Finding Your Voice at Work
Gain confidence by using your unique advantage.
Growing in your career involves taking advantage of the various opportunities to speak up and express yourself at work. Making a positive impact means finding and refining your voice. Here are three areas where coaching can help.
#1: Accent or Pronunciation
The main function of communication is, in my eyes, to share information with others. This is so essential in tech organizations, where innovation is a constant. These organizations are extremely diverse, with contributors coming from all parts of the world. Sometimes the question of accent comes up in discussing needs during coaching assessments. What I have noticed in Silicon Valley is that there is an acceptance and appreciation of difference in communication, with no one accent being seen as a requirement as long as the communicative message is clearly received.
As someone with a specialty is teaching English as a second language, I actually normally do not use the word accent; I use the term pronunciation. Since we carry pronunciation patterns from our first language (or L1) into a second (L2), misunderstandings can occur. In this case, we do an evaluation that includes looking at which sounds may be challenging and impede communication. For instance, the TH sound as in thin is a tough sound for many to pronounce, so we may work on that discrete sound and others that are also challenging. The goal is never to eliminate someone’s characteristic accent as that is often part of that person’s identity. The goal is clarity and the byproduct of that is increased confidence.
#2: Delivery
The way we pronounce each word makes a difference in how well we get our point across to others. However, that isn’t the only important aspect of vocal delivery to pay attention to. For native English speakers as well as non-native speakers, every meeting or presentation brings an opportunity to be impactful by delivering the message you intend to convey, and this is enhanced by paying attention to certain basic skills.
Volume and pace are two areas of focus. You can regulate how loudly or softly you speak in terms of making sure you are heard in any given room, but also to some extent, for impact. Pace is another area where it is important to modulate speech to avoid sounding monotone and running the risk of losing the audience’s attention.
Along with those basics is the aspect of delivery that I find the most impactful in those I coach: stress. English has a pattern in which words that carry content (like nouns and verbs) get more stress. We can take advantage of that by choosing key words to receive the most emphasis, thus highlighting our core message, and keeping the listeners’ interest. I’m sure most people would agree that no one wants more dull presentations to sit through during a workday. These strategies can help prevent that.
#3: Leadership
The main reason to find and refine your voice is to add value to your organization. Your weren’t hired to keep your ideas to yourself. Ultimately, the practice of continually working on your communication skills as you grow in your career is about developing the confidence to be more yourself.
A surprising result of coaching is that it can allow an individual to get into the habit of examining what is working and what needs to be adapted to a particular situation, and this opens up the possibility of changing the dynamics within a whole team. I have noticed that the practice of asking for and receiving input from others (e.g. from a supervisor) may continue past the coaching period, resulting in a greater sense of trust and efficiency which in turn can lead to higher productivity or greater innovation. For the individuals I am lucky to work with, their work on finding their voice certainly opens up the door to many new possibilities.
Questions for Thought
Those are some of my observations about finding your voice at work. To help you determine how this relates to your own work, here are some questions to consider.
What techniques could you use that would help you use your voice in a more impactful way (e.g., accent/pronunciation, volume, pace, stress)?
Regardless of your role on your team, what practices could you propose that would ensure all voices are heard?