There are a numbers of blanket statements that have been historically made about presenting yourself within a professional environment. You’ve probably heard them since your school days. While they are helpful in part, they require varying degrees of application.
PRONUNCIATION: hit your “t’s” and “d’s”
Contrary to popular belief, using a strong /t/ or /d/ sound may not always be desirable.
When speaking in public to large groups of individuals, this tactic may help to carry sound to the back of the room.
However, in smaller groups, or one to one situations, it can feel a little forced.
Take the following sentence:
“I love my job, buT Today I’m exhausted.”
In connected speech, the T at the end of the word, ‘buT’, may join with the T at the beginning of the word, ‘Today’, and so we may hear <bu-today> [bət̚ʔ̚ tə.ˈdɛɪ].
BODY LANGUAGE: sit up straight
The idea of sitting up straight is effortful. Effort can lead to unnecessary tension. Instead, sit back on your ‘sitting bones’, against the base of the chair. Imagine a piece of string is holding you up at the crown of your head. Allow gravity to let your shoulders drop, and take some deep breaths to settle in to this sentation.
Rather than actively trying to sit up, we are allowing it to happen, effortlessly
Removing effort and allowing the body to sit with ease, will help make the production of sound flow more smoothly.
COMMUNICATION: maintain eye contact
Eye contact is vital for connection. However, for many, when putting this into practice, it can result in aimless staring into the eyes of another. This can feel unsettling – as though one is being looked through, rather than at.
This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many clients find it difficult to not only gain eye contact, but to comfortably find moments when it feels appropriate to look away.
As well as focusing on the eyes of the person with whom you are speaking, try picking two other spots in the room. When listening, you might feel you wish to maintain eye contact. This may also be true for the majority of time that you yourself are speaking. However, when considering your next thought, or when changing the energy of with which you enter into a new thought, you may wish to allow your eyes to visit one of your other spots.
Think of these shifts in eye contact as an opportunity to recharge and reenergise before heading in a new direction.