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6 Sloppy Speech Habits
By Diane Diresta | Monster Contributing Writer
You may look good on paper or in your suit, but if you’re looking to nail your big interview, looks aren’t everything. How you sound is often more important. But many job seekers let careless speech habits sink their chances of landing that plum job.
Here are six common language mistakes and how to keep them from sabotaging your interview or meetings with clients:
1. Non-words:
Filler words such as “um,” “ah,” “you know,” “OK” or “like” tell the interviewer you’re not prepared and make you sound like a Valley Girl (or Boy). A better strategy is to think before you speak, taking pauses and breaths when you lose your train of thought. Everybody utters an occasional “um,” but don’t let it start every sentence.
2. “Up-Talk” :
A singsong or rising inflection at the end of every sentence creates a tentative impression and makes it sound as though you’re asking a question instead of making a definitive statement. You need to speak with conviction when selling yourself in an meeting. Bring your intonation down when ending a sentence to avoid talking up.
3. Grammatical Errors:
The interviewer may question your education when you use incorrect grammar or slang. Expressions such as “ain’t” “she don’t,” “me and my friend” and “so I goes to him” aren’t appropriate. Be sure you speak in complete sentences and that tenses agree. The interview is not the venue for regional expressions or informality.
4. Sloppy Speech:
Slurring words together or dropping their endings impairs the clarity of your message. To avoid slurring and increase understanding, speak slowly during an interview. Make a list of commonly mispronounced words, and practice saying them into a tape recorder before the interview. Some common incorrect pronunciations include “aks” for “ask,” “ath a lete” for “athlete,” “wif” for “with” and “dree” for “three.”
5. Speed Talking:
While everybody is a bit anxious during an interview, you don’t want your information to fly by like a speeding bullet. A rapid speaking rate is difficult to follow, and speed talkers are seen as nervous. Slow down your racing heart by doing some breathing exercises before the interview. To avoid rushing, listen to the question, and then count two beats in your head before answering. When you finish a sentence, count two beats again before continuing. Don’t be afraid of silence. Pausing is an effective communication technique. The interviewer needs a few seconds to process what you just said anyway.
6. Weak Speak:
Wimpy words modify or water down your conviction and in the end your position. When you pepper a conversation with “hopefully,” “perhaps,” “I feel,” “kind of” and “sort of,” the message you convey is a lack of confidence. Use power words such as “I’m confident that,” “my track record shows,” “I take the position that,” “I recommend” or “my goal is.” The language you use gives the listener an impression about your level of confidence and conviction.
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to study elocution to speak well. Simply slow down, take time to pronounce all the syllables, and leave slang at home.
Companies want job candidates who are well-spoken and articulate, and recruiters won’t represent a job candidate if they don’t match the client’s profile. According to Lori Zelman, vice president of human resources at Strategic Workforce Solutions in New York City, “The people most highly sought after are the ones who are succinct in the explanation of their work experience.”
Read More About Improving Your Communication
Luke
4 days ago
8 comments
Take Rich's advice. Some folks need the skills you can learn more than others, but everyone can benefit. After I joined, I learned quickly how to better organize a presentation and how to better tie things together. I also learned to eliminate the filler words in my speech. I entered my first speech contest about 6 months after joining and won my area competition. If you visit a club and don't feel like it's going to help, visit another club. The meetings should all be run in similar fashion, but will all have their own flavor. If for no other reason, depending on what you sell and who your target market is, it can be a good networking opportunity. I had to leave my group about a year and a half ago and am hoping to rejoin this year.
becky_regan
11 days ago
10 comments
Sometimes it's hard to avoid these things when you're really nervous.
JohnKapcia
18 days ago
116 comments
Good read.
sarahp
22 days ago
22 comments
I hope that the president is reading.
lmatthewchristensen
about 1 month ago
36 comments
I like the pointers. This is something that everyone should evaluate on a consistent basis.
Salesmom
2 months ago
42 comments
A must for every sales person. Speak slowly and choose your words carefully. Be comfortable that sometimes a silent pause is better than inane fillers like..."uuuhhh" and the one I hate the most "you know".
Oldsage007
2 months ago
4 comments
Note: I should add (and I was one!) thanks to all the good teachers out there who battle the system every day and are unheralded in their quest for fire and knowledge. I by no means indict the whole group, because it is a thankless task! Any the good teachers and the ones who try to the utmost of their abilities are to be commended. It is just frustrating that these over achieves and "diamonds in the coal mine of the masses" get the same raise as those who don't progress or grow their craft one bit from one year to the next. Thanks to those teachers who stick it out and try their best. They know who they are and they are to be commended. Sorry I did not add this in my last rant! So much to do and so little time .............
Sorry again and all the best to the GOOD ONES!
Gary B
Winston-Salem NC
Oldsage007
2 months ago
4 comments
How about these? Using the word irregardless (no such word!) for regardless; pacific (ocean?) for the correct word SPECIFIC! and the youth and even older folks of today, saying, like ........... every other word! No wonder we spend the most $ per capita of any free world country on educating our youth and get the least bang for our buck! As an ex-teacher I can assure you that the teacher's unions and lobbies that allow marginal and even sub-standard teachers to keep their jobs year after year due to the "horrid concept" of tenure, multiply this problem many-fold. Also while on this subject, every "news reader" , reporter, sportscaster and weather persons with ANY chance of going before the public on camera should have to read and write an essay on Edwin Newman's great book, "Strictly Speaking". Hey TV and radio folks out there, there are no Webster's approved words listed that exist that end with the subword "-wise" That means the words weatherwise , pointswise, newswise, etc do not exist! There are a few notable exceptions such as otherwise (this one is ok) but very few! ................ Take it away america cause now I will have a few hundred teachers on my case for my comments about tenure, etc. I rest my case, because the last time I heard the word irregardless and the word pacific(but not meaning the ocean but rather the word specific) was two of my son's teachers in their speech habits. Sadly, these are jus the tip of the proverbial iceberg! Ugh! Does one bad apple, spoil the lot ???? No but it perpetuates the problem many fold unless these folks are rehabilitated or culled out of the system. Like my hero John McCain said in the debate last night regarding the present state of our educational system. We need to find the bad teachers another line of work! I couldn't agree more, because these "bad apples" interact with hundreds of students day after day, week after week, year after year and in the end have surely contributed to our lack of progress and scholastic achievement in our educational process that we have today. Ok, lecture over and class dismissed!
Sincerely,
Gary B Winston-Salem NC
kiwivv
2 months ago
2 comments
The worst one that I hear over and over again "Her and her boyfriend" as the subject in a sentence. Hello: It is "She and her boyfriend" that is the correct subject of a sentence. "She and her boyfriend went out of the house"
jafferalikhan
3 months ago
8 comments
I am a call center executive and have experienced a few companies and the most important thing everybody looks into is grammar, intonation, neutral accent and your way of presentation. No matter if you have loads of experience but atleast for a moment everybody would be tensed while interview and might make mistakes. The ''6 Sloppy Speech Habits'' above would definetely help freshers and people with less experience too. However, if you are looking for a level 2 position or above, you should learn something more than this. For eg: the presentation skills, body language, eye contact, gestures, etc. One should also be well prepared with all sorts of interview questions. Like, "Tell me about yourself...", "Why are you leaving your current position?", "What do you consider your most significant accomplishment?", "Why do you believe you are qualified for this position?", "Have you ever accomplished something you didn't think you could?", "What do you like/dislike most about your current or last position?", "How do you handle pressure? Do you like or dislike these situations?", "The sign of a good employee is the ability to take initiative. Can you describe a situation where you did this?", "What was the worst/most embarrassing situation of your career? How would you have done things differently with 20/20 hindsight?", "How have you grown or changed over the past few years?", "What do you consider your most significant strength?", "What do you consider your most significant strength?", etc.....
Please email me your feedback at jafferalikhan1@gmail.com.
Awaiting for your feedback.
Jaffer Ali Khan,
9885470052
Hyderabad.
ngrojas
3 months ago
2 comments
As a top executive for many years, I've read many resumes and interviewed many people for a client service organization. Grammatical errors in written or verbal form were always an automatic "no hire". I didn't have the opportunity of going to college, but my mother was a stickler for correct English and avid reading was required to participate in the dinner table discussions. Such localisms as "spigot" or "bucket" were taboo; rather I had to use the words "faucet" and "pail". My career success was greatly attributible to superiors recognition that I could speak and write better than most and I thank my own home alma "mater" every day for her never-ending corrections and direction. My son just graduated from college, but commits many of the sloppy speech errors cited in your article. We will be reviewing this over the dinner table tonight. Thank you!
phil51
3 months ago
2 comments
I am not a native of the Philadelphia area but have lived here for more than twenty years. Many people add extra syllables to one or two-syllable words or simply butcher the correct pronunciation of common words. That has produced such stellar examples as "Acme" becoming "Ac-a-me", the word "across" being pronounced as "acrost" (there is no "t" in the word) and my two (least) favorites: The overuse of the word "Yo!" (butal), followed closely by "atty-tude" for the word "attitude". How could a person hire someone who speaks that way -- unless the job calls for being hidden away in a cave with no outside contact. Across the country, too many people use the expression, "he gave the tickets to he and I" when, of course, the correct usage is "to HIM and ME", because the words are the objects of the verb "gave". Is grammar no longer taught AT ALL at any level in this country?
Brbredhead
3 months ago
2 comments
Persons today do not consider or understand how important correct English is -- and some don't care! There are many other common mistakes made when talking, writing, interviewing etc. To add to your list, more of these words incorrectly spoken on a daily basis are: alot (for a lot), anyways (for anyway), seen (for saw), nucular (for nuclear), just to name a few. I cringe when supposedly well-educated people speak carelessly. They should take a refresher course. The Contributing Editor made a great listing of valid comments.
Brp
3 months ago
2 comments
Sales is about presentation. How you present yourself , how you achieve your goal. The process in which to achieve your mission is by way of using what you have learned just like the article posted and practice this as part of your daily activity guide. Moreso , I always believe in "Personality is defined by Character and Character makes a Salesperson thats has a NEED and an ATTITUDE. If you have these, I doubt that no sales calls will not be achieved.
s_e
3 months ago
2 comments
These are definately great tips to keep in mind when speaking. It can be difficult to notice such habits when they're happening. Thank you!