upon books documenting many experiences from my life. As a journal writer, I did not feel any pressure to revise my entries. But when I became a songwriter in my late twenties, I learned the value of rewriting and editing my work. When I used to write songs, I was most productive while walking down the streets of Manhattan—a million sounds around me; people bumping into me left and right; and abstract thoughts and images easy for me to grasp. I would create the melody and the first verse of the song all at once while walking. It was only when I got back to my desk and put my pen to paper (yes, this was before the mighty computer) that I became stuck. The question became, “How can I take my initial impulse to write and transform the beginning into something whole?” There were never easy answers to my creative writing process. As I became a more proficient writer, I developed tools that revolved around the revision phase. This allowed me to pour my ideas onto the page without self-criticism. Once I had all my thoughts down, I could reorganize, reconstruct and revamp all that needed improvement. The same has been true of my business writing ever since I became an entrepreneur more than 15 years ago. In Lanartco’s Tip of the Week April 23, 2009, I mentioned the importance of spending at least 50% of your time editing your writing. It may sound like a lot, but for any of you out there who follow this suggestion, you know that it is essential to being an effective writer. Some strategies that have always helped me have been reading out loud to myself or asking for someone else’s opinion. I think it is important to be open to constructive criticism in order to gain perspective on our written thoughts. If you are ready to spend the time necessary to get the results you deserve, start editing your business writing with greater attention to detail. To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com

American English Varieties: Part II

Last week we looked at how vowels and the way we pronounce them can affect our speech and label it as a specific variety of American English. This week, I’d like to look at General American English. More specifically, I’d like to comment on its origin and its use. According to The American Heritage Dictionary, “General or Standard” English is the speech of educated speakers. For years, research has tried to define which region represents this variety of English. However, region is not so much the factor as is the media. Natalie Baker-Shirer of Carnegie Mellon University teaches acting students and theater professionals how to speak Standard American English, free of regionalisms, accents or dialects. She states that “Standard American,” in the context of dramatic speech, means one single standard of speech that will sound American — simple, unaffected and distinct, devoid of regional influences. Does this mean, then, that “Standard or General American” English is ideally sought after by the media and entertainment industries and not a variety of the nation’s language after all? If that is in fact true, then where can we trace its origins? In other words, if a standard doesn’t really exist but is a variety that is fabricated and can only be taught by accent coaches, where did its make-up come from? And why is it that so many of us seek to perfect it?

Bilingualism: A Self-Improvement Tool For Business & Health

The experts say that there are many activities that people can participate in to enhance their brain power and maybe even help delay dementia, Alzheimer’s, or the everyday forgetfulness that some of us experience already in our 30s. Such activities can range from knitting, to crossword puzzles, to Sudoku. In 2007, Canadian scientists found astonishing evidence that the lifelong use of two languages can help delay the onset of dementia symptoms by four years compared to people who are monolingual. I remember that information being presented to me in the form of propaganda for a language school. I also remember thinking to myself, what if I was older and hadn’t lived a bilingual life through my twenties and into my thirties? Would this piece of information still inspire me to look past the time and effort that is required to learn a new language as an adult and into the classroom? So, I looked into it more, and the answer is yes. Though I have yet to come across sources worth citing (promise to continue to look into this), the overwhelming response seems to be that, yes, learning a new language at any stage in your life may help keep your brain healthy into your golden years. So why not try it? There are so many other reasons besides this one to do so—but this one has to rank number one in my list of ways to stay healthy and self improve or transform. For more on transformation, see Jill’s blog in this week’s Perfromance Tip of the Week.

Communication Skills Tip: Transformation as a Road to Success

I have always strived towards personal change. I didn’t wake up one day and decide that I liked the idea. I have simply been drawn to personal development since I was a young girl. Whether I was aiming to perfect my vocal technique, build my acting abilities or increase my communication skills, I have always been drawn towards transformation as a road to success. There is no question that, as a young adult, there were times I wished I hadn’t had that inner drive. But today, I feel accomplished because of my continuous desire to become something better than I am. Personal development has to be a choice, not a requirement from your manager, your spouse or your friend. I have found many people in my Personal Best coaching practice resisting change rather than embracing it. Isn’t it interesting how as humans we often hold off on development? But why? Why push back change when it is the very thing that propels us forward? It’s fear, isn’t it? Fear of the unknown. Or, maybe it’s lack of belief--belief that something bigger or better or more successful is around the corner.

In Lanartco’s Tip of the week April 15, 2009, I mentioned the transformation of the butterfly. The growth stage of the caterpillar involves becoming strong, developing resiliency, and preparing for further transformation. Michelle L. Casto, life coach, compares the butterfly’s transformation to 5 stages of life transformation . In the second stage, the stage of the caterpillar, Michelle talks about there being a time of discomfort. We are growing, stretching and desiring to become something more. But it may hurt. Or it may be confusing. This is generally the time when most people learn if they have the courage to change. In this week’s tip, I suggested that your personal development has to include being open to absorbing new ideas and ways of thinking. How else can you take a development plan and turn it into actionable behaviors? The caterpillar wants to become the butterfly and before it does, not only does it need to absorb nutrients to grow, it also needs to rest quietly to digest. Coaching and personal development become a cycle of openness and contraction; discovery and confusion; renewal and reflection. In the last and final stage of the butterfly, Michelle Casto refers to the realization of the butterfly into flight as the conscious stage of the human being. This is where inner peace and joy appear reminding us that we are in control of our lives. This may sound hokey to some of you, but I bring up the subject this week because we are not only going through a change as a nation, but we are also going through a deep personal evolution as well. Let the current economic crisis be a permission slip for you to ask yourself some deep questions about your own transformational goals and your desire to become something true to yourself and your life’s work. Clear communication starts with us. Start asking yourself the difficult questions. That is, if you haven’t already. To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com

American English Varieties, Part I: Mary-Marry-Merry

As I mentioned last week, there is more than one variety of English in the United States. Today, I’d like to look at the factors that make them different. According to noted Linguist, William Labov, there are three major dialect regions in the United States — the Inland North, the South, and the West. Each of these regions pronounces their vowels differently. The way the variations are pronounced rely on the placement of the tongue and associated articulators when a word is spoken. And all of this changes depending on which part of the country you grow up in. Let’s look at the long, high and mid vowels using a classic example of Mary-marry-merry to help illustrate the point.


In this first sample http://www.alt-usage-english.org/mmm_bc.wav, the speaker pronounces the /æ/ phoneme the same way for all three words. Thus this speaker is an example of what Linguists call the Mary-marry-merry merger, found predominantly among speakers in the US, more specifically in the North or "yankee" region of the US.


In this second sample http://www.alt-usage-english.org/mmm_rf.wav, the speaker has a three-way distinction, and therefore pronounces the vowels in each of these words differently. This linguistic behavior is characteristic of other regions of America, like the Southern or "dixie region.


Where do you fit in? So, far, I fit in with the "Yankee" viariation of English. Come back next week as we continue to explore the different variations of American English.

Communication Skills Tip: Listening. What?

Actors spend a lot of time building their cast through improvisation and play. This might sound like all fun and games (can’t say it’s not fun), but the truth is that both improvisation and play strengthen listening skills. As you can imagine, when in a scene with another actor, it is extremely important to have keen listening abilities; especially, for stage acting. By paying very close attention to what is being said, an actor can be on cue and, more importantly, be prepared to improvise if a fellow partner misses a line. I am aware that we don’t have scripted dialogues in our daily communication, but I also know through years of acting training that having strong listening skills prepares me for critical and impromptu communication in my life.

In Lanartco’s tip of the week April 8, 2009, I mentioned Judi Brownell’s six steps to listening: hearing, understanding, remembering, interpreting, evaluating and responding. I highly recommend her book, Listening: Attitudes, Principles and Skills to help you understand listening more deeply and to identify where your greatest opportunities lie for increasing your communication skills. Through her assessment, I learned that hearing was one of my weakest listening links. Hearing is all about our ability to discriminate amongst sounds, and for me I get very distracted when the smallest of sounds intrude on my work. So, it wasn’t a surprise that this is an area I need to focus on. The good news is that I genuinely love to listen. Being an adept listener makes me feel valuable to my friends, my employees and my clients. With all we are going through in the early months of 2009, it seems to me that listening closely to each other will help us thread our ideas together to establish best practices, lead effective teams for stronger results, and secure trust amongst our customers for when the economy turns around. As with everything we want to learn, developing listening skills first requires a real desire. Once you have a heightened awareness about your listening potential, I believe you will naturally begin to improve your ability. Then, it takes practice and attention. Your efforts will make you a more appreciated boss, a kinder, better friend, and a unique contributor in all situations. And if you are anything like me, it will give you a greater sense of satisfaction in your life. To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com