# Why communication costs businesses $1.2 trillion a year

- **Episode:** [205](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/205.md) (2025-06-12)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** communication, business-cost, workplace
- **Time:** 0:02–3:24 (start 2s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/205?t=2](https://truthliesandwork.com/205?t=2)

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[0:02] Cheryl Robinson: So I did write down a sentence that shows how you could tell when people want to sound impressive, but all that comes across is a bunch of nonsense. So per our synergistic discussion, I'll proactively inter— space with cross-functional stakeholders to ideate scalable solutions that ladder up to quarterly KPIs. And these are things that you hear recent graduates and newbies into industries say
[0:48] Al Elliott: Poor communication costs American businesses $1.2 trillion a year. That's trillion with a T. For the average employee, that's around about $12,000 in wasted time and productivity every single year
[1:04] Leanne Elliott: And as you just heard, it's not about the major miscommunications. It's about the everyday corporate speak that makes smart people sound clueless
[1:13] Al Elliott: Today, we're revealing the truth behind why some people sound authoritative at work, While others get completely ignored, or worse, people laugh at them behind their back
[1:23] Leanne Elliott: This is Truth, Lies and Work, the award-winning podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture. We are brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. My name is Leanne. I'm a chartered occupational psychologist
[1:36] Al Elliott: My name is Al. I'm a business owner
[1:38] Leanne Elliott: And today we're giving you a communication masterclass that will change how you sound at work
[1:43] Al Elliott: Our guest today is Dr. Cheryl Robinson. She's interviewed over 700 people for Forbes magazine. earned 35 editor's picks, and discovered exactly which words make you sound incompetent, even when you actually do know your stuff
[1:56] Leanne Elliott: After this short break, we're gonna be kicking things off with a masterclass on how not to introduce yourself. HubSpot's Inbound Event 2025 is bringing together the brightest minds in business, AI, and entrepreneurship. We're talking Amy Poehler, the genius behind ChatGPT, Dario Mordei, and Sean Evans from Hot Ones. Because apparently even hot sauce interviews can teach us about business strategy
[2:23] Al Elliott: Yeah, September 3rd until September 5th in San Francisco. And no, this isn't just another one of those conferences where you pretend to take notes while secretly checking your phone. This is 3 full days of actionable insights that you can actually use to grow your business
[2:37] Leanne Elliott: What I love about this is the focus on practical application. We enjoy applied science here. You're not just sitting through fluffy keynotes, You're getting tactical breakout sessions, networking with people who are actually building things, and learning from entrepreneurs who figured out how to thrive in this AI-powered world
[2:55] Al Elliott: Plus, come on, you're in San Francisco, the global headquarters of let's disrupt everything and see what happens. It's the perfect place to meet your next co-founder, investor, or just someone who gets why you're obsessed with optimizing your customer acquisition funnel
[3:08] Leanne Elliott: Head to inbound.com/register to see the range of tickets, including VIP options for Fancy, fancy, fancy, fancy. Trust us, your future self will thank you for actually investing in learning something useful. Guess what, Al?
[3:21] Al Elliott: What?
[3:21] Leanne Elliott: We're gonna be there
[3:22] Al Elliott: No, we're not. I am
[3:24] Leanne Elliott: I'm manifesting
[3:24] Al Elliott: Oh, okay. Yeah, we're— yeah, you can come and meet us there. There you go. That's the reason to, to go and book your ticket today. VIP experience will no doubt include us. I'd imagine they'd invite us to the VIP area. So go and visit inbound.com/register to get your ticket today