Acquire: Hmmmm, Yes.

It is a sunny morning in Boston and I am prompted to discuss openness and availability.

As speakers, we are often stuck in our outward projection. What am I saying? Is it having an impact? Do they get it? Do they get me? Those questions are normal and may manifest whether you think they are important or not. The problem is that good communication is never one-sided.

Being open and available to the room is sometimes terrifying. Listening with both your ears and with all of the facets of non-verbal communication is a skill many of us have forgotten but we haven't lost it. The body works the way it works. You can suppress a thing, but it is pretty hard to completely destroy it. You can remember how to be part of a whole.

Our task today is to truly open up to the world around you, if only for a moment, and take pleasure in it. Take a breath -- hmmm, yes. Listen with interest -- hmmm, yes. Take it all in -- hmmmmmm, yes.

Gina Razón is the principal voice specialist at GROW Voice LLC, a full-service voice and speech studio in Boston’s Back Bay.  She has over 16 years of experience both as a teacher of voice and speech, and a voraciously curious voice user.  Gina has worked professionally as a classical singer for over a decade and more recently as a professional public speaker.  For more information on the studio or to book Gina visit www.growvoice.com.