Helen Moses, a voice and messaging coach, worked with brain-injury patients who lost the ability to speak. She teaches that small changes to word choice and delivery prevent being misunderstood, and that authenticity matters more than perfection. Her advice: surround yourself with people who've already succeeded at what you want.
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Thank you for listening to the Business Blast podcast. So for all my listeners out there that have been wanting to do your own podcast, I'd like to introduce to you Anchor. Anchor is a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, distributing, and monetizing your podcast. So before I found Anchor, I had never actually done a podcast because all the research that I had gathered made it seem very complex. Then I found Anchor, and Anchor makes podcasting extremely simple. So if you want to do your own podcast, go to anchor.fm/start. I can't wait to hear your podcast. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Helen Moses with us. She is a voice and messaging coach who helps public-facing employees demonstrate through how they speak that the companies who employ them value their customers. So welcome to the show.
Thanks, Tyler Wagner Wagner.
Of course, grateful to have you here. So Helen, the first question we ask on the show is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I used to work as a speech-language pathologist in a hospital brain injury unit, and that's where I served patients who had had strokes or brain injuries from car accidents or whatever, and they lost their ability to speak. They lost their most basic form of connection with their families and loved ones, and it was devastating. That's where I vowed that I would never take my voice for granted. And the realization that that is true is something I want the message— I want the world to think about, that Don't take your voice for granted. Speak from your heart. Speak to connect. Speak because you can, while you can.
Yes. And then what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Most people don't think about how they're coming across when they speak, and this can have big problems for them as a result. They can become— they can be ignored, overlooked, or just misunderstood. The good news is it only takes some awareness and small adjustments in the words you choose and how you say them to make the impact that I believe you were created to make.
And then what is your best piece of overall business advice, and not necessarily industry-specific?
Surround yourself with people who have done what you were trying to do and pay attention.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I would say, Helen, people aren't looking for you to be perfect. They are actually looking to engage with the real you. Stop trying to please everybody else by pretending to be someone you are not. Let your light shine because, Helen, you are a gift.
Mm. And then kind of going a little bit down a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Finding things to truly be thankful for in every situation, but especially when I'm scared.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
This is a parenting book. It's called Negotiation Generation: Take Back Your Parental Authority Without Punishment. By Lynn Reeves Griffin. What I learned from it is always set clear boundaries for the people that you're leading, then give them the freedom to complete the task at hand as they desire, as long as they stay within your defined boundaries. It turns out that not only did this book pretty much save our family life when I was a full-time mom, but this advice actually works for other people too.
And then, what is your favorite quote and why?
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning, by Maya Angelou. I love listening to her voice. Maya Angelou demonstrated this quote every time she spoke, and that's what I aspire to do when I speak and what I aspire to teach my clients and people who hear me speak to do as well.
Well, listen, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is, where can our audience best find you online?
