Ian Kirby, Woodlot Forester
(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)
"Oral communication is a big thing. That's probably one of the biggest challenges of my job.
"How do I talk to a landowner who barely even knows what kind of trees they have, (when) half an hour later I'm talking to a doctor at the University of Manitoba in Plant Physiology about the same exact problem? And I have to sound not conceited or like I'm a know-it-all to the one guy on the phone and I have to sound like I'm not an idiot to the other guy on the phone in the same half an hour. It takes quick thinking to stay on top of that.
"When you're talking to different people on the phone, you have to recognize what their level of knowledge is and you have to talk at that level. You have to communicate to people at a level that they'll understand."