We all have values we say are important to us, love, connection, respect, kindness, equality, honesty, presence, and more. But do our everyday conversations actually reflect those values?

In this episode, Alejandra explores how your relational values show up in the small communication choices you make every day: what you let slide, what you interrupt, what you avoid, what you ask, and what you make space for.

Through examples from work, friendships, and romantic relationships, Alejandra invites you to notice the gap between the values you say you hold dear and the values your communication may actually reveal.

You'll explore what happens when we stay silent instead of speaking up, interrupt to correct someone, avoid an important conversation, or ask questions without making space for another person's experience. You'll also discover how these same communication choices can become opportunities to express values like courage, care, presence, connection, and respect.

The episode also introduces a five-step transformative communication process to help you examine a recent conversation, identify what you were valuing in the moment, notice any gaps between your values and your communication, and choose one small action to bring your relational values more fully into your everyday interactions.

At the heart of this episode is a simple question:

If someone listened to your conversations this week, what would they say you value, and what would you love for them to say?

• “Values are our North Star. They are our compass.”

• “The question isn't whether we interrupt. The question is: what are our interruptions in service of? What values are they revealing?”

• “It's so good to notice without guilt, without shame, but just with awareness.”

• “Is this the most important value I want in this conversation, in this moment, with this person?”

• “When we close the gap, even a little, something shifts. Our words begin to match who we are.”

• How your conversations reveal your relational values
• The gap between the values you say you hold and the values your communication actually reveals
• What silence, interruptions, and avoidance communicate
• How the questions you ask can reflect presence, intimacy, and care
• How unconscious habits and inherited communication patterns influence your conversations
• A five-step transformative communication tool for aligning your communication with your values

Alejandra's book, Language Alchemy: The Essential Communication Tool Kit for a Life of Peace, Authenticity, and Meaning, explores these ideas further with practical tools for transforming how you communicate and relate to others.

Pre-order the Book:

https://www.languagealchemybook.com/

Website:

https://www.languagealchemy.com/

Substack:

https://languagealchemy.substack.com/

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@languagealchemy

Work with Alejandra:

https://www.languagealchemy.com/workwithme

Join the Mailing List:

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Submit a Podcast Question:

https://www.languagealchemy.com/podcastquestion

1:1 Communication Coaching:

https://www.languagealchemy.com/oneonone

Couples Communication Coaching:

https://www.languagealchemy.com/couples

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https://www.languagealchemy.com/newclient

http://open.spotify.com/artist/1HlMhcNfKIELxYil5mVqD

Is saying exactly what you think really the same as being authentic?

Alejandra's upcoming book, Language Alchemy: The Essential Communication Toolkit for a Life of Peace, Authenticity, and Meaning, is now available for pre-order.

The book goes deeper into these ideas with practical tools, real examples, and reflections designed to help readers become more aware of what's happening within themselves and communicate with greater honesty, authenticity, and care.

Pre-order the Book: https://www.languagealchemybook.com/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-language-alchemy-podcast/id1576461366

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yTj9hSotq8EAjPCYg2jYw?si=aQNuoStRQomTNUKHGSD56A&nd=1&dlsi=064dcb42ba8d4706

Work with Alejandra: https://www.languagealchemy.com/workwithme

Join the mailing list: https://www.languagealchemy.com/mailinglist

Submit a podcast question: https://www.languagealchemy.com/podcastquestion

1:1 Communication Coaching: https://www.languagealchemy.com/oneonone

Couples Communication Coaching: https://www.languagealchemy.com/couples

Schedule a consultation: https://www.languagealchemy.com/newclient

Instagram: @languagealchemy

Original music by Gary Lapow: http://open.spotify.com/artist/1HlMhcNfKIELxYil5mVqD

In this episode, Alejandra Siroka speaks with Dr. Chrissie Ott, a physician leader, board-certified in internal medicine, pediatrics, integrative medicine, and obesity medicine, and an ICF-certified coach. Together, they explore the role that language, presence, and relationship play in healthcare, and how the words used between physicians and patients can either create connection or contribute to disconnection.

Chrissie reflects on her experiences as both a physician and a patient, including how language such as “non-compliant” or “failed treatment” can reveal assumptions about the physician-patient relationship. Alejandra and Chrissie discuss moving beyond a top-down model of care toward communication grounded in curiosity, informed choice, dignity, empathy, and respect. They also explore how cultural assumptions and biases can influence the way healthcare providers communicate with patients, particularly multicultural patients and those who speak languages other than English.

Throughout their conversation, Alejandra and Chrissie explore what becomes possible when healthcare providers bring their full presence and humanity into the room, even when they have only a few minutes with a patient. Chrissie shares how mindfulness, empathic listening, positive regard, curiosity, and relational care can support more meaningful interactions, while Alejandra reflects on the communication skills that can help healthcare professionals navigate conflict, recognize bias, and relate to each patient as a whole human being.

Quotes

• “Nobody's a villain in this situation. But the behaviors, they deserve to be thought about. The communication approaches, they deserve to slow down and be r- Like, what is it you are hoping to get out of this visit today?” (Chrissie Ott)
• “Conflicts don't have to be a battle. They can be an opportunity for connection. They can be an opportunity for curiosity and finding out what could work, what we could do differently, how we could collaborate in a deeper way.” (Alejandra Siroka)
• “Being in connection with another human and noticing how they are a delight makes medicine so much more fun than the drudgery of, ‘I have to go do this admission and this task again.’ Instead, it's like, ‘No, let's go talk to this human being and learn their story.’” (Chrissie Ott)
• “If all you have is seven minutes, in seven minutes, I think, as you're saying, if you are embodied, if you are present, you can have empathy, you can have curiosity, you can move away from judgment and more into observations.” (Alejandra Siroka)

To leave a review on Apple Podcasts, click: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-language-alchemy-podcast/id1576461366

To leave a review on Spotify, click: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yTj9hSotq8EAjPCYg2jYw?si=aQNuoStRQomTNUKHGSD56A&nd=1&dlsi=064dcb42ba8d4706

To work with Alejandra, visit: www.languagealchemy.com/workwithme

To join the Language Alchemy mailing list, visit: https://www.languagealchemy.com/mailinglist

To ask questions you'd like Alejandra to answer in the podcast, visit: https://www.languagealchemy.com/podcastquestion

To pre-order Language Alchemy: The Essential Communication Tool Kit for a Life of Peace, Authenticity and Meaning, visit:https://www.languagealchemybook.com/

Podcast Music composed by Gary Lapow: open.spotify.com/artist/1HlMhcNfKIELxYil5mVqD