Clear Speech &
Professional Communication

Have you ever been told that you mumble, sound monotone, or speak too quickly? Do others frequently ask you to repeat, because they didn’t understand what you said? Have you always had a bit of a lisp on certain sounds? If so, then speech therapy can support you to learn correct productions of sounds, modify your speech rate or intonation patterns, and provide you with strategies to improve the clarity of your speech. 

Communicating your message clearly can be particularly important in the workplace. Whether you’re regularly making presentations, delivering updates to your team, or having one-on-one calls and meetings with clients, you need to be able to get your point across effectively. Speech therapists can help you increase your confidence and clarity in professional communication situations, whether it is making your presentation style more engaging, helping you reduce your use of filler words, or developing your ability to organize your thoughts and ideas when you speak.

Frequently Asked Questions about
Clear Speech and
Professional Communication:

• I’m a naturally fast talker, it’s just part of my personality. It feels like my brain goes quicker than my mouth, so sometimes I don’t even say one word fully before I’m on to the next! Do you think it actually affects how well people understand me?

Of course, I’d have to hear you to know for sure, but if you’re getting a lot of feedback from others that you talk really quickly, and listeners are often asking you to repeat yourself or looking confused when you speak, then those are signs that your communication is unclear. There may be ways of still getting across your energetic personality without compromising your ability to be understood — let’s figure them out together!

• I’m fine when it comes to explaining the technical information to my team, but it’s those “small talk” situations at work that I find really challenging. I mean, what am I supposed to chit-chat about for several minutes before we get down to business?! Can you help with this?

Absolutely! I support with not just professional but also social communication (and the interesting place where they overlap, like at workplace lunches or time in the coffee room). Check out my page on Social Communication for more info.

• I keep getting feedback that my voice is very monotone. I’m required to make calls to clients and presentations to the team, and my manager would like me to sound more engaging. Is this something that I can even change?

Definitely — if you are willing to put in the time and effort to practice. Some people naturally speak within a more limited intonation range than average (most people are not actually “monotone”), but this is something that you can intentionally change through learning and practicing the intonation patterns. However, it may be that it never becomes automatic for you, but rather something that you choose to use in certain communication situations.

• My boss wants me to sound more “confident” and “professional” in my job, especially as I’m required to give updates to the execs. Right now the feedback is that I come across as uncertain and hesitant. Is this something you work on?

Yes! There could be a couple different reasons that your communication is being interpreted in this way — it may have to do with your word choice, your intonation, or other aspects of how you’re using your voice. Once we do an evaluation session, I’ll have a better idea of how we can address this together.