Sunday, March 04, 2007
Kind of
We all have our "filler words" - little phrases or words that we fall back on when we're not quite sure what to say but we want to avoid silence. "Umm", "like", "so". My latest is "kind of" although I also use "so" a lot and used to be a heavy user of "like". It's amazing how easily these words enter my speech without me noticing. Periodically, someone like my wife or a co-worker will point it out to me. They're worried about whether others will perceive me as "junior" given these speech patterns. As long as I don't rush (and I pay attention), I'm fine. But if I get a bit flustered, all bets are off. I guess it just takes practice. One more thing to be cognizant of (and worry about).
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2 comments:
I think it's not the words that make a person sound "junior", it's the delivery. If you seem unsure of yourself, that lack of confidence will translate to your audience. Long pauses in conversation are a killer. Then again, meaningless blabber is bad, too. Back at my office, they have a public speaking forum called "toastmasters" that meets once a week. If there are similar organizations in your area, maybe they could help you sound more confident and assertive. Practice makes perfect. Trying to censor your speech as it comes out will just make you appear even more insecure, since it will probably create more conversational pauses as you look for the right word.
I dunno. Just some thoughts.
About ten years ago, I took the Dale Carnegie public speaking course and I've done a number of presentations since then. I agree that 90% of effective speaking is being confident and assertive. The other 10% does involve polish and makes the difference between being a "good" presenter vs being a "great" presenter. I'm aspiring to the latter category - although I tend to aspire to that category in just about everything I do (which can be problematic).
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