Ooh Ooh: it’s Halloween and an ideal opportunity to focus on everything SCARY, and that includes speaking and communications. Yes: it is a time to have a chuckle (or cackle!) at unfortunate speaking and communication styles with our 2 podcasts.

First of all: Scary Communication styles. We all know people: colleagues, friends, bosses, members of your family, who have some, um, scary communication styles. Listen to the podcast here.

Secondly: Scary Voices: we all know them – either they are too loud, a scary sound or even whispery. Listen here.

Here are five top tips to ensure you AREN’T scary when you communicate with others.

1. You don’t shout when you speak. You know the colleague who doesn’t have a volume control on his or her voice, so you can hear EVERYTHING  from across the office. Or in meetings you feel you are being shouted at, even though they feel they are speaking normally. They speak as though they are outside on the rugby pitch. It is really off-putting if you are a member of the ‘audience’. Be aware of this if you are a shouter and adjust your volume accordingly.

2. A screechy or unpleasant speaking voice. There are occasionally speakers who have an unpleasant tone to their voice. This could be an accent that is very nasal, or for a number of reasons the tone is shrieky. If others keep saying “Don’t shriek”, try to do a recording of your voice to see if it is them being unpleasant or if there is some truth in it. Arrange a session with me to make your voice more pleasant to listen to.

3. A quiet, whispery voice. There is nothing alluring of a whimpering, inaudible voice in business. This isn’t the bedroom. If people can’t hear you, they will switch off and not bother to engage with you. It’s too much like hard work. SPEAK UP!

4. Vulgar language and story telling. There is a time and place for this, and it isn’t in public speeches or in business – unless business is being conducted in the Rugby Club. WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE.

5. Technical ghosts that sabotage your presentation or speech. It is scary for the speaker; it’s even more scary for the audience. Check and test before any event and be ready with your technology so the Halloween Gremlins don’t strike!

If you would like to receive my “5 Top Tips to being a Superstar Communicator” grab a copy here.