SLPs often experience many intense interactions during the final few months of the year, both at family gatherings and at meetings with parents and caregivers. This episode provides a variety of powerful communication tips for SLPs to use in these interactions and beyond.
- Permission to Speak by public speaking coach Samara Bay
- Supercommunicators by journalist Charles Duhigg
- How to Know a Person by journalist David Brooks
The tips from Permission to Speak focus on deep breathing, vocal fry, and upspeak. The episode discusses Bay’s assertion that many of us tend to hold in our stomachs when we breathe, which limits the diaphragm’s range of motion, resulting in reduced oxygen intake and a voice that may sound weaker. She suggests breathing deeply into the belly.
Next, the episode briefly defines vocal fry and upspeak, and then acknowledges some of the controversy that surrounds these topics. Then it moves into looking at Bay’s perspective. In her book, Bay points out that although vocal fry and upspeak often have negative associations, they can also provide communication benefits. Bay urges communicators to be purposeful about how and when they use vocal fry and/or upspeak.
The tips from Supercommunicators focus on identifying the type of conversation that’s occurring, looping for understanding during conflict, and preparing for conversations ahead of time. The episode looks at the importance of Duhigg’s suggested question, “Does this person want to be helped, hugged or heard?” as a way to identify what type of conversation is taking place.
The episode closes by examining the difference between being an “Illuminator” and being a “Diminisher,” as these terms are defined in How to Know a Person. Illuminators are curious about others and help them feel stronger and brighter. Diminishers cause others to feel unimportant and unseen.
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