In the July 6, 2026 episode of the WRKdefined podcast You Should Know, communications coach Peter Novak makes a compelling case that effective workplace communication hinges on clarity, confidence, and trust rather than perfect grammar or sophisticated vocabulary. Novak, founder of Strictly Speaking Group and a former professor at the University of San Francisco, draws on his coaching experience with executives at major corporations to address the challenges of leading increasingly distributed global teams.
Novak highlights how unconscious bias, including the well-documented like-me bias, influences who gets promoted and believed in the workplace. He also points out that phrasal verbs—such as "take off," "take up," "take over," and "take down"—often confuse non-native English speakers, and suggests using AI prompts to replace them with clearer, stronger verbs. A McGill University study on foreign accents further underscores the importance of confident delivery in building trust and credibility.
Novak reframes inclusive communication as a business imperative 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 tells host William. He challenges the notion that non-native speakers should bear the burden of adaptation, using the analogy of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels." Non-native colleagues are translating, interpreting, and vocabulary-hunting in real time while native speakers barrel ahead.
The episode 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 communicate their preferences—such as pre-reads and agenda formats—to their teams. He also references cultural intelligence lessons from his preparation for business in Tokyo and Dubai, noting that Latin American teams often operate trilingually in Spanish, Portuguese, and English until a monolingual American enters the room and collapses the exchange back to English.
Novak contrasts the accessibility of Ernest Hemingway with Oscar Wilde's writing "for about 6 people," and uses Yakov Smirnoff's humor to highlight the absurdity of English. He also reveals that investor relations teams now run CEO earnings calls through AI to score language choice and tone of voice, underscoring the growing role of technology in communication.
Ultimately, Novak argues that confident, clear communication is a bottom-line issue. The episode provides a playbook for leaders seeking to build trust and effectiveness across global teams, emphasizing that adapting communication styles is not just polite—it's profitable.
