Friday, July 6, 2018

You know that special voice you use to talk with Rover? Researchers call it Dog Directed Speech, or DDS, and we dog owners have evolved to use it because it’s effective. A recent whitepaper states: “We have an unconscious ability to match our speech to the potential language abilities of the listener. Just another reason to baby talk to your dog with confidence.” (Click here to read more about DDS).

The topic of DDS got me thinking about how we change our communication styles all the time based on our audience. We use baby talk with babies and doggy talk with pups. We use one conversation style with our significant other, a second with our best friend from college and a third with our parents. And when we put on our “professional” persona, we often use yet another: work-speak.

We all use work-speak to some degree, which begs the question, How effective is it? Unlike the eye lock that Rover gives you, the attention level from employees and coworkers may be despite, and not because of, your work-speak. Ponder that this weekend while you and Rover play fetch. (Now… Who’s a good CEO?)