How you say what you say.

You may be very well prepared for a meeting, interview, or presentation. You may know exactly what you want to say. But have you considered how you are going to say it? There are many underlying factors that can alter the meaning of what you actually intended to say.

 

Tone- The tone of your voice when you are speaking is important. It should reflect and match the mood of the conversation. Be conscience of whether your tone is:

informal	vs.	formal
light, humorous, comic	vs.	serious, grave, decorous
personal, subjective	vs.	objective, impersonal
casual, offhanded	vs.	impassioned
"loose," rambunctious	vs.	reasoned, reasonable
zany, experimental	vs.	controlled, reserved
plainspoken, simple	vs.	ornate, elaborate

chart retrieved from
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/tone.htm

 

Volume- Be sure to not speak to quietly to avoid having the listener ask you to repeat yourself; however, you do not want to speak too loudly.

 

retrieved from

http://www.denniscummins.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Man-megaphone-flying-hair.jpg

 

Speed- Slow down. Sometimes when we are nervous we tend to speak faster to get the talking over with. The message can be lost due to speaking too quickly. However; speaking too slowly may bore your listener. Speak at a comfortable pace that ensures everything you said is heard and registered.

retrieved from

http://whitmanpioneer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Op-Ed.Song_.Slang_.3-630x514.jpg

 Slang- There is a time and place for the use of slang and casual language, and the workplace is not one of them. Using slang is unprofessional and sometimes even dis respectful. The following are some examples of slang language and should be avoided:

 

·         Speaking in text message lingo

·         Shortening “going to” to “gonna”

·         Adding “er” to words such as “gooder”

·         Words that are not words; such as “redundancies”

·         Casual words like “hey” and “yo”

 

The following is a link to a list of words that sound be avoided:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/tone.htm