Acrobat Global: helping people communicate more effectively

To what extent are we mindful of how we communicate? How could we communicate better? And what about when we’re communicating online?

Our guests in this episode are Zanne Gaynor and Kathryn Alevizos from Acrobat Global, who are experts in helping people communicate more effectively. Zanne and Kathryn are language specialists and authors who provide practical advice and guidance to overcome the challenges of everyday language use. Their most recent book is entitled ‘Is that clear? Effective communication in a neurodiverse world’, and was co-authored with neurodiversity specialist Joe Butler. The book has been shortlisted for the 2021 Business Book awards, and Zanne and Kathryn spend much of their time working with organisations to improve communication.

Prior to this, Zanne and Kathryn have also written about ‘effective communication in a multilingual world‘. Both their books identify good practice in order to help people understand what they can do to improve communication and comprehension. Phil and I wanted to talk with Zanne and Kathryn about the implications for effective communication presented by the increased use of online technologies through the pandemic.

Among the Ding moments to listen out for in this episode are:

• How just slowing down our speech can significantly improve comprehension for both non-native and neurodiverse learners;
• How every autistic person will have their own communication preferences;
• How ‘small talk’ can present significant challenges for both autistic learners and non-native speakers, and
• How making information available in advance of a session benefits all learners by giving them more time to plan.

Enjoy the podcast!