Among the most memorable experiences in speech coach and trainer Ethan Becker’s decade-long career is coaching a group of physicians on teaching skills in a cadaver laboratory, surrounded by dead bodies.

Becker, The Speech Improvement Company senior coach and trainer, said while it was a “freaky environment” and the cadavers made it difficult for him to concentrate, his most challenging assignment was preparing teenaged high-school girls for job interviews. That task was part of his company’s pro bono work among a teenaged parents’ support group in Boston, Massachusetts.

“CEOs accept my ethos or credibility as a speech coach — but to a teenage dropout mom, I’m just some white guy with a tie! So, I have to find a way to get through — it’s most challenging, but also the most rewarding,” he said in an interview in October during a trip to Kuala Lumpur to promote his recently published book, Mastering Communication at Work: How to Lead, Manage and Influence.

Becker, whose parents founded the firm in 1964, was initially reluctant to join the family business. That changed nine years ago when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, that early reluctance has become what he describes as a “labour of love”.

“Fundamentally, speech coaches help in two areas — the mechanics of speech such as articulation, and psychology, which is how you formulate thoughts and strengthen your listening skills.

“A CEO might be trying to motivate his executive team, but his coercive style might prove ineffective. Speech coaching could help him learn new behaviours to communicate effectively and how to practise it behaviourally,” said Becker, 80% of whose clients are business professionals.

Higher productivity comes about when managers are able to communicate more clearly and effectively as a motivated team performs better at tasks. Coercive management styles tend to result in higher levels of staff turnover, said Becker.

To be best in class, a company must foster a strong culture of communication from the top, where corporations encourage and invest in teaching and developing effective communication in the workplace. One such company is Google, which uses training workshops, private coaching and internal discussion groups to improve communication, he added.

When dealing with a company where two departments do not get along internally, Becker modifies the respective departments’ attitudes before teaching the technical behaviours and psychological strategies for effective communication.

“In our company, there’s the ABC acronym — attitude becomes communication. If you get down to the attitude of this group and change it, the communication will follow,” he said.

Having worked with clients from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the US, Becker said the most important priority for a manager is the quality of his relationship with his staff. “Relationships matter because when they’re strong enough, managers can do anything and the subordinate will still be motivated. But if it’s not strong, it’s difficult when the manager has to give negative feedback or when something doesn’t go well.”

Managers also need to practise better listening to determine the real issues among subordinates and to figure out the best communication approach with which to respond.

Becker cited the example of  music veteran Jon Platt, president of the US West Coast creative and urban division of EMI Music Publishing. When Platt first took over, he had to learn how to listen because as someone who thought he knew everything about the music business, he often cut people off without listening to them first.

“As he listened, he learnt things and relationships grew because he was able to craft feedback more productively and constructively,” said Becker. “Focus on relationships, learn how to listen and practise strategic communication by planning and practising important conversations.”



This article appeared on the Media & Advertising page, The Edge Financial Daily, Jan 8, 2010.