Design of Communication

Delivering bad news is one of the most difficult parts of being a design or tech leader. When we deliver bad news we can receive backlash and you might have had some negative experiences in the past of when you have had to deliver some bad news. You might be the one delivering the bad news, but you aren’t necessarily responsible for it. For many working in Design and Tech, challenging news is likely a very common occurrence. It might be that you are given a new deadline and have a lot less...

Good relationships with your colleagues, your managers, your clients and those around you can make all the difference in your career and overall work satisfaction. By having better relationships at work, it has been found that it makes you more productive, it improves your mood, and it can help you have better work life balance. It can be challenging to connect with others, and even more challenging when you work remotely. In today’s episode I am sharing different communication techniques...

Many times we think we need to move to an English speaking country to improve our English. After my own experience of studying languages, studying linguistics and my own experience of teaching my students and watching many other friends and clients, I've seen again and again that you do not need to live in the local country to develop your speaking skills. In today’s episode I share how you can develop your English speaking skills without living abroad or having many opportunities to...

The time has come where I want to get to the next level. What you have been doing to improve your communication skills and fluency might have worked up until now but you have reached a point in your career where you want to improve quickly. No matter how frustrated or far away you are feeling right now from reaching the level of fluency you desire, I’ve helped even the most shy and nervous professionals overcome self-doubt, and figure out how to articulate their ideas and decisions with...

A big part of the job interview is to show case your strengths. Your goal is to demonstrate your strengths and experience that is most relevant to the job that you are applying to. But highlighting your strengths in a confident way can be challenging. Not just because you don’t like to brag, but we don’t see ourselves the way other people see us. It's not always easy to see our strengths. In today’s episode I am sharing what are the types of strengths and how you can figure out your...

Have you ever delivered a presentation at work to colleagues, clients or stakeholders and as soon as you finish, you are asked questions that you have just addressed in your presentation. They weren't listening! It’s a harsh truth but people aren’t paying attention to your presentation. You might be sharing interesting information, data, graphs, designs, empathy maps, sketches, and ideas but your listeners can still zone out and stop listening. But if you fail to connect with your...

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. When it comes to communicating our ideas, speaking concisely is a frequent challenge for most speakers. It doesn’t matter if English is your first language or not. We have so much to say but a short time to share it. There are many advantages when it comes to speaking concisely. Concise language portrays your professionalism and competence. It's easier for you to understand what you want to say and for your listener to trust you more, remember...

When it comes to delivering a talk or presentation, the closing is one of the most difficult parts. It’s the last thing that your audience hears and remembers. It doesn't matter how strong you started or how well you used storytelling and shared interesting data, facts, and information if you have a shaky ending. But how can you summarise information and finish stronger? In this week’s episode I am sharing how you can summarise your ideas in your presentations to entertain, inspire,...

If you have been dealing with no’s and rejection recently, you are not alone. My inbox has been filled with messages from professionals from all over the world sharing how they are losing opportunities and the rejection is getting to them. It’s easy for your confidence to take a hit. We can start to feel ashamed and embarrassed when we’re rejected. We might even deny that it is affecting us so much and just keep going anyway… We naturally want to protect ourselves from future rejection. It...

No one can or should do this alone. Today I am interviewing Rosie Yeung, President and Founder of her own company, Changing Lenses. Rosie is a Coach, Speaker, Educator, and Podcaster for Justice, Equity, Decolonisation and Inclusion (JEDI). She helps people with privilege dismantle systemic inequity, while helping people without privilege survive it. Her life goal is to reduce social inequity and discrimination, especially in wealth, race, and gender. Rosie shares her own story as a...

365 days... 52 Episodes... 78 countries... 1000’s of downloads and one year of The Design of Communication! Today is an extra special day and episode. Not only are we celebrating one year of the Design of Communication Podcast, we also celebrating and welcoming in new member’s to The Fluent Club! I thought what better way to celebrate than to share 7 of my favourite episodes For Communication Fluency. These episodes have been selected because they all focus on important parts of speaking,...

Stage 1 - Unlock your language Stage 2 - Enhance your communication Stage 3 - Build your professional skills Stage 4 - Skyrocket your career Stage 5 - Refine your advanced skills This is The Fluent Speakers Success Path. This framework has been developed over the last 13 years and has since helped 1000’s of students and professionals build their communication confidence, language and fluency. In today’s episode, I share the exactly how you develop, build, implement and refine your...

A lot of the time we think becoming more confident in English means spending more time speaking the language - speaking more with native English speakers and that you aren’t doing enough. You might think you need to Spend more time reading books or watching videos Find more resources to help you improve your English Speak more and generally do more… But actually, it is not that. In today’s episode, I am sharing the reasons why you are not a confident English speaker and the steps for...

Why is it so difficult to make new vocabulary words stick in our brains? The working memory is crucial when it comes to learning and acquiring vocabulary. Like a memory card or your iPhone, our working memory holds a limited amount of information. It has a limited capacity. There comes a point where you will get a warning to delete files and photos - in this case the new vocabulary word you just learned! If you struggle with learning new vocabulary in English or want to be able to...

If you have had an interview in English before - you've probably been asked this question. How do you handle challenging situations? Coming up with an answer for a situational question can be tricky. Do you describe the situation in lots of detail or focus on the results? What situation should I even talk about? Whether you have had interviews in the past and struggled to answer this question or you are preparing for your first interview in English and want to be ready, you'll find today's...

You can have all the qualifications and experience in the world, but still feel inadequate and insecure in your ability to make a contribution in your workplace. Our internal monologue will say things like: Once I get complete this training… I will feel ready... Once I am promoted to this level… It will all be fine. This tendency to brush off, dismiss and diminish obvious evidence of our abilities is called imposter syndrome. In today’s episode I am sharing all about imposter syndrome,...

Living and working abroad is a unique experience that shapes who we are and enriches our lives. Today I am interviewing Laura Nicole Brown, founder of Inspiratti, an innovative branding agency that helps businesses to discover their unique differentiation, story and position so they can uncover a brand identity and visual style that perfectly reflects them and resonates with their target audience. Inspiratti also creates websites and other digital assets that embody this identity to...

Not only do first impressions count… they last. We only get one chance to make a great first impression. According to research that window is very small and most people will make an initial judgement of someone within 7 seconds. We observe people's facial expressions, their voice and tone, their posture, how they dress, their enthusiasm, how distracted or interested they are, and how they might interaction with others. The details that someone takes in about you all factor into how you are...

Why do we sometimes forget our words? Why do we feel pressure when speaking in English? Why do we freeze up and our mind goes blank? Do you ever find you lose your words when you have to speak English? For me, this happens in English and in foreign languages. The words are at the tip of your tongue but they seem to run away. It can also be that you want to join a conversation and go to say something and nothing comes out. So you say oh sorry forget it, my mind has gone blank. Or you...

Many times we can feel like a different person in English. I am often told by Designers and Tech Professionals that they don't feel as smart in English as they do in their first language. That they are less charming, less charismatic and less conversational. A lot of the times we can feel like this because we get stuck on the usages of certain words, sentence structures, or grammar. For this reason, I am sharing one specific area of grammar and the rules of how to use should, would or...