by Heather Chetwynd | Jul 19, 2021 | Business Communications
We learn our soft skills from the environments we grow up in and experience – family, culture, friends, school, etc.. Inappropriate or insufficient soft skills – ranging from not understanding culturally appropriate communication to not being able to express...
by Heather Chetwynd | Nov 5, 2020 | Business Communications, Culture and Values
The North American concept of personal space Many coaches working in English-speaking environments were born and raised in another cultural and/or linguistic environment. And the reverse is also true, especially in Toronto, where roughly 50% of the population was not...
by Heather Chetwynd | Jul 7, 2020 | Accent Modification, Business Communications
Do people seem to find it difficult to understand you when you speak? Do they often ask you to repeat yourself? Do they look like they are really concentrating to understand you? Whether your perception is true or not, being able to participate comfortably in a...
by Heather Chetwynd | Apr 29, 2015 | Business Communications
Breath and inspiration are related. The root of the word inspire is the Latin word spirare, which means to breathe. In English, we use the word respiration in reference to breathing and expiration in reference to death. But these terms are also related to the word...
by Heather Chetwynd | Apr 27, 2015 | Business Communications
Language changes whether we like it or not. I was forced to pronounce WHEN, WHICH and WHERE with air after the W, even though nobody I knew did it. But that was considered correct when I was young. And, as we know, what is considered correct is the language of...
by Heather Chetwynd | Apr 14, 2015 | Business Communications
Mohammad was in the running for a promotion but never got it. Why? According to his manager, Mohammad was considered rude by several of his colleagues. There were complaints about him being overly critical, raising his voice regularly and often making jokes at...
