I believe I have posted before that I work in a call center. A few years ago now, a caller paid me one of the best compliments I have ever received. She said right off that I had an excellent phone voice and finished the call by suggesting that I had missed my calling; she then said that I should be doing voice overs or narrating documentaries. The irony is that I have actually dreamed about narrating historical documentaries! In fact, I will tell you just how weird I am; I often read history books out loud, pretending that I am the narrator of a documentary. Some books, on certain subjects, just seem to demand that they be read out loud. But, if that is not weird enough for you, I have spent hours upon hours in public places, reading books out loud! I hope you are not frightened by this startling revelation. But here is the unexpected part of the story; all of that reading out loud actually prepared me for the job I currently have. There was a time in my life when I had the notion that I had a communication problem. I think it was because I left my job with the family business after ten years and started working for other people. I became rather self conscious about my quiet personality and my occasional stumbling over words. It got to the point that, when asked in job interviews if I had any weaknesses, I would answer that I had a communication problem. Hey, I had to be honest! As long as I believed I had a problem, then, in a way, I did. In fact, my problem was that I believed I had a problem. One summer I took a sales job just to prove that I could do it. For this company, the sales approach was low pressure because the product all but sold itself. What I found out was that I do not have a communication problem -- also, stumbling over the occasional word might actually put the customer at ease, thus helping to make the sale! Those job interviews taught me something else: if you don't want the job, a great way to end the interview is to tell them you have a communication problem; what you are really saying here is: "I have no self confidence." Trust me, no hiring manager will give you a second thought after you tell them that. As a result of this, I was out of work for a number of years; and I had plenty of time to sit in public parks and read out loud. I read recently a couple of articles which encouraged reading out loud. The first noted that reading out loud strengthens the voice and makes it more clear. It helps the reader to enunciate words more clearly, carefully, and naturally. It helps to prevent speech mannerisms and monotonous patterns because the reader has an opportunity to use other people's word combinations. The article then suggested that the reader should also practice voice inflection to develop a wider range of tones in order to make the voice more interesting. Of course, reading out loud would involve actual reading, which of itself has many benefits. Reading stretches our mental muscles and expands our horizons. It takes us out of our mundane worlds and lets us travel as far as our imagination -- and the ability of the authors to paint pictures with words -- can carry us. Reading keeps us vibrant, it keeps us alive and makes us far more interesting to our friends and families. It has been said that one way to keep alive is to keep interested in many things, and the way to keep interested is to read interesting books. Reading can also help those who feel lonely and depressed, it even has a name, bibliotherapy. The second article I read pointed out other benefits. Reading out loud sharpens our focus, increases our vocabulary, results in greater comprehension, gives us an opportunity to play, exercises our body, while challenging our use of intonation and improving our listening and reading skills. When I was still in high school, an older gentleman once saw me reading at a bus stop. He asked me if I liked to write. When I said that I did, he said something I have carried with me ever since. The more we read, the better we will write, and the more we write, the better we will read. This is absolutely correct. If you want to improve your ability to communicate, read and write and write and read, and read out loud.
