The ability to communicate effectively is acknowledged to be the most powerful way to persuade people to buy your product, service or ideas.

Being an expert in sales, management or engineering does not guarantee your ability to communicate your expertise to others, nor does several years experience as a public speaker. It’s like playing the piano by ‘ear’ for several years, but you’ll never play for the London Philharmonic Orchestra unless you learn a professional technique.

There are always a minority of companies that are not open to new ideas or don’t appreciate the importance of professional communication. Your knowledge can be conveyed so much more effectively when you are trained in the correct technique.

In spite of being the best golfer in the world, Tiger Woods still takes lessons. Someone once said to him when he made a difficult golf shot: “That was lucky Tiger” and he replied: “It’s funny, but the more I practise my technique, the luckier I get!”


At a recent meeting with the CEO of an international corporation, we spoke about improving their staff and presenters’ communication skills. One of his colleagues commented that they already have training programmes. So do most companies, but none of them have a specific technique to improve verbal communication skills.

Companies spend a great deal of time and money on product and sales training, but when it comes to selling, the lack of a communication technique often lets down the seller, reducing the amount of information that is retained by the potential customer.

Consider the implications of these statistics for your business:

We all have a unique speech pattern

You may not have noticed it, but when you put your jeans on, you start with the same leg every time. In the shower – if you are right-handed, you probably pick up the soap with your right hand and wash (let’s say) your left shoulder first. You never think: “This is boring, I’ve been doing it this way for years…today, it’s going to be left hand, right knee.”

Well, in the same way, we develop a speech pattern.

A speech pattern starts when a baby is born. It’s not surprising that a newborn baby cries when it is held upside down in a strange new world. Crying is the first form of communication. In this case it says: “I’m not very happy.” After a while, the baby learns to smile: “I’m happy.”

From then on we learn a language, an accent, speed, tone and an intricate way of arranging words in a sentence. These are influenced by our parents, friends and school. The trouble is that no school, university or college, (even a stage school) teaches a technique for professional communication.

Throughout the world and in every language, children are simply taught to string words together.

Without a technique we have to use our instinct

Dictionary definition:

instinct [in'stingkt'] n .	The innate aspect of behaviour that is unlearned.
In other words they are making up their own rules as they go along; they are'guessing'.
technique [tekneek] n.	A set of specific rules which determine the degree of excellence. The degree of skill or command of fundamentals exhibited in any performance.

During my training I was lucky enough to share some classes with Laurence Olivier. I once asked him:
“What is the secret of verbal communication?”
And he said: “Knowing what to do with the words”.

I think he realised I was disappointed with his answer, and after a few moments he added:
“It’s like playing a musical instrument; you have to know what to do with every note.
If a concert pianist played the piano the way some people communicate in business or on radio and television, they would have no audience.”