Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Gretchen Hirsch (Worthington, OH) is the author of Womanhours: A 21-Day Time Management Plan that Works and the coauthor of Bud Wilkinson: An Intimate Portrait of an American Legend, Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers, and Motivating the Gifted Child. She has contributed articles to Woman’s Day, Redbook, Equal Play, The Science Teacher, and Gifted Child Today, among others. She is a writer for the Office of University Communications at Ohio Wesleyan University and president of Midwest Book Doctors, where she provides editorial consulting services for authors who are preparing manuscripts for submission to agents and editors.

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Talking Your Way to the TOP

Prometheus Books

Contents

Acknowledgments.........................................................................9Introduction............................................................................11PART ONE: KEEPING YOUR FOOT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH: THE BASICS1. What Did You Say? Common Mispronunciations...........................................192. The Wrong Word at the Wrong Time.....................................................373. De-mangling Common Expressions and De-dangling Modifiers.............................894. Pronouns, Mood Swings, and Finding Your Voice........................................97PART TWO: SOUNDING SMART AT WORK5. Say What You Mean....................................................................1136. Eliminating Flabspeak................................................................1437. I Really Want the Job: Sounding Smart in Interviews..................................1598. Do I Have to Go? Sounding Smart in Meetings..........................................1899. In the Office: Sounding Smart Every Day..............................................21710. Sounding Smart in Public: Speech, Panels, and Media Appearances.....................235PART THREE: TYING IT UP11. Sounding Smart Wherever You Are.....................................................28112. The Top: How Leaders Speak..........................................................291Notes...................................................................................299Index...................................................................................301

Chapter One

COMMON MISPRONUNCIATIONS

An occasional mispronunciation is not a capital offense. In fact, those who know the correct pronunciation of a word may be too courteous to tell you if you flub it. However, a string of mispronounced words can make you sound unschooled or lazy, and neither of these is an impression you want to give.

If you've heard a word pronounced several different ways or you're simply unsure of what it should sound like, reach for a dictionary and check out the pronunciation before you use the word. That small act relieves the anxiety of wondering whether you're right, and you immediately speak with more confidence and flair. Most people, even those who appear most knowledgeable, are occasionally surprised to learn they've been pronouncing a word incorrectly, so don't worry about what you've said in the past. Correct it now and continue to apply what you've learned from the dictionary.

As George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, and others have observed, the United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language. For example, Americans say PRY-va-cy, while the British prefer PRIV-a-cy. Americans are somewhat divided about herb. Some say urb; others hurb. The British generally prefer the latter. Americans use a LEV-er, while the British use a LEE-ver. In the United States we try to stay on SKED-jool, but our British cousins keep to a SHED-jool. Americans who live in the United States are better off using American pronunciations to avoid being considered pompous and patronizing.

Regionalisms and accents are also sometimes a problem. Talking about "feesh"(fish) or "aigs" (eggs) may be perfectly acceptable in Jackson, Ohio, but the words won't be understandable in Fargo, North Dakota, which has its own group of regional pronunciations. There's nothing wrong with regionalisms, and presidents of the United States have demonstrated that you can rise to the top without losing the accent of the South or the Northeast, but business decision-makers often favor Standard American English, which you'll hear if you listen to national newscasts.

The guide to pronunciation I've compiled here is not what you usually find in a Great Big Dictionary. I've tried to keep things simple. How many of us really know what e sounds like?

Many of the words below-defibrillator and sherbet, for example-are not "business" words; that is, you probably won't use them every day in the office. However, any word you mispronounce in a business setting, from a lunch meeting to a job interview to a presentation to an informal telephone conversation with a customer, becomes a business word that can bite you if you don't use it properly.

Listeners who are in a position to hire you, promote you, recommend you, or buy your products may decide not to if persistent mispronunciations make you sound less intelligent than you are. Your inability to speak without a gaggle of errors in pronunciation may make others question your competence in everything. The promotion may go to someone else. You might not land the account. The company may decide not to hire you. Proper speech alone won't get you where you want to go, but impoverished speech will surely hold you back.

BUTCHERED, BUNGLED, AND BLOWN: WORDS YOU SHOULDN'T MISPRONOUNCE

Accessory ak-SESS-o-ry, not a-SESS-o-ry. If you remove the -ory from this word, what's left? Access, not assess. Pronounce access and then add the rest.

Across a-KROSS, not a-KROST. Do you see a t anywhere in this word? Didn't think so. So don't add one when you pronounce it.

Aegis EE-jis, not AY-jis.

Affadavit aff-a-DAY-vit, not Aff-a-DAY-vid. In a moment of madcap caprice, a couple of lawyers might choose to name their son Affa David. But probably not. The last syllable of this word is it. Pronounce it with gusto.

All all, not alls. There's no gray area here; alls is just wrong.

Amphitheater AM-fe-thee-a-ter, not AMP-i-thee-a-ter. Ph equals f.

Analogous a-NAL-e-gus, not a-NAL-e-jus.

Antibiotic an-ti-bye-OT-ik, not an-ti-bee-OT-ik. Aunt Bee belongs in Mayberry, not in your medicine bottle.

Arctic/Antarctic ARK-tik, not ART-ik. Some usage experts may quarrel with this one, and a variety of dictionaries list both. However, many people are adamant about that first hard c. They'll think you're wrong if you omit it, while the people who pronounce the word ART-ik probably won't care if you add it. I'd go with the ARK, just as Noah did.

Ask ask, not ax. An ax is used to chop down a tree, not to request information.

Asterisk ASS-te-risk, not ASS-te-rix or even ASS-terick. The last syllable of this word is risk. There's an old limerick that will help you recall the correct pronunciation. I don't remember all of it, but the final lines are,...