“No other skills will position you ahead of your competition as much as good speaking and presentation skills. No book approaches the depth and breadth of Dr. Carol Fleming’s It's the Way You Say It.” —Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, Keynote Speaker, Executive Speech Coach Make Your Speaking More Impressive Refine your voice, words, and demeanor and speak your mind effectively. It’s the Way You Say It offers: • Useful vocal self-evaluation tools • Valuable tips to solve specific voice problems • Expert advice on how to develop a dynamic voice • Advice on how to become verbally competent and fluent • Practical methods to become well-spoken • How to speak with comfort and confidence • Steps to become approachable and gracious • Professional guidance in conquering stage fright Speech consultant, Dr. Carol Fleming brings unique knowledge and skills to the speaking needs of individuals and corporate clients. She has leveraged her professional background and skills, a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and over thirty years of successfully helping clients to improve their communication skills, to write a book that will benefit the individual to refine their voice, words, and demeanor and speak their mind effectively. Dr. Fleming knows what is important to the adult learner and how to streamline the learning process.
The only way that people can sense your intelligence and professionalism is through the effectiveness of your communication: what they hear you say, the attitude that is perceived and the very sound of your voice. Professional communication is important to people in every line of work. While your expertise and skill are of course essential, effective communication can make all the difference in getting that job or being offered that promotion or making that sale. It is your personal communication that transmits your expertise and confidence to other people, and so it’s essential to use every aspect of communication to your best advantage. While many books out there on communication will tell you what to say, few address how to say it, and even fewer will help you learn how to work with your best communication tool: your speech and your voice. I’ve been working with people on refining the sound of their voices for over 30 years. As a speech and language pathologist I apply the education and skills developed for the clinic and apply them to the more subtle needs of the business and professional person. While others may offer public speaking training or speech therapy or theater skills, I take a holistic approach, helping people fix any concerns they may have about the impression they make by the way they speak, which includes enhancing their voice so that it is one that people really want to listen to, and also improving their nonverbal communication. Because ideally, you want your body and your words and your voice to all be communicating the same thing at the same time. That is what comes across as professional, trustworthy, and appealing. I’ve found over the years that virtually everyone has some aspect of their speaking that they feel insecure about or that others have commented on. People come in to my office feeling nervous, and they always ask: Can I really change my voice? The answer I offer them is: You absolutely can—with instruction and practice. In this book, I’ve laid out all the most common vocal complaints I’ve seen, along with the exercises that I’ve used successfully with thousands of clients over the years. This is not as straight forward as it appears since we have a unique relationship with the sound of our own voice: We are the sound of our voice. Our speaking is our personality. Our internal life, thoughts, and feelings are communicated to the rest of the world with our voice.
Dr. Carol Fleming is a speech consultant and author of two bestselling series, The Sound of Your Voice and The Serious Business of Small Talk. She specializes in vocal development and communication training. She works and lives in San Francisco and loves to read, garden, and sings with the San Francisco Choral Society.