Business
It’s not just what you say that matters, but also how you say it. Everyone communicates differently, and knowing how to approach different people at different times can make or break you. https://www.linkedin.com/in/drethanbecker/ (Ethan Becker) is the President and second-generation senior coach and trainer from https://speechimprovement.com/ (The Speech Improvement Company). In this episode, he chats with host Bob Roark and shares some tips from his book, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GQH3KD9/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 (Mastering Communication at Work: How to Lead, Manage, and Influence). Ethan talks about the impact of communicating effectively and how that translates in different business situations. He also discusses the science behind speech and communication to give a better understanding of how it works. --- Watch the episode https://youtu.be/R7tQz1fEG2E (here) Dr. Ethan Becker On The Impact Of Mastering Communication In Business How To Lead, Manage And Influence This is going to be quite the episode. We have Dr. Ethan Becker. He's the President and second generation senior coach and trainer for https://www.speechimprovement.com/ (The Speech Improvement Company). It’s the oldest communication coaching and training firm in America. More importantly, he's created what I would consider a tool case, a set of tools for https://speechimprovement.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=25&product_id=64 (Mastering Communication at Work). That's the name of his book with the co-author, https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/ (Jon Wortmann). It's how to lead, manage, and influence. It's the second edition. He was kind enough to provide me a copy, which I promptly read. It resides on my desk as a go-to resource and how-to in the speech side of the house. Dr. Becker, thank you so much for taking the time. If you would, maybe starting out with a story about your company and your mom and how this all came to pass. It's good to be here. I get asked that question about the company because we were founded in 1964. My mom and my dad were both at Emerson College, which for a long time is where you would go for communication. She was studying Speech Pathology and he was studying Rhetoric and Public Address, that was the vocation. They met, and dated, and they got together. They had this idea that if you could coach an executive, a businessperson, the same way an athlete was coached, you could help that person. Their specialty was in communication, so they did that through the lens of communication and the company name, they started right away. They said, “Let's name it what we do, The Speech Improvement Company.” Between the two of them, they found something that could focus on, in some cases, mechanics of speaking, and in other cases, psychology, persuasion, and rhetoric. Naturally, that grew into the business world. That's how it originally started a long time ago. Was there a recognition or a pushback when they started the company? Good speakers are born not made. You get some of that stuff. They also had other challenges. They were out of the norm. My mother, a blind Jewish woman who married a Catholic boy. In the 1960s, that didn't go over well. Your dad must have needed a lot of work for her to marry him and to try to improve. An Irish Catholic boy from Pennsylvania hitchhiked his way up to Boston and did what he couldn't to get through school. She came from a long line. Her grandfather was one of the founding members of Brandeis University. She came from a different place. These two were not from the same background, but they found love and commonality, and they started this business and then it quickly grew. They never wanted the company to grow large. There were always about 10 or 11 on the team. Now, we're about 20. They never wanted to be like a Dale Carnegie or a McKinsey or some watered down, one size fits all for everybody type of thing. They...