Doing Business In Japan? Etiquette Rules to Know
Great information from Bruna Martinuzzi of Clarion Enterprises “A traveler without observation,” said Persian poet Saadi, “is a bird without wings.” The same can be said of a business traveler doing business in a foreign country. Observing another culture’s etiquette opens doors to more successful communications. This is of particular importance when doing business in Japan… ————————————————————————————————————– […]
Let’s Talk Numbers##
Let’s Talk Numbers “Was that 30 or 13 million?” 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. Sometimes non-native English speakers lack awareness for […]
Tele Talk
If you’re a professional who does a lot of business over the phone, listen up. Many professionals do a great deal of their business communication over the phone or through teleconferencing. People who work remotely, have many international clients, or make lots of sales calls depend on telecommunication to reach out, connect with, and influence […]
Why Do We Sound The Way We Do?
(Full disclosure-I’m not sure. But here are some interesting facts and posits.) There are around 7000 languages and let’s just say, a whole lot of different cultures. How do our anatomy, sex, language, and culture affect the sound of our voices? To what extent do voices change based on current social and cultural norms and doctrines? Let’s […]
Well, He Sounds Nice
New Dating App Features VOICES. When I heard about the new app Waving – Voice Dating, I WAS NOT SURPRISED! The question I had was more like, What took so long? A bit of shared history. Back in 1999, when I was still fairly new to NYC, I tried something called “The Relationship Line.” It was a precursor […]
Communication Skills in Engineering
Lately, I have found myself working with more and more engineers, especially chemical engineers. The relevance and importance of “soft skills,” in relation to the ability to communicate, within the field of engineering should not be underestimated. In academia, students must be able to clearly understand their teachers. Researchers need to be able to link […]
Speak From Your Gut
“Speak from Your Gut: A Deeper Dive” There’s more to the advice “Speak from your gut” than meets the eye. It’s like a secret weapon, a hidden gem, a cosmic cheat code for effective communication. When people suggest this, they’re encouraging you to trust your intuition, your inner voice, your gut feeling. Your breath, the fuel […]
Making the “w” Sound
Many of my Indian, German, Chinese, Korean, Middle Eastern and other clients find the “w” sound in English to be especially challenging. The advice I give is this: To make the /w/ sound, you’re just rounding your lips and blowing air with sound (voice) out of your mouth. Your teeth are not touching the bottom […]
A Fun English Poem
This is just a fun little poem that illustrates the confusing aspects of English spelling. Our Strange Lingo When the English tongue we speak.Why is break not rhymed with freak? Will you tell me why it’s trueWe say sew but likewise few? And the maker of the verse,Cannot rhyme his horse with worse? Beard is […]
Hot drinks are soothing; They’re good for the voice, right?
A nice hot cup of tea is comforting, but even after you remove the caffeine, the lemon, and the honey or sugar, you’re still left with a problem: the heat. The temperature of a fluid affects the tissue it comes in contact with. Heat causes blood vessels to dilate (open up), allowing the liquid portion […]