In a recent episode of the WRKdefined podcast You Should Know, communications coach Peter Novak challenged the notion that perfect grammar is the key to effective workplace communication. Instead, he emphasized that clarity, confidence, and trust are far more critical, especially as global teams become increasingly distributed.
Novak, founder of Strictly Speaking Group and a former professor at the University of San Francisco, draws on decades of coaching executives at major corporations. He argues that unconscious bias, particularly like-me bias, often determines who gets promoted and believed. This bias favors those who communicate similarly to decision-makers, disadvantaging non-native speakers.
One of the key challenges Novak identifies is the use of phrasal verbs—such as "take off," "take up," "take over," and "take down"—which can confuse non-native English speakers. He suggests using AI prompts to replace these with stronger, clearer verbs. Additionally, he references a McGill University study that shows how foreign accents can affect perceptions of trust and credibility, underscoring the need for confident delivery.
Novak reframes inclusive communication as a bottom-line issue rather than a political one. "The best way to position it is that this is a business issue, that you need your communication to be as clear as possible to everyone, not just to a select few," he told host William. He also pushes back on the idea that non-native speakers are solely responsible for adapting, using a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers analogy to highlight the additional cognitive load they bear.
The conversation offers concrete tactics for leaders. Novak describes building executive voiceprints by feeding hundreds of hours of transcripts into AI, enabling leaders to deliver scripts that sound authentic. He shares a 20-question intake he uses to help executives specify their communication preferences, from pre-reads to agenda formats. He also notes that investor relations teams now use AI to score CEO earnings calls for language choice and tone of voice.
Novak references cultural intelligence lessons from his own preparation for business in Tokyo and Dubai, and notes that Latin American teams often operate trilingually until a monolingual American enters the room, collapsing the exchange back to English. He contrasts Ernest Hemingway's accessibility with Oscar Wilde writing "for about 6 people," arguing that business communication should aim for the former.
The episode underscores that effective global communication is not about impressing with vocabulary but about ensuring everyone can understand and contribute. As Novak puts it, confidence and clarity are the true drivers of success in a multilingual workplace.
