Podcast Summary: Something You Should Know Episode: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You & How to Unlock Your True Voice
Host: Mike Carruthers | OmniCast Media
Release Date: April 3, 2025

Introduction

In this enlightening episode of Something You Should Know, host Mike Carruthers delves into two crucial topics that impact our daily lives: the often-overlooked aspects of medical diagnoses and the art of effective communication. Through insightful conversations with top experts in their respective fields, Mike uncovers valuable information and practical advice aimed at enhancing both personal health and interpersonal interactions.

Part 1: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You

Guest: Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan
Timestamp: [00:30] - [27:59]

Overview: Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan, a renowned consultant neurologist and author of The Age of Diagnosis: How Our Obsession with Medical Labels is Making Us Sicker, challenges the conventional wisdom that early medical diagnosis is invariably beneficial. She presents compelling evidence that overdiagnosis can lead to unnecessary treatments and increased anxiety among patients.

Key Discussions:

1. Overdiagnosis in Healthcare:

   • Definition & Implications: Dr. O'Sullivan explains that overdiagnosis occurs when medical tests identify abnormalities that wouldn't have caused harm if left undetected.
   • Cancer Screening: She highlights that while early detection of cancers like breast or prostate can save lives, many detected early-stage cancers never progress to life-threatening stages. This leads to unnecessary treatments that carry their own risks.
     • Quote: “Only certain cancer cells grow to become malignant, life-threatening cancers. If you catch lots and lots of early cancer cells and treat them all as if they are potentially going to be life-threatening in the future, you'll be treating a lot of those people unnecessarily.” ([08:46])

2. Heart Disease and Risk Factors:

   • Dr. O'Sullivan draws parallels to heart disease, where redefining risk factors like hypertension and prediabetes has expanded the pool of individuals deemed at risk. This broadening can result in over-treatment without significantly impacting overall mortality rates.
     • Quote: “If you adjust the parameters of blood pressure to identify more people as hypertensive...you can identify huge numbers of people as being potentially hypertensive and potentially at risk of heart disease or stroke. But actually, of those huge number of people, you will be over treating maybe 80% of them who are never at risk.” ([12:13])

3. The Role of Medical Technology:

   • The advancement of medical technology has enabled the detection of numerous anomalies in healthy bodies, many of which may never pose a health threat. Dr. O'Sullivan emphasizes the need for medical professionals to contextualize these findings within the broader clinical picture.
     • Quote: “We have all these new types of technology that allow us to look inside the healthy body in a way that we never have before, and we're detecting things that were always there that we didn't know were there.” ([09:06])

4. Psychological Impact on Patients:

   • Receiving a diagnosis, even a benign one, can cause significant anxiety. Dr. O'Sullivan suggests that rebranding certain detected anomalies with less alarming terminology could alleviate unnecessary fear.
     • Quote: “Perhaps to solve the problem of fear, we should give these screened abnormal cells a name that is less frightening than cancer.” ([23:21])

5. Clinical Art vs. Test Reliance:

   • She advocates for a balanced approach where clinical judgment and patient history are prioritized over an overreliance on scans and blood tests. This approach can prevent the pitfalls of overdiagnosis while ensuring genuine health concerns are addressed.
     • Quote: “Medicine and diagnosis is still a clinical art. Tests need to be put into a clinical perspective.” ([19:42])

Conclusion: Dr. O'Sullivan's insights shed light on the complexities of modern medical diagnostics. While technology has undeniably advanced our ability to detect diseases early, it also necessitates a more nuanced approach to prevent overdiagnosis and the consequent psychological and physical burdens on patients.

Part 2: How to Unlock Your True Voice

Guest: Michael Chad Hepner
Timestamp: [31:27] - [50:42]

Overview: Michael Chad Hepner, a top communications coach and author of Don't Say How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life, explores the intricacies of effective verbal communication. He provides practical strategies to enhance one's speaking abilities, aiming to make interactions more engaging and impactful.

Key Discussions:

1. Perception vs. Reality in Communication Skills:

   • Hepner observes that individuals often misjudge their own communication abilities, either underestimating or overestimating their skills.
     • Quote: “Most of the folks who think they're terrible communicators, they're not actually as bad as they think.” ([31:45])

2. Common Communication Pitfalls:

   • Contraction Under Stress: In high-stakes situations, people tend to contract their bodies, leading to reduced expressiveness and increased use of filler words like "um" and "ah."
     • Quote: “They don't look like more professional or more dignified or as though they're conveying more gravitas. No, they just look like a more limited version of themselves.” ([33:53])

3. Preparation Techniques:

   • Out Loud Drafting: Instead of writing scripts, Hepner recommends practicing speaking aloud to align preparation with actual speaking dynamics.
     • Quote: “Stand up, walk around the room and ask yourself some big open-ended prompt to get your ideas flowing.” ([35:26])

4. Overcoming Filler Words:

   • Hepner introduces exercises like "Finger Walking" and "Silent Storytelling" to build muscle memory for more deliberate and expressive speech, thereby reducing reliance on fillers.
     • Quote: “This activates something fancy called embodied cognition, which is simply thinking or learning with your body, and it forces you to actually fixate on choosing words.” ([37:27])
     • Quote: “Silent Storytelling... allows your communication instrument to become much more expressive.” ([43:16])

5. The Five Ps of Vocal Variety:

   • Pace, Pitch, Pause, Power, Placement: These elements are crucial for maintaining vocal interest and effectively conveying messages.
     • Quote: “Pace is speed, pitch is high and low. Pause is silence. Power is volume, loud and soft. And then placement is where the sound is placed in the body.” ([45:00])

6. Practical Exercises:

   • Hepner demonstrates techniques to reinforce these principles, emphasizing that effective communication is a learnable skill akin to athletic training.
     • Quote: “This stuff can be learned. This is not a fixed mindset thing.” ([41:54])

Conclusion: Michael Chad Hepner provides actionable advice for anyone looking to improve their communication skills. By addressing both the psychological and physical aspects of speaking, Hepner empowers listeners to unlock their true voice, making their interactions more effective and engaging.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan:

  • “[08:46] Only certain cancer cells grow to become malignant, life-threatening cancers. If you catch lots and lots of early cancer cells and treat them all as if they are potentially going to be life-threatening in the future, you'll be treating a lot of those people unnecessarily.”
  • “[12:13] If you adjust the parameters of blood pressure to identify more people as hypertensive...you can identify huge numbers of people as being potentially hypertensive and potentially at risk of heart disease or stroke. But actually, of those huge number of people, you will be over treating maybe 80% of them who are never at risk.”
  • “[19:42] Medicine and diagnosis is still a clinical art. Tests need to be put into a clinical perspective.”

• Michael Chad Hepner:

  • “[31:45] Most of the folks who think they're terrible communicators, they're not actually as bad as they think.”
  • “[33:53] They don't look like more professional or more dignified or as though they're conveying more gravitas. No, they just look like a more limited version of themselves.”
  • “[37:27] This activates something fancy called embodied cognition, which is simply thinking or learning with your body, and it forces you to actually fixate on choosing words.”
  • “[45:00] Pace is speed, pitch is high and low. Pause is silence. Power is volume, loud and soft. And then placement is where the sound is placed in the body.”

Final Thoughts

This episode of Something You Should Know offers a blend of critical health insights and practical communication strategies. Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan's examination of overdiagnosis urges listeners to approach medical information with a discerning eye, while Michael Chad Hepner's communication techniques provide tools for personal and professional growth. Together, these discussions empower listeners to make informed decisions about their health and enhance their interpersonal interactions.

For more detailed discussions and resources mentioned in this episode, be sure to visit the show notes and explore the recommended books by Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan and Michael Chad Hepner.