Featured post by Terry Kaufman from Your English Solutions

Speaking appropriately and clearly - at a speed that is suitable for the non-native English speaker - is the key to comprehensible expression.

1. Move your mouth and avoid eating your words. Remember those old Kung-Fu movies on American TV? Move your mouth as the people in them did. It is important to breathe and relax your facial muscles and chest. Preferably, in private, I like to pinch my cheeks with my fingers and move them in, out, and around. This exercise creates an “elastic” effect. In fact, it relaxes your facial muscles!

2. Do not say “Tuh” instead of “To” in between words. For example, I need “tuh” talk “tuh” the manager.

3. Do not run your words together. “Whadyado?”, “Gonna”, “Gimme”, “Lemme”, and “Wanna” are words that are run together. Visualize your words as a punching ball. Imagine each individual word passing in your mind’s eye as they do in subtitles in a movie. Articulate each word and “punch” it. You punch, recover, and punch again.

4. Avoid using contractions or short forms. Use long forms. “Can’t” is one word you must use the long form with. It is difficult for a non-native speaker to understand the difference between “can” and “can’t” in a sentence. For example, “I can’t take you on Friday” and “I can take you on Friday”. Use the long form, “cannot”. “I cannot take you on Friday”.

5. Decrease the use of words that fill your sentences. The idea is to remove the “noise” from your speech. Imagine trying to listen to the radio with two young children in the same room. They are playing and screaming. What is the result? “Family of…car…on vacation…in Arizona.” If your oral communication is filled with “um”, “like”, “you know”, or other fillers, comprehension is more difficult. “Right” is a word that commonly fills conversations. I prefer to use “Yes, that is correct”. A non-native speaker may not understand “right” and confuse it with its opposite, “left”.

6. Be explicit: Say “Yes” or “No”. Do not say: “Uh-huh” or “Uh-uh”. Those words are not in grammar books! 7. Be patient and smile. The more relaxed you are, the more you are in control of your communication. Do not give a busy lifestyle or a meeting agenda permission to control your speech. Think as you speak and do not speak as you think.

“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard too sleep after.” –Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Featured post by Brock Henderson, Marketing Consultant

I want to sincerely thank Damon Clifford for inviting me to be a part of CEO Consultant as a Marketing Guru.

This initial post is to introduce myself so you can get a sense of my background and writing style. I tend to write in the same fashion as I consult … as if I am talking with a friend and explaining something to them.

Some people have criticised me for this, and have indicated I should be more dictitorial in my consulting style and more obtuse in my writing.

(This was by a book publisher who thought my writing style was too direct, informal, casual . . . and apparently informative. Seems I got to the point to quick.)

Well, I can’t be something I’m not and most people seem to like my more informal and informative style — so until someone can convince me it isn’t effective I’ll stay the way I am.

With over 25 years of marketing experience I am a frequent writer on marketing and business topics for ISP Planet as well as others. In addition I give seminars on a variety of business and marketing topics, such as “Guerilla Marketing”, “Selling for the Non-Salesperson”, and “5 Marketing Techniques that Work and One that Doesn’t”.

Just recently, (like 2 days ago), I was asked to serve as the Director of Marketing for www.aaserviceproviders.org, a trade organization for the Internet Service Provider (ISP) industry.

For the past several years most of my consulting has been for technology firms and ISPs. Additionally, I have taught a variety of business and marketing courses at a local University.

This blog is here to help you, and so I want to invite you to tell me what marketing (and/or business) subjects you would like me to write about.

I’m looking forward to assisting you here in any way I can.

- Brock