CORPORATE SPEECH PATHOLOGY

The domain of speech pathology that has a long history of evolution evolved further in the 20th century when the subject started meeting the specific needs of people in terms of communication difficulties in their day to day lives. There are a wide variety of difficulties which we have or even come across people who have them. But in India we often don't know if it really is a problem or underestimate it due to our lack of knowledge about the subject. Even if we know, we don't know where to go and to whom to approach. Corporate speech pathology is integration of Speech Pathology in our modern lives in a way which will benefit many across different spheres of society. There are several communication problems that corporate speech pathology specifically caters to. These are as follows:1) Fear of public speaking or Glossophobia:- We all know how competitive our world has become and especially during the aftermath of the recent global financial crisis, employees, businessmen, etc, are facing steep completion from their competitors in the office space or in the business world. It has become very important that you convey your idea. You will be as successful as your ideas, provided you convey them properly. People with fears in public speaking become very anxious about their acceptability when they are delivering in a room full of people staring at them. These people try to avoid events which involve a group of people concentrating their attention on a single person. Even the mere thought of a room full of people staring at him/her and the negative comments that he/she might have to hear if his/her communication falters sets that person's pulse racing. Symptoms like nausea, physical uneasiness, etc. are displayed by people who suffer from Glossophobia. Even billionaire Warren Buffet and Pastor Joel Osteen were also suffering from fear of public speaking in early phase of their careers. Warren Buffet accepted his fear from public speaking in an interview given to a career website for young women called theLevo League. Mr. Buffet too enrolled for a public speaking course to boost his communication skills. 2) Accent and dialect reduction:- This is not a disorder of speech. People Corporate speech pathologists help you to become bi-dialectical. This helps a person to speak in a dialect more acceptable in a formal or corporate surrounding and continue speaking in his/her local/regional dialect when the same person is at home or in an informal surrounding. This is done using computer assisted instructions, group sessions, by providing materials for home practice, providing follow-up sessions, etc. Common forms of accent and dialect reduction is revealed by reduction in consonant cluster by the speaker (example- srimp =shrimp,guest=guests),habit of unconsciously omitting word endings (example- goin'=going),substitute one sound for another (example- den=Then), uses different pitch, stress and speed of speaking words or sentences and so on. This is where a corporate speech pathologist comes to ones aid. 3) Improving voice aesthetics:- In the discussion made in the previous paragraphs, we have come to understand and appreciate the fact that a correct communication will convey a message to the listener in a manner such that the listener responds to that communication in a manner anticipated by the speaker. This happens when the speaker

understands the required voice aesthetics for a given situation. When a speaker speaks disregarding the mood of the audience, the situation or the circumstance in which he/she has been asked to speak, uses poor grammar, artificial articulation, inappropriate intonation and wrong pronunciations he/she fails to impress the audience in an anticipated manner. Time management too plays a very important role in creating an impression. People in the forefront of media industry like- anchors, RJs, VJs, etc. has to adhere to aesthetics related to sound, voice to make their programs more attractive. In the computer gaming industry adherence to sound aesthetics during audio coding is an important aspect which determines the success and popularity of a computer game. 4) Treating voice disorders:- A person suffering from voice disorder will exhibit different pitch, loudness and phonatory quality from peers belonging to similar age ,race, education, ethnic group hindering ability to excel in society. In adults these are present mostly in people whose profession depend on their voice or people with frequent bouts of allergies, asthma, cold and sinus infection. Most common causes are vocal nodules, congenital problems in children, vocal fold paralysis, polyps, carcinoma, cleft palate, cranio-facial abnormality etc. The symptoms of vocal disorders are exhibited in the form of a childish voice exhibited by an adult woman, a male child exhibiting an inappropriate high voice, a person under severe stress and anxiety will exhibit loss or disorderly voice, person being robbed / raped or has undergone a cancer treatment shows voice disorders due to psychological triggers, a person diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease exhibit hoarseness and monotonic pitch, someone diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease displays hypernasal voice with low and soft pitch as well as loudness in voice, strangled and strained voice, breathy voice quality, cancer of larynx results in hoarseness of voice, etc. Corporate speech pathologists will help in teaching the patient a vocal behaviour that is absent, substituting an inappropriate vocal behavior with an appropriate one and by strengthening inconsistent and weak vocal behaviours. 5) Helping in presentation creation and preparation:- A corporate speech pathologist will help you in controlling your fear of public speaking. The specialist will also help you to ascertain the correct approach to take control of the situation in the presentation day. This will require knowledge about number of audience, available technology and how the presentation can be made more engaging. The SLP will help you in understanding how loudly you need to talk and the exact environment that you might experience while giving presentation. 6) Helping correct and prevent miscommunications with supervisors, peers, staff:-A corporate speech pathologist will help you in improving your communication at the office space and prevent miscommunication by correcting your fear of public speaking as well as helping you with improvement in voice aesthetics, damage due to voice disorder and helping you with your accent and voice reduction related issue. 7) Improving interview skills:8) Communicating in a multi-cultural environment and establishing communication both verbally and non-verbally:9) Improving your social communication skills in the business world

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