In the July 6, 2026 episode of the WRKdefined podcast You Should Know, communications coach Peter Novak, founder of Strictly Speaking Group, made a case for prioritizing confidence and clarity over perfect grammar in global business communication. Novak, a former 25-year professor at the University of San Francisco with an MFA in acting and a doctorate in dramaturgy, joined host William to discuss how unconscious bias, language barriers, and cultural differences impact workplace dynamics and productivity.
Novak highlighted how the well-documented like-me bias shapes who gets promoted and believed, often disadvantaging non-native English speakers. He pointed out that phrasal verbs—such as "take off," "take up," "take over," and "take down"—can quietly derail non-native speakers. Novak recommended using AI prompts to swap these for stronger, clearer verbs, a tactic he employs in his coaching practice with executives at major corporations.
Referencing a McGill University study on foreign accents, Novak discussed how accents affect perceptions of trust and credibility. He argued that confident delivery often outweighs accent-related biases. Novak also noted that investor relations teams now run CEO earnings calls through AI to score language choice and tone of voice, underscoring the growing importance of communication precision.
Novak reframed 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 said. He pushed back on the notion that non-native speakers must adapt, invoking 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 and vocabulary-hunting in real time while native speakers barrel ahead.
The conversation moved into concrete tactics. Novak described building executive voiceprints by feeding hundreds of hours of transcripts into AI so leaders can deliver scripts that sound authentic. He shared a 20-question intake he uses to help executives communicate their preferences, from pre-reads to agenda formats. He referenced cultural intelligence lessons from his own preparation for business in Tokyo and Dubai, and noted that Latin American teams often operate trilingually until a monolingual American enters the room, collapsing the exchange back to English.
Novak contrasted Ernest Hemingway's accessibility with Oscar Wilde writing "for about 6 people," emphasizing the need for clarity. He also referenced Yakov Smirnoff on the absurdity of English to illustrate the challenges non-native speakers face. The episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.
