Culturally Speaking: A Communication Skills Tip

I began my communication career as a teacher of ESL. I taught English through music and drama at a Japanese College outside of Cambridge, Massachusetts. I remember being drawn to the extreme variance between how Americans and Japanese expressed themselves through their facial expressions. Americans tend to be overly dramatic while the Japanese tend to be overly reserved. Over the first six years of my profession, I met people from all over the world: Russia, France, India, Germany, Brasil, Turkey, The Philippines, Taiwan, and Poland to name a few. I began to be able to identify the student's cultures almost by their facial expressions alone. Their pursed lips suggested how little they might use their mouth during speech. Their smooth foreheads were signs that they may not express surprise or confusion outwardly. Or the lack of lines around their eyes could reveal how little the culture might smile (or they may avoid smiling to reduce wrinkling...smart!) The point is that there are cultural norms in every society around moving the muscles in the face. The theatre and music techniques I introduced to my international students gave them communication alternatives. It was fascinating to see how the non-verbal exercises allowed all groups to explore their use of the language. We all decided that it is easy to take on another personality when speaking another language and that there is a freedom that takes place when you really allow yourself to integrate another culture into your expression. Now, after 20 years as a communication specialist, I am finally becoming adept at another language. It certainly isn't easy, but I find that when I embody the physicality of the culture, the language is more familiar. 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.

Vocal Projection: A Communication Skills Tip

Vocal projection has come up a lot recently in my coaching sessions. Sometimes people need help with their actual volume, but other times it can be the color of their voice or the intention in which they direct their sound. I really enjoy working on this subject because it seems to stem directly to one's self perception. Our voice sounds distinctly different when it is coming out of our body versus when it is coming towards our ears. You know how you can feel repelled by the sound of your own out going voicemail message? That is because you are used to hearing the resonance of your voice and all the vibrations that get stirred inside the cavaties of your chest, throat and head along with the sound of the vocal cords themselves. In 1990, when I was attending graduat school at Lesley University, I learned about a special theatre in the south of France called The Roy Hart Theatre (now called Pantheatre.) The theatre is "a context for personal or professional development through the performing arts" with a specialization in self expression through voice work. I finally made it there in 2005 and had precisely the experience I was hoping for--to develop a deeper understanding of myself and my vocal epxression and how I could be more aligned with a richer, more authentic voice. When we speak, we hopefully have a message to convey. When we do, we can use our intention to communicate our thoughts, opinions, ideas and suggestions. By projecting our voice with purpose, we can reach our audience and have a greater impact. 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.

The Steady Development of Rapport: Communication Skills Tip

When I was preparing to be an actor throughout high school and college years, I was drawn to very serious roles: Anton Chekov, Eugene O'Neill and Shakespeare's tragedies to name a few. For me, it was all about the drama. Somehow I believed that real expression had to be serious. And with that, it meant that comedies and light theatre had no place on my resume. Naturally, it would follow that in life I had little tolerance for small talk and everything trite. One thing I've learned from being an entrepreneur for nearly 14 years is that we have to build rapport with those we work with, present to, and interact with daily. And we can't very well do that by diving deep into dialogue from the get-go. We have to begin with small talk and include some light personal dialogue to jump start our rapport with others. 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.

Individually Speaking: Communication Skills Tip

I'm sitting at In Good Company (the collaborative workspace for women in NYC) thumbing through a book of photographs put together by The Gap (Red) Campaign called Individuals. The inside cover defines "individual" as a singular person distinguished from others by a special quality. Dizzy Gillespie, Isabella Rosselini, Annie Leibovitz, Salma Hayek, Denis Leary, Ali McGraw, and B.B. King are just some of the individuals photographed in the book. It got me thinking about the unique qualities that differentiate us from each other and how we are encouraged or not encouraged to be the original selves we are. What value do we add to the workplace, to our families/friends or to the community at large? Are our lives extraordinary? Do we conform to society's rules? Do we interact within a set of values and mores that belong to our place of work? How can we best communicate the essence of our individuality? I ask you to answer these questions not just for the sake of expression, but for the purpose of stumbling upon a passion that this world cannot do without. 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.