Are you as articulate as you’d like to be?
Do you like the sound of your voice or your speaking mannerisms?
These are the types of things we typically think of when we think of speech pathology. But in this conversation you will see that speech pathology is so much broader than we think.
Today we talk to Sonia Bestulic. And we cover a lot of ground in this conversation. We talk about how speech pathology can help our communication, we discuss self-talk, building confidence in others and how we can flourish through self-care and acceptance.
Sonia is the founding director of Talking Heads Speech Pathology in Sydney. She is a multi-award nominated author with her third book; a gift book for Mums; due for release in April this year. She has a podcast called Chatabout Children with Sonia Bestulic. She is a highly regarded speaker and works with various organisations to help them with all things communication.
In 2017 she was recognised as a national finalist as Mum Entrepreneur of the Year, for the Ausmumpreneur Awards.
In this conversation you’ll see Sonia’s passionate for communication and the impact it has on human connection and wellbeing.
We hope you enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Sonia Bestulic.
You can connect with Sonia through her website.
You can listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher or Simplecast.
Show Notes
2:02 – my mum will be glad that we’re having this conversation!
3:00 – why is speech pathology exciting?
4:14 – who can benefit from speech pathology?
5:51 – what a speech pathologist does.
9:13 – using your voice safely.
14:54 – how speech pathology helps with listening and understanding.
15:57 – people are struggling more and more with auditory processing.
17:37 – how to get better at understanding and retaining auditory input.
22:31 – enriching your vocabulary enriches what you can communicate.
24:09 – are emoji’s killing vocabulary?
25:40 – why are you passionate about these topics?
27:50 – examples of the difference service has made.
32:13 – communication starts with self-talk.
33:41 – listening is a big part of communication.
34:52 – believing in others.
39:25 – “yes, you can”.
42:12 – building confidence in the face of failure.
46:49 – what inspired Kisses in Your Heart.
50:03 – love and belief helps people overcome challenges.
51:29 – creating space to share emotions and be understood.
53:28 – flourish for mums.
56:06 – honour your human-nes.
57:36 – dance more often.
58:35 – celebrate instead of judging and comparison.
01:00:56 – use your communication to build others up.
01:01:16 – get in touch with Sonia.
Links to References
Sonia’s books:
- Kisses in Your Heart
- Reece Give Me Some Peace!
- Flourish for Mums: 21 ways to thrive with self-care and acceptance (coming in April)
Key Quotes
“I have always wanted to make a positive difference and help people.”
“Everyone can benefit from speech pathology but there needs to be something that they want to be better at.”
“I’m noticing that children are struggling more and more with auditory processing in the last decade.”
“A lot of people tend to be more visual but that auditory component has not been exercised.”
“Having a rich vocabulary means that your communication is enriched.”
“Words can be limited and pictures can paint a thousand words.”
“I love language, I’m a word nerd.”
“A little girl said, my heart was beating so fast because I loved the story so much!”
“You just don’t know how things are going to connect and you are going to touch someone else.”
“Communication is at the heart of connection to ourselves and others.”
“The way we communicate to ourselves is so crucial to our perception of ourselves and to our world.”
“Often we think communication is the speaking of, but so much is about the listening of.”
“When you are speaking you are not learning.”
“I always look at relationship as the inner relationship because that determines are outer relationships.”
“I hold my head up and glow with pride for these kisses carry love inside.”
“If we have to gift anything to anyone I think gifting that belief in them is one of the top things.”
“Belief gives permission to someone to say ‘okay, I’ll give it a go'”
“I felt it, I experienced it, I can do it!”
“Often the ultimate goal can feel so overwhelming and you can feel you can’t do it…if you have got someone who can help you break it down into a sizeable chunk and then the world is your oyster!”
“Everyone learns really differently.”
“Let’s deconstruct your belief.”
“Kisses in your heart I wrote the words to when my children were 1, 2 and 3…I wanted my children to grow up happy, heathy and go out into the world with bravery and courage…I felt it so intensely, I didn’t know what to do with that emotion…this fuelled the words to kisses in my heart.”
“I would kiss my hand and place it on their heart…and then they started places kisses in my heart”
“Life is not one happy hoo-ha, it has a spectrum of emotions.”
“Flourish for mums has a very special place in my heart…I put together my inspiration with working with mums for decades and my own experience.”
“You’re human, let go of perfection and relish in what is important. As soon as you do that it lifts a weight off you.”
“Dance more often…get into a space…there are no rules!”
“It’s your unique journey and you don’t have to play the comparison game.”
“Use your communication to build others up and to really gift the power of people believing in themselves.”
