In a recent episode of the WRKdefined podcast 'You Should Know,' communications coach Peter Novak challenged the conventional wisdom that flawless English is the cornerstone of effective workplace communication. Novak, founder of Strictly Speaking Group and a former professor at the University of San Francisco, argued that clarity, confidence, and trust are far more critical, especially as global teams become increasingly distributed and multilingual.
Novak, who holds an MFA in acting and a doctorate in dramaturgy, brought a unique perspective to the discussion, emphasizing that inclusive communication is a bottom-line business 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.
The episode explored how unconscious biases, including the well-documented like-me bias, can influence who gets promoted and believed in the workplace. Novak highlighted how phrasal verbs—such as 'take off,' 'take up,' 'take over,' and 'take down'—can quietly derail non-native English speakers, and suggested using AI prompts to swap them for stronger, clearer verbs.
Drawing on a McGill University study on foreign accents, Novak discussed how accents can affect perceptions of trust and credibility, and how confident delivery can mitigate these biases. He also noted that some investor relations teams now run CEO earnings calls through AI to score language choice and tone of voice.
Novak pushed back on the idea that non-native speakers are solely responsible for adapting, using a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers analogy: 'Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels.' Non-native colleagues, he argued, are translating, interpreting, and vocabulary-hunting in real time while native speakers barrel ahead.
The conversation moved into concrete tactics, including building executive voiceprints by feeding hundreds of hours of transcripts into AI so leaders can deliver scripts that sound like them. Novak shared a 20-question intake he uses to help executives communicate their preferences, from pre-reads to agenda formats. He referenced Yakov Smirnoff on the absurdity of English, contrasted Ernest Hemingway's accessibility with Oscar Wilde writing 'for about 6 people,' and noted that Latin American teams often operate trilingually until a monolingual American enters the room and collapses the exchange back to English.
This episode underscores the urgent need for leaders to prioritize clarity and confidence over perfection in global business English, leveraging AI and cultural intelligence to foster trust across borders.
