Judi Franco: Every generation has its own zeitgeist. What has shaped this generation is the rapidity of change, mostly influenced by the internet and social media. And we all know that both have their inherent benefits and problems. One of the biggest of the latter is that typing into a keyboard, whether that of a phone, a tablet or computer has changed the way we communicate for the negative.

As a talk show host, speaking to people from all walks of life for 25 years has shown me that we have a huge problem.

When we were younger, we didn’t put too much thought into speaking. We just had thoughts, and if we wanted to express them, they came out fluently in spoken words. Today, it’s different. technology has created a generation of people who know how to put their thoughts and feelings into text and email. Their feelings, ideas and thoughts are more easily expressed in written form, than in speech..

Millennials and Gen-Z have difficulty with words. They grew up texting emailing Instagramming and tweeting. Typing took precedence over talking.

Therefore, even though the spoken word is the primary way humans express themselves, we now have entire generations of adults who simply cannot speak well. We’ve got a Present and future problem!

•So, whats the big problem?

Millennials are now 21.75% of the population. And Gen z, 20.67% of the population.
What this means is that A good part of 40% of the potential workforce in this country would rather do jobs that do not require them to speak to anyone. Think of the industries that would suffer!

A good part 40% of the population are woefully lacking in the basic mechanism that runs all of these industries—verbal communication skills.

This doesn’t only impair their ability, but their confidence too

•What are some of the things this generation has lost.

People are afraid of making phone calls. Of looking people in the eyes. Of dealing with difficult topics. This means they may be less likely to be able to defend themselves, speak their minds, advocate for their children. They have trouble leaving voicemail messages and making phonecalls and many people were woefully lacking in the most basic skills.

What’s the biggest threat to society when people can’t express themselves verbally?

Groups of people are now avoiding working in whole industries. Or won’t get the jobs because they don’t interview well.

Or if they do, will have poor job performance, because the majority of our economy is rooted in businesses that require verbal skills.

Imagine the industries that will suffer. Not to mention the relationships.

•How can poor verbal skills affect relationships?

You can already see the effect: text and email interactions lose nuance:

Texting has caused so many misunderstandings because conversation needs subtext. Body language, gestures, facial expression, tone of voice, etc. texting and emailing are on dimensional and can’t convey feeling accurately.

Not to mention the fact that people are keyboard brave: they’ll say things in writing they might never say in words (especially negative things.) plus, text and email are forever. Unlike words which feed into the ether, emails and texts can be saved forever. This is one reason that in my job we need to be much more judicious l in the things that I write online then we are in the things I say on air. Being comfortable with talking to anyone Having difficult conversations. Using words well and allowing them to improve your life as well as that of your listeners.

•What are some of the most common weaknesses in verbal communication that you’ve observed.

It depends. High School and college students tend to be the weakest. For instance, many students in verbal communication skills classes I’ve taught are hesitant to speak directly to people and have a hard time looking people directly in the eye while speaking to them.

In almost every case, they prefer text and email to spoken conversations.

Other young adults sound weak and unsure. Walk into any store and you’ll find employees speaking in monotone where a couple generations ago you’d hear fluid and lively conversation.

•Can you tell us a story about something surprising that people didn’t know?

Well, I’ll never forget when we had to call Starbucks so that I could prove to my high school class that the word “espresso” did not in fact, contain an x. A lot of those students who brought expresso to school were blown away by that..

Also, I always laugh when I teach people about how many of us in the Jewish community at large use “uptalk” when giving a list of items, which is kind of hard to explain in print. But see if you can hear it in your head. When you give a list of all of the words in the list are in the same tone, except the last word, which is to tones up and we all do it. Nobody believes me until I imitate it. if you know anything about music, it’s like singing every word in “C” and then singing the last word in “E.”

“First, I’m going to my COUSIN’S HOUSE,
Then I’m going for ICE CREAM,
Then I gotta clean my ROOM,
Then I gotta STUDY…..”

•How about adult people already In the working world?

So many adults suffer from speaking anxiety.

I taught a class in interview skills at a business college and one of the main weaknesses I noted in students was an overall flatness in speech. No enthusiasm. Plus, young adults have so much baseline anxiety today, that the idea of prospective interviews and speeches positively freaked them out. They simply didn’t know what to do with the anxiety. And even though they’d tried all the traditional methods to alleviate speaking anxiety, they couldn’t shake it.

•But aren’t there public speaking courses for this?

Traditional public speaking courses do not address the many issues speakers now face. Part of it is that most public speaking curricula are many years old and the methodology they use don’t address the complicated problem we now have and the obstacles that the new generations, in particular, face.

I’m addition, there are inherent weaknesses in those courses to begin with! For example, Traditional Public speaking classes Like “Toastmasters..” Or business training like
“Dale Carnegie” Teach how to inform, but not to influence.

They give information, not inspiration. There’s a big difference!

•Are you overestimating the problem???

No! The result of “word wellness.” As I call it, is more than just Speaking Well.

Good Verbal Communication actually Makes you a happier person. How? Because Good Verbal communication Increases our ability to be heard and understood. That’s the basis of human connection. That’s happiness.

•What advice can you give to help people?

Get back into the habit of picking up the phone and calling people for simple things, first. I realize telling somebody you’ll be there in 10 minutes is not phone call worthy. I mean, I love the convenience of texting myself. But back-and-forth conversations that go on for hours are a recipe for disaster.

We’ve gotta retrain people Into speech-first beings, and strengthen word wellness which is where I come in. Like muscles that need to be strengthened, our speaking skills do, too. And like muscles, if you don’t keep your talking skills strong, they’ll weaken to the point of being ineffective.

•You use the term “word wellness.” What does that mean?

Because tweets are 130 characters, long and texts use little abbreviations to save time, words get lost. People now need to re-learn the basics of using words well. For instance, which words make you sound smart, which words are commonly mispronounced, which words make you sound less intelligent than you actually are.

After all, we’re all concerned with wellness: physical, financial, spiritual and emotional. We need to include word wellness on this list.

•What’s the final take away here?

Considering that we humans are the only species who have the gift of communicating through talk, shouldn’t word wellness be a priority? Hashem gave us the gift of speech. It’s what separates us from the animals. It’s my firm belief that we all need to consider that gift, care for it, not take it for granted and put thought and care into it. The way we do with all of His blessings.

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You can reach Judi Franco via Text, Call or Email at 848-844-5989, and [email protected] | Her website is coming soon.