Those irritating phrases that drive you crazy

Those Irritating Words or Phrases!Do you have a colleague who uses the same word or phrase constantly, driving you crazy? For example, "you know", "so", "like" or "um"?  Often the person doesn't even realize he is saying these things.
What can you do about this? First, if it is appropriate for you to say this (obviously not to your boss!), tell the person you have noticed he says (whatever the word or phrase is) very frequently, and you wondered if he has noticed this. Tell him it is hard for you to listen to (or whatever the effect is on the customers and colleagues) and could he try to either use another phrase there or just pause and not say anything when he is about to say this.
Sometimes professional coaching by an outsider makes a difference, if the person has trouble stopping on his own. A qualified speech coach can use special techniques to help the person reduce or eliminate his use of the particular word or phrase.
Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching in diction, accent modification and other verbal skills, including reducing those irritating phrases!


Older posts on many aspects of verbal communication can be found here,  at this site.

The secret to saying tongue twisters!

Many people who speak in public worry about how to pronounce long, unfamiliar words or other words in a phrase when they have similar sounds, called tongue-twisters. Tongue twisters come in many languages. American English ones, Russian ones, German ones, Spanish ones and ones in many other languages. The secret to saying tongue twisters is to practice them 3 times very slowly, without using your voice. Just move your lips, tongue and jaw slowly while you think about the movements you are making. Let's use Business Speech Improvement's slogan as an example. We are a "one stop speech spot". Say that 3 times very slowly, without using your voice. Think about the "st" in "stop" coming before the "sp" in "spot". Then try the slogan three times fast! Then, whenever you get a single difficult word to pronounce, or a difficult phrase, try this method: 3 times slowly and then 3 times fast. It's easy! Business Speech Improvement offers many types of communication e-books and coaching. Visit us online now!

Diction tips for reporters

Are you a reporter who wants to improve your pronunciation? Better speech can help your career growth, whether you are thinking of moving out of smaller markets into larger ones, or want to work on an especially important project in your current position. Your listeners today can be in some very noisy settings, whether in cars with their windows down, in shopping malls, sporting events, or noisy offices. Some may have hearing losses, too. Clear speech is critical for them to have the best chance of understanding you. Listen to yourself reporting on a taped story. What errors do you notice? Are the ends of sentences easy to understand, or are they mumbled? Are the ends of words, such as "ing", "s" and "ed" pronounced consistently? Set a goal of one change you want to make in your speech. When you practice reading your story, highlight the indicated words. This will remind you to say that sound extra clearly. You should also evaluate your rate of speech and your pauses. Are they appropriate for your story and your audience? Remember, speaking too quickly can mean people in noisy settings may miss words here and there. Sweeps Week is coming up! Business Speech Improvement offers small group coaching on an intensive basis for reporters who want to work on their speech skills! E-books and audio files are available on many other aspects of verbal communication. Check us out!

Work in the US and have a strong foreign accent?

(American English) Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals is a three day intensive course on pronunciation. In some countries, this is called elocution or diction. This "immersion-style" course will be offered June 16 - 18, 2010; a second session will be taught July 2- 4, 2010.

The course is limited to only six learners, and will be taught in Chattanooga, TN.
For more information and to enroll, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes .

Business Speech Improvement also offers courses on regional accent modification, executive communication skills, public speaking and other topics. Great speech makes business sense!