- 28 Mar, 2021
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Clear Diction. What is it and why do I need it?
Clear diction isn’t just speaking clearly, it is articulating the sounds in each word clearly. It is the difference between ‘Kinda’ and the actual true and correct ‘Kind of’. Dunno – Don’t know. Gunna – going to. Wanna – want to. It’s the difference between unprofessional and professional speech. It is important if you want to sound like you know what you are talking about, even if you don’t. It adds credibility and authority to your communications especially if you’re not 100% confident. In speech terms it’s called ‘lazy’, you can’t be bothered opening your mouth wide enough to get the end of words and explosive consonants (T, D) out clearly because it does take just that little bit more of an effort.
It could be the difference between being the stand out in an interview, or when you are asking for a pay rise, if a promotion is up. While I may sound old and ‘not with it’ consider who it is offering you the job or who will authorise the pay rise or give the promotion. Consider your competition; what have they got to offer that you don’t? If you feel you are on-par with them then what are you going to have to stand out from the others?
Being able to articulate yourself professionally and rationally (especially during highly stressful times) is one of the top emotional intelligence competencies. In the past, a lot of the emphasis when evaluating potential performance has been on intellectual capacity, now research has indicated that EI is what differentiates the outstanding performers from the rest. Is that you? Do you feel at the top of your game in terms of speech and communication? If you feel you could do with some tidying up of your diction, and speech in general there are a few simple exercises you can do to help with clear diction. There are free resources on the home page of Say It Clearly Courses website www.sayitclearly.thinkific.com. You could also book a time to talk and receive a free analysis of what you should focus on to improve.