Communicating through Disaster and Unexpected Occurrences

Super Storm Sandy is now history. We move on, as after most disasters, to an analysis of how we might avoid the repetition of problems and miscommunications. After 9/11 and the destruction of the World Trade Center, a universal awareness was created regarding backups and storage of essential data in an off-site, secure location. Sandy and other similar weather or emergency events can cause us to look at our systems and processes for communicating with our employees.

Your employees may need to have a way to call in to the company to determine if the site is open for business in the wake of hurricane, flood, or fire. Not a problem for the portion of the workforce that speaks English. If your plant is closed, they won’t show up for work if they have called in. But what about the sometimes larger percentage of your workforce who speak little or no English? They may be unaware of procedure and unable to understand a message delivered in English? What can you put into place to be sure that your immigrant workers do not fight through poor conditions to arrive at a plant that has been closed?

We were contacted following Sandy by a company with this exact problem. They wanted to establish some way for non-English speaking employees to contact the company to learn if the workplace was open and accessible. We wanted to help and provide some suggestions. Something that has worked for us is a virtual phone system; an on-line solution. For a small monthly fee, a company can establish a toll-free number, set up scripts in the relevant language(s) to be accessed through extentions. Language Directions has an introductory greeting which includes pre-recorded instructions in Mandarin and in Spanish to select an extension for further instruction. The selected extension has a more detailed message in that language with specific instructions for that group of workers. You can utilize one of your employees who speaks clearly in his native language to make the recording, or you can use a company like ours to provide you with a sound file of your chosen script. There are a few of these “virtual switchboard” companies who can provide you with specific answers about the technology. During our power outage, all incoming calls received our pre-recorded message and their voicemail messages to us were logged for retrieval when the power and internet connections became operational.

It is reassuring to know that when your limited English workforce needs to find out emergency information, they can call in to a toll-free number and be directed to an informational message in their language to guarantee complete understanding of what to do. Utilizing your own workers in this project can build rapport as well as save money. And if there are reasons not to use your own, we stand ready to help.

Word Origins

When we talk about digital cameras, we can’t avoid talking about pixels.  Ever wonder about where the word ‘’pixel’’ comes from?   At the communications exhibit at Liberty Science Center, I was so intrigued to learn that the word is actually a shortening of the original term ‘’picture element.’’  Word origins are fascinating.  Most of the original computer terminology was based on the physical nature of the item.  A floppy disk was literally a 5” square flexible disk.  The hard drive was metal and impermeable, and a mouse looked somewhat like a small rodent with the wire as its tail.

How Important is Punctuation?

Who cares about punctuation, anyway?  Is it really relevant?  You decide.  Read the two letters below.  The words are the same.  See what a difference  punctuation makes?

The Importance of Correct Punctuation

From Games Magazine, 1984

We examine two "Dear John" letters ...

Version 1:

Dear John,

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous,

kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless

and inferior.

You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no

feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will

you let me be yours?

Gloria

Version 2:

Dear John,

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous,

kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being

useless and inferior.

You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no

feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will

you let me be?

Yours,

Gloria

SpellCheck...or not?

SpellCheck is a wonderful thing.  It picks up a lot of errors; spacing, incorrect letters, non-existing words.  What is DOESN’T pick up are real words used incorrectly.  Consider the sentence ‘’He blue out the candles.’’  SpellCheck would sail right over this without detecting that the sentence should contain the word ‘’blew.’’  Similarly, ‘’I’m going two the store’’ would also not get flagged by SpellCheck as incorrect.  Sew don’t get lulled into a false sense of security (J).  Proof your work closely AFTER you’ve run SpellCheck as a first edit.

Trendy Expressions May Not Be "Cool"

People use slang or jargon to those they don’t know really well and don’t realize that everyone is not up on the latest hip way of speaking.   A business contact of mine, when taking responsibility for a mistake, used the term ‘’my bad.’’   The Languagelady is a grammar nut, so my first reaction was to think ‘’my bad what?”  I wondered if the person hadn’t finished her sentence?  What wasn’t I understanding?  So, before you use some trendy, hot expression to show that you are cool and up-to-date, consider your audience and the reaction that it might have.  Instead of cool, you might convey quite the opposite impression.  And of course, you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

The Importance of Names

Today is my daughter-in-law Stephanie’s birthday.  Yesterday, I had lunch with my old friend Stefanie.  Stephanie prefers to be called Steph and Stefanie likes to be referred to as Steffi.  What’s my point?  Not taking the time to spell people’s names correctly or use a nickname for them that they do not choose for themselves can indicate either that you do not care enough to take the time to know, or that your powers of observation are so limited that you did not notice, or even that you put everyone with that name into the same mold.  None of these is a good option for you, either in business or in your personal life.  A person’s name is her most valuable possession.  Treasure it as she does and use and spell it correctly.  This is a topic that personally resonates with me.  I’m Sharlene, not Charlene or Charleen or Sharleen.   Look at the signature on an e-mail before writing the greeting on your reply.  You’d best believe I am very aware of who spells my name correctly.   It may not make a difference in our relationship, but it is very much noticed.  How do you feel when people you’ve known for decades continue to send cards and invitations with your name spelled wrong?

Better Communication Can Begin with Native-born Speakers – Part 7

Big Three Sensible Strategies for Improving Verbal Communication

We’ve been talking about the creative use of words to minimize non-comprehension.  Here are three big ones to keep in mind about voice volume and intonation.

1.      When you speak to someone for whom English is a second language, speak slowly and always pause slightly before, during, and after saying a proper noun such as your name, the name of a company, a state, or a country. Also pause between numbers.   (My cell number is 862 — 778 — 1234).

2.       Use more intonation (expression) for emphasis so the listener will hear a specific word stand out from the others.  (The picnic is Saturday, rain or shine)

3.   Let the listener hear the ends of your words, as well as the beginnings — carry that voice energy all the way through the word. Try to avoid fast sentences with contractions.  Complete the word production!

If you keep these simple techniques in mind when you speak to someone you anticipate might have difficulty understanding you, you will find that everyone’s level of frustration becomes lower.  You can use the same techniques for speaking with the elderly.