The Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund Inc., held its mid-year sales review last May 19, 2017. Over 90 PSMBFI Regional Directors from all over the Philippines gathered at the Greenhills Elan Hotel in San Juan for a whole day event of business planning and strategizing. The event was capped off with a seminar on effective communication, facilitated by Filipino motivational speaker Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales.

In the seminar entitled “Effective Communication for Leaders,” Pocholo started on an inspirational note by sharing his story. He shared how he got into voice acting, radio broadcasting, motivational speaking – and how he has developed the passion to teach other people to appreciate and care for their voice. Pocholo also discussed a little bit about the voice acting industry, and how it has evolved from when he started more than two decades ago. And yes, he also amazed the audience with his repertoire of voice character impressions!

Pocholo then proceeded to the main topic on effective communication, with a focus on the voice. He sent the powerful message that the voice is the most powerful human instrument, as it has the power to start a war or express the greatest love. He then talked about 4 important qualities of an effective communication, which he summed up in an acronym of the Filipino word LAHI – love, authenticity, honesty and integrity. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” were the wise words of the VoiceMaster. He said that in order for people to want to communicate with you, they should feel that your intentions are pure and clean.

Pocholo also discussed the different elements of the voice such as pitch, volume, prosody, and timbre, and how these elements affect the quality and the meaning that one’s message is trying to convey. He then ended his presentation by reminding the participants that at the end of the day, it’s not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it.

Pocholo then called onstage one of his trainers in Pochology Academy, Ada Cuaresma. Dubbed as the “Voice Care Queen,” Ada is the Executive Director of Voice Care Philippines, and has worked with the VoiceMaster to conduct workshops all over the country. Ada was a student of the VoiceMaster in his voice acting school.

Ada assisted in facilitating a mini-workshop on effective communication. Using the acronym “C.L.E.A.R.,” she discussed the 5 elements that make an effective communication – clarity, listening, energy, authenticity and rapport. Ada led the participants through a series of exercises in order for them to experientially learn how to communicate as effective leaders and public speakers.

Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund Inc. (PSMBFI) is a non-stock, non-profit mutual benefit fund organization whose mission is to provide insurance protection to public safety practitioners, both uniformed and civilian.