Hi all,
I grew up speaking in very ‘sub-optimal’ ways, including pressured speech, not enunciating, and generally communicating ineffectively (probably due to a very rough childhood).
Recently, I’ve decided to measure and improve how I communicate by recording my conversations, transcribing them, measuring my mistakes (see below), and then rewriting my side of the conversation to reflect what I would’ve liked to have said.
My question is: How can I effectively quantify my communication skills?
So far, here’s what I’ve come up with:
Number of interruptions (and interruptions received)
Count of filler words
Time to interruptions (how long I let the other person talk before I interrupt them)
Time spent talking vs. listening
Average silence duration
Speech rate (words per minute)
Number and length of pauses in my speech
Number of breaths
Time focused on my topics of interest (also analyzing usage of “I,” “me” vs. “you,” and “we”)
Sentiment analysis – positivity vs. negativity
Topic shifts (how often I change the subject)
I’m looking for additional ideas on how to effectively quantify my communication skills.
What other metrics or methods would you recommend?
Has anyone else gone through a similar process? I’d love to hear about what worked for you.
Thank you,
NL
Not related to quantifying specifically, but here are some books that have been recommended to me:
Speak With Distinction by Edith Skinner
The Voice Book: Caring For, Protecting, and Improving Your Voice by Kate DeVore and Starr Cookman
Articulate While You Communicate: Speak Well, Write Well, Be Well by Dr. Sheryl L. White
Clear Speech: Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension in North American English, 4th Edition
Also thinking of practicing enunciation exersices (e.g. pen placed horizontally between your teeth forces you to really enunciate, though it’s tiring), using a telepromter app and generally finding role models and trying to model their speech.