Although clients approach me to improve their career/life I find them struggling with their abilities to communicate well and, especially, to express themselves in English. This is also true for those who are born and raised in the US. Although many speak and communicate well orally, their written skills, vocabulary, and understanding of how to communicate better and more effectively in both written and oral communication often needs work.
Some immigrants also suffer from a proper understanding of US idioms (one client did not understand when his boss winked at him and told him: Let us put this task on the back burner for now! He mistakenly thought that putting something on a back burner meant that doing something so that no one would notice it and then burner and for now meant going at warp speed. He was trained in aerospace and he knew what an afterburner did). If hed known, instead, that it meant, To postpone something for another time, he would have remained in good graces with his boss!
Although my main focus in my career and life coaching practice is to help clients in their career flow and show them ways for them to be successful in what they do, I spend considerable time (billable time) writing and re-writing what they intend to communicate to others. This includes not just helping them with their rsums, cover letters, bios, and LinkedIn Profiles, but also helping them articulate what they intend when they take a certain business Point of View (PoV), or propose something to their bosses. Even preparing their Annual Performance Review many clients have serious problems clearly articulating how to present what they have done, so that it reads more as an accomplishment than as a diligent execution of a precise order.
This blog is about resources I give my clients, who are open to improving their overall communication skills. My interesting observation is that as clients move up in their organization they become increasingly more and more reluctant to admit that they have a communication (English writing/speaking) problem. Yet, when the problem is serious enough, regardless of their standing in their organization, I take the risk of offering them these resources. I remember clearly one case of a major companys SVP, who could not speak in front of a crowd standing up. He had no problem speaking in a meeting when everyone was seating at the same table; an everyday meeting scenario!
Depending on your communication proficiency you can decide which of the following resources are appropriate for your ongoing growth in how you express yourself. In almost all cases I find that a clients ability to communicate well in English is a fundamental skill that can hold them back despite their proficiency in their own technical area of work. So, heed this need with the attention that it deserves. It is one of the most underrated skills in ones professional development.
I Words and their usage
These resources send you a daily email with a new word, its usage, and etymology, etc.
- Merriam-Webster Dictionaries: merriam-webster.com will email you a word every day for free. It also offers a paid on-line dictionary for an annual fee.
- Wordsmith is run by Anu Garg and is also a free email service that sends new words every day. This is a great resource for a variety of reasons. wordsmith.org
- Oxford University Press: Oxford Dictionaries Online provides free email service with daily words and their usage. Contact odo_us@OUP.COM It also offers subscription services
- There are many online dictionaries available for free. Just Google your interest, (e.g., Dictionary of Urban Slang) and find what you are looking for. For example, my client could have gone to http://www.idiomeanings.com and found out that the meaning of that idiom was exactly opposite of what he thought and would have found a perfect example right there to illustrate how wrong his thinking wasfor free!
II English Writing
- The best resource for improving your writing skills is provided by the Purdue University through its Online Writing Lab (OWL). https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ This rich resource offers a variety of avenues for you to improve your verbal (written and oral) skills through online exercises that allow you to visit different areas of your need: Grammar, Composition, Word usage, Pitfalls, etc.
- Additional resources can be found through Google and other searches.
- If you want to improve your written English make a habit of writing something every day.
III Speech
- Several YouTube resources are available to improve your speaking abilities in both the US and British English. Rachels English is a channel that has many exercises and content (US)
- Anglolink (By Minu) this is a UK-based version of English
- There are many other providers of this content on YouTube.
IV Public Speaking/Leadership Communication
The best resource for improve your public speaking skills is the Toastmasters International. There are local chapters in every city, organization, and company. So, find a local chapter and sign-up. https://www.toastmasters.org/ Although not entirely free it is almost free.
V Body Language
Learning physical vocabulary to match your word power is equally important. There are many excellent TED talks on this topic and Amy Cuddys talk on this topic alone has received more than 26M hits.
No matter where you are in your career we could all use avenues to improve our communication. If you are shy to admit to yourself start with these and make a practice of improving your skills every day by making a habit of using these tools.
Good luck!
| About Author | |
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Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader. |
Website: http://dilipsaraf.com/?p=2516
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