Lugubrious.
Ostensible ostentatious.
As you ascend to higher levels
of leadership in your
executive career path,
there is greater emphasis on
your communication skills.
And there's so much pressure
at that level on the
demonstrating intelligence and
professionalism by learning
new vocabulary words.
So in this video,
what I wanna share with you is
how you can become more
articulate,
five powerful secrets,
ostensible,
ostentatious,
semasiology,
semasiology.
How do you even have the time
to sit and read and,
and remember all of these
vocabulary words?
The good news is that becoming
articulate is not at all about
having extensive vocabulary.
In fact,
somebody who is articulate,
articulate as an adjective,
someone who is articulate,
means they are clear and
distinct.
And if you look at the
etymology of the word
articulate,
the etymology goes back to the
16 hundreds.
And it means to unite by
joining together.
So when you become more
articulate,
you are essentially joining
together people,
bringing people together
through your words and the
ideas that you express.
So becoming articulate is
nothing more than accurate
communication.
It means that you're able to
express your ideas,
your thoughts,
all of it that is within here.
You're able to express that
without outside externally in
a way that people can
understand.
So let's go deep into the
content and let me reveal to
you the five powerful secrets
on how you can become more
articulate.
Secret number one is to
communicate in terms of their
values.
The truth is when you're in a
communication with another
person,
you feel you have something
valuable to say.
They might feel they have
something valuable to say as
well.
But the fact of that matter is
you both do.
You both have something
valuable to contribute in that
conversation.
And when you become more
articulate,
the goal is to have a dialogue
with another person where
there is exchange of ideas,
exchange of thoughts,
or exchange of responses as
well.
So then communicate in terms
of their values,
allows that open lines of
communication to occur.
Cuz let's face it,
when you both have something
valuable to say and you
communicate in,
in terms of their values,
the ultimate effect is that
they're going to feel
appreciated for who they are
and understood for who they
are as well.
And the moment that the one
that you are communicating
with feels understood by you,
feels that you are serving
them,
feels that you're fulfilling
what's most important to them,
they will open up to you and
they will be more open to
hearing your ideas.
They'll be more open to
receiving your thoughts as
well and your recommendations.
And they'll be more open,
open to seeing you as somebody
who is more friendly and
trustworthy.
And if you think about it into
your own experiences,
when you were involved in a
conversation with somebody and
maybe they initiated the
discussion with you and they
were very attentive to your
needs,
they were very sure to
communicate in according to
what was your primary level of
importance.
And they understood what you
needed,
they really understood what
was what you cared about most,
and they communicated in those
terms.
Isn't it true that in that
moment you really feel heard
and understood?
And in that moment you're also
more likely to receive their
ideas,
you're more likely to be open
to what they might suggest and
you're more likely to stay
engaged in that dialogue for
longer,
right?
So the truth,
the the truth is the same as
well on the other side of it.
If you are the one speaking
and if you are the one
initiating a conversation,
all you have to do is number
one,
first secret,
communicate in accordance to
their values and you can have
that same effect.
Secret number two is to create
dialogue.
A dialogue is when,
for example,
you initiate a conversation
and then the other person is
listening,
they listen for a while and
that's your moment of
articulation.
Then your communication
partner,
the other person,
they respond to it.
And as they're responding,
that's their mo moment of
articulation and you are
listening and as they're
listening,
you're understanding what
they're saying and then you'll
respond and you respond to
what was just said.
And now this is your second
moment of articulation and so
on.
So there's this back and forth
and that is what a dialogue
is.
Now a dialogue is extremely
important to become more
articulate.
And the reason why is because
as you have a dialogue,
the other person is giving you
feedback.
Did they understand it?
That they arrive at the same
conclusion,
were they interpreting it the
way that you intended it to be
interpreted.
And that feedback is really
important and very valuable in
order for you to iterate and
have iterations of your
responses so that you become
more and more articulate as
the conversation progresses.
And it's really important
because the opposite of a
dialogue is called an
alternating monologue.
A monologue is when for
example,
you are the only one that's
speaking and you're expecting
them to listen only,
and there's the absence of
that feedback response from
them.
And absent that feedback,
maybe in that moment you might
be thinking that you were
articulate,
you might be been feeling that
you,
you articulated that strongly,
but there wasn't that
feedback.
And at the end of that whole
discussion,
that whole monologue,
if the other person gave you
feedback and they decided that
no,
they disagree that you weren't
articulating your ideas,
then that conversation becomes
meaningless.
It's not as meaningful as it
could be when you have that
feedback.
So creating the dialogue will
allow you to be able to,
in those moments progressively
increase and become more
articulate in the
conversation.
Because it's possible that
the,
the discussion could last for
several minutes or 30 minutes
or maybe 60 minutes.
That whole discussion and the
start of the conversation when
you're just getting a feel
about who they are and you're
trying to get to understand
what their needs and wants
are,
maybe in the beginning you
kind of feel like you're not
as articulate as you can be,
but you're gonna notice
through this feedback and
through a dialogue and
feedback and iteration that
your articulation goes up and
you can have that feedback on
how to adjust your
conversation style or maybe
adjust what you're saying or
maybe come at it from a
different angle and so on,
right?
So this feedback through
dialogue is absolutely crucial
to becoming more articulate
with that communication
partner.
And when you are having that
dialogue,
the mindset is to seek to
understand,
to understand their
perspective,
to understand what's important
to them to understand,
just like secret number one,
to understand what are their
highest values,
what is important to them,
what are their top priorities,
what are they looking for?
What is the outcomes they
wanna produce,
right?
To really seek to understand
and seeking to understand
could mean that you're asking
great questions to really
uncover the heart of it,
what it it is they're looking
for.
And through that process you
are really enriching that
dialogue of feedback and
you're really giving yourself
an opportunity to iterate and
become more and more
articulate as the conversation
progresses.
Secret number three is to
convey congruence.
What is congruence?
I talk about this a lot as
well.
A congruence means that your
thoughts,
your words,
your actions and your
perceptions are in unison,
which means that for example,
with words,
you're not saying one thing
and then doing something else
or you're not thinking one
thing and saying something
else,
or you are not saying
something but your body
language says something
completely different.
So this is unison.
Congruency is really important
because the other,
the other end of the receiving
line,
whoever you're communicating
with,
they wanna know that you mean
what you say.
They wanna know that your word
is your flesh.
They wanna know that you mean
it.
They wanna know that you are
wholeheartedly expressing
that,
especially when it comes to
offering help,
when it comes to demonstrating
care,
when it comes to really
creating a partnership or a
collaboration,
they wanna know the heart of
who you are and if you really
mean it,
right?
So this is why conveying
congruence speaks really
loudly in your articulation as
well.
Cuz even if the words you're
saying are tending towards a
certain outcome or a certain
intention,
if the words you choose say
one thing,
but your thoughts and your
body language and your
perspectives are completely
different,
that energy gets conveyed
outwards as well.
And people can pick up on it.
They've got a sense that
there's something off,
but they might not be able to
put their finger on it.
That if you desire to build
meaningful relationships or
maybe successful
collaborations,
the con congruence is
extremely important.
So let me demonstrate an
example of what incongruence
could look like.
Like let's say I am meeting
you for the first time and I
am de and my words are
demonstrating care and thought
towards meeting you and
getting to know you,
but my body language is
incongruent with it.
So it could look like
something like this.
Hi,
how are you?
How's your day?
That's wonderful,
wonderful.
So what are you,
what are your,
um,
what are your top priorities?
And you can see what's
happening is that I'm turning
away from you because I am
getting ready to go somewhere
else or maybe I'm in a hurry
or I feel some pressure and
I'm hoping that your answers
are shorter than,
than,
than what will keep me behind.
So if I'm turning away from
you,
my words demonstrate care and
concern and and pleasure to
meet you,
but my body language doesn't.
So that's an example of how
there's an incongruence
between communication and
articulation is nothing more
than accurate communication.
The accuracy of your
communication goes beyond the
words that you choose to use.
It is also a congruency.
Thoughts,
actions,
perceptions as well.
If you're a team leader or a
corporate professional and
you're listening to this and
you're wondering,
yes,
this is exactly the skillset
that I'm realizing that is
gonna be important in my
leadership and you're
wondering how do I implement
this?
How do I implement these
principles and these lessons?
How do I,
how do I implement that and
integrate that into my
performance at work?
And you want some help with
this?
Then I invite you to work with
me below this,
there is a link in the
description and that link is
an application for you to
speak to a member of my team.
And this is where we're gonna
explore whether or not it's
the right fit for us to work
together.
And if it is,
you're gonna be invited to
join my mentorship and in my
mentorship,
this is where I help you to
implement all of these
principles in communications,
articulations in leadership,
and also career growth
principles as well so that you
can step up into the leader
that you desire to be in your
industry.
So if that's you,
click the link below and I
look forward to seeing you on
the inside.
Secret number four is to
consider your lexicon.
So what is lexicon?
There are three sides of
lexicon.
The first side of it is the
concordance of a person.
The second side of lexicon is
language.
So which language are you
communicating in?
And the third side to lexicon
is a particular branch of
knowledge.
So all of these three things
make up a body known as
lexicon.
So consider your lexicon.
And this really means it
really boils down to your
accurate choice of words.
Now I mentioned earlier in
this communication that your
articulation becoming more
articulate goes beyond the
right choice of words.
It does go beyond that,
but it is still important to
have the right choice of
words.
So what is that?
Because articulation is
accurate communication.
So do your words accurately
convey the dynamicity of your
ideas?
Do your words accurately
convey how you feel about
certain things?
Do your words accurately
convey the seriousness or the
profoundity of the situation?
Do your words accurately
describe what you're seeing or
the vision that you wanna put
out there into the world?
So this is your lexicon and as
you're choosing your lexicon,
consider those things the
concordance of the people that
you are speaking with,
the language in which you're
communicating in.
And again,
any particular words that are
related to the branch of
knowledge that you are
specializing in or that your
team is specializing in and so
on.
So consider that.
So how do you build your
lexicon,
right?
How do you build that lexicon?
And one of the most important
ways to build a lexicon is to
read great literature from
individuals who have great
lexicon.
So this is where you're
reading great literature
flowing and putting into your
mind great content so that
your well is never empty.
Cuz in those moments where you
need to articulate and become
more articulate,
sometimes you wanna draw from
your mind,
but you cannot draw from an
empty well.
So how do you ensure that you
have a wealth of knowledge,
a well of great content that
you can draw from that is
never empty.
And the greatest way to do
that is to ensure that your
well is constantly filled.
So you fill your well by
reading great literature.
And an example,
one of my favorite literatures
is this,
which is the encyclopedia
botanica.
And there are great authors
that wrote,
uh,
Syntopicon.
And these are the great ideas
of the western world.
So for this is an example of
great literature,
and I'm not saying that you
have to read the encyclopedia,
the whole encyclopedia,
just because I've done it,
it doesn't mean that it makes
sense for you.
But as you're reading great
literature,
choose literature that really
resonates with you.
Choose literature that really
develops your mind,
that helps you to develop your
mental models.
And more importantly,
that gives you a great context
in which you can communicate
as well.
And when you read literature
from great writers like this,
it inspires and it wakes up
your own lexicon as well.
So that is secret number four.
And finally,
secret number five is to
command phonetics.
So what is phonetics?
Phonetics is the speech
sounds,
all the sounds that you make
with the consonants and the
vowels.
Your vowels are a e i o U and
your consonants and all the
other letters of the alphabet.
So these make up your speech
sounds.
So when it comes to
articulating the phonetics,
you have an anatomy that is
perfect for phonetics.
If you look at the anatomy,
anything between your lips and
your vocal chords down here,
that is the perfect anatomy
for articulation.
So the articulators are the
parts of that anatomy that
lend themselves to speech
sounds.
So these include your lips,
your upper lip,
your bottom lip,
your teeth,
your gum ridge,
which is the gums right behind
your two front teeth.
It is also your hard palate,
your soft palate,
your pharynx,
your uvula,
and also the glottis which is
the space between your vocal
chords at this level.
So all of these parts of the
anatomy make up your
articulators and you exercise
the muscles of your
articulators to be able to
produce the sounds that are
accurate to the words that you
are conveying.
Now this is important,
especially now given that it
is a hybrid workplace.
You have some people who are
in person at the office,
a lot of people are still
working from home and they're
joining meetings by video.
And when you're on video,
you use a microphone and that
vi microphone is sometimes
dampens your voice.
It sometimes changes the way
that you sound.
It sometimes muffles it as
well.
So this is even more important
in conversations like that
where you have technology in
between and you want to be
able to command your
phonetics.
So you might be thinking to
yourself,
well,
English is my second language
and as a result of that when I
produce these speech sounds,
I don't sound like a native
speaker in English.
And if that's you,
then if you would wait until
the end of this video,
I have some information on
that for you in terms of
accents.
So with that back to
phonetics,
commanding your phonetics is
important in person as well,
not just on video it is
important in person too
because the greater you are
able to command your
phonetics,
the more authoritative your
vocalizations become.
And especially when you are
speaking to higher ups,
when you're speaking to senior
executive leadership teams,
collaborators,
investors,
stakeholders and so on,
they wanna know that your
vocalizations command the
authority that your position
does.
And this is the best way to
have a match between your
position as a leader in this
industry and the authority you
wanna have in your
organization.
Now,
as I promised you earlier,
I wanna talk a little bit
about the accent.
If you're listening to this
and English is not your first
language and you're concerned
about the way that you
articulate in your phonetics
and you're saying to yourself,
I don't like the way that I
sound,
or I need to sound different,
I'd like to to sound more
accurate,
then stay tuned right after
this,
I have another video where I
talk about the accent and what
do you do when you wanna
change your accent?
That one is coming right up
next.
I'll see you there.
Semasiology,
the branch of knowledge that
deals with concepts and the
terms that represent them.
It's also known as
onomasiology.
When will you ever learn these
things and when would you ever
use these words anyway?