How much responsibility do we have for the way our tone is interpreted when we speak?

<p>Catherine Fitzgerald started our conversation out by saying she felt like there is some responsibility on both sides of a conversation for being aware of tone, sharing that her neurodiverse son doesn’t do as well with using and understanding social cues as others might.</p> <p> </p> <p>Kevin Wash added that the tone of our voice is a major player in communication – get loud and people will shut down. Whisper and they will come closer to hear you. And then there are cultural differences. In northern Europe a few words said pointedly is good enough. Other cultures are more flowery in the way they communicate.</p> <p> </p> <p>Tim Hawkes started out by saying no we weren’t responsible for our tone and that the listener needed to adjust but then straightway talked himself into a 50/50 split of responsibility. But in addition to that there is the idea that if he is feeling good and confident then someone’s tone doesn’t matter very much. He can just brush it off.</p> <p> </p> <p>But if he’s not in a great place, their tone might cause him to crumble further.</p> <p> </p> <p>I feel like this is one of those situations where it might not be your fault but it is your problem. If you’re tone puts someone off and you need to communicate with them, you need to do something about that.</p> <p> </p> <p>This ten minutes flew by in a blink and in the end Tim made the point that we are, in the very least, responsible for being aware of our tone.</p> <p> </p> <p>If we are responsible for how the other person receives it… That is a question I would love for you the listener to answer in the comments.</p> <p> </p> <p>Connect with the panelists: Catherine Fitzgerald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-a-fitzgerald/</p> <p>Is a writer, speaker, certified coach, and founder of Brass Tacks with Heart-executive coaching.  She helps founders, owners, and C-Suite Executives and their teams to build businesses that fuel their lives, not consume them.</p> <p> </p> <p>Tim Hawkes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhawkes/</p> <p>Managing Dir