Campbell Conard’s Interview with Eric Dye

Listen to Campbell Conard speak with Eric Dye of EPN about Credible and improving the speaking skills of younger professionals.

Transcript of the Interview

Host: You are listening to Enterprise Radio on the signature show of the Enterprise Podcast Network featuring some of the most prominent business professionals in the world today and now your host, Eric Dye.

Eric: This is Eric Dye, and once again, welcome to Enterprise Radio, a part of the Enterprise Podcast Network. The growth of slang in conversation, the rise of social media, and the imposed isolation of the pandemic has combined to create a significant challenge, the loss of verbal speaking skills and engagement, while the US Gen Z millennial, indeed, all ages and stages, communicate almost nonstop via social channels and other mediums, the loss of skills and delivering focused, confident and polished verbal communication has reached critical levels. The loss can impact job opportunities, social connections, and the ability overall to connect and engage in real-time, whether it be in a video conference or across a coffee table.

Eric: Today, we’re joined by Campbell Connor, who is the inventor and founder of Credible she is an undergraduate student majoring in economics. She wants to help you stop saying like you know, and any other words that are getting in the way of your success. And Campbell, we thank you for joining us here today.

Campbell: Hi, Eric. Thank you so much for having me.

Eric: Well, you’re certainly more than welcome and a pleasure to have you with us here today. So first of all, can you explain the mission of Credible and the communication problem the technology is solving?

Campbell: Certainly. So, credible is a mobile app that delivers haptic feedback to your phone whenever you use a filler word. So if you say like or on, you’ll receive a gentle vibration on your phone. And our mission is for everyone to be judged by the quality of their thoughts, and we help them present those thoughts in a more professional, coherent way, because verbal communication is the number one career skill, which means that in a competitive interview, or honestly, in any business environment, speaking clearly can make a really big difference in higher perceived and when you use excessive filler words, especially like But all filler words, you can really hurt your credibility and distract people from what you’re really trying to say. And there are other filler word detection products that work with Zoom, but there are no other mobile products that alert you of filler word use in real-time. So at credible, that was what we were aiming to do. If you go to something like a Toastmasters class, you’ll notice that in the background, you have an encounter alerting you in real-time if you use a filler word, and that’s because real-time alerts are really the only thing that can help you become aware of the problem and adjust it before it’s too late and you’re already done speaking.

Eric: Well, I think this is totally awesome. Well done on your part. To see the need here. Now, why do people seem to be having a more difficult time with verbal communications, societal or other factors driving this deep get into the details?

Campbell: As you see it, I really think that now young people spend a lot more time texting and on social media, even on Zoom, and they spend less time in face-to-face interactions, so there are really fewer opportunities to practice speaking well that are outside of friends and peer groups. And I think that one of the problems with that is that peer groups can also influence young people a lot to use more filler words, because they’re really already integrated to everyone’s vocabulary, which makes them impossible to escape if you’re just talking to a group of friends.

Eric: Now, from your background, we see that you have a very impressive background in business management and the investment world, in addition to the sound credible technology launch, what actually motivated you to earn so many achievements at this early stage in your career certainly is impressive.

Campbell: So I was exposed to business at a young age, and I’ve always been interested in doing some kind of career that merges business with technology, because I think that business and technology transform and shape our society completely. And like you said earlier, I’m an undergraduate student. I’m a rising senior at the University of Chicago, and I get to take business classes at the Booth School. So I started learning about how I could take an idea and market it and finance it, and credible was an idea that I had that I knew didn’t already exist, and I felt like it was a solution to a problem, a filler work problem that I really had, I used to say like all the time, and it’s a problem that I still hear so many of my peers struggling with. So it really made sense to me to see if it would be possible to create the solution and do some market research and see if it would be something that people would really use. And that’s how I got here.

Eric: You certainly are getting out of the gate early here with your success in business and other achievements. Well done. We’re speaking with Campbell Connor, founder and CEO of Credible. She’s joined us here today on Enterprise Radio while part of the Enterprise Podcast Network. Now we’re now continuing on filler words such as and we hear that a lot feel like they are hard wired into human language and communication, if you would explain why it’s important for a person to master and control these conversation habits.

Campbell: Yeah. So like you said, filler words are pretty much hardwired into our vocabulary, and they’re used for a few different reasons. So one of them is that people are just naturally uncomfortable with silence. So if you’re speaking and you want to fill space with meaningless words or sounds instead of just pausing to think about the right word to use, then that’s when you start having the filler word problem. People also want to fit in with their peers, like I said earlier, so they might start to mimic casual language of the people around them to fit in, even if it’s unconscious. And the problem is that we don’t notice when we use these filler words, but the people listening to us notice, you know, we all use filler words. I just use one right there, I said, you know. And we might not pay much attention to the fact we do, but we all have the same reaction when we hear a filler word from others, which is that it’s annoying, it’s distracting, and it makes us think the other person is underprepared and unprofessional, and no one wants to be perceived that way, and that’s why it’s so important to break the habit.

Eric: And I certainly think you’re totally correct in that as well. Do you have any memory tools or other recommended steps to help people communicate more effectively and remove the dreaded fillers from their vocabulary?

Campbell: Definitely. So I noticed that when I’m in a conversation and I’m talking about Credible and explaining the idea, even if people aren’t using the app, everyone becomes more aware of their filler words and they I can tell that all the “ums” and the likes and the you knows go way down. So I think that real-time awareness and real-time feedback of filler words really does work to reduce the number of filler words you use, and so awareness always helps, but credible can help you gain that awareness without really having to actively spend time and effort to remind yourself not to say like, but just being aware of the problem is definitely the first step to fixing it.

Eric: Campbell, once again, we want to thank you for what you do and for joining us here today on behalf of sound credible, if you would. Where can listeners get further information on the technology and also download the app?

Campbell: You can go to the Apple App Store and you can Google Sound Credible or Credible Speech Coach, and you will be able to find the app on the App Store. Then, of course, listeners, as always, draw your attention to the show notes, where you can also pick up this link in other details as well.

Eric: Campbell all the best, and thanks for joining us here today on enterprise Radio. Thank you so much, and you’re more than welcome again. We’ve been speaking with Campbell Connor, founder and CEO of Credible and the sound credible out. Then for further details, visit www.soundcredible.com and this is Eric dye, and you’ve been listening to enterprise radio a part of EPN the enterprise Podcast Network.