In the words of Joan Rivers, can we talk?
This week’s
print and social media tsunami over whether the way women speak affects how
they are perceived made me want to post #SayitLikeYouMeanit all over Twitter
(which I actually did a bit of)! It was
instigated by former Google employee Ellen Petry Leanse's commentary for Cosmopolitan over
the “permission word” “just,” and a piece in Fortune, “Like,
Totally Don’t Talk Like This to Get Ahead in Business,” The coverage
has been passionate, dissenting and informative.
The fact is, for better or worse, the way we speak does affect we how
we are perceived. Verbal habits
including filler words, up-talk, vocal fry and incessant apologizing (See Amy
Schumer’s "I'm Sorry" parody) can weaken our speech, making us sound unsure, and yes, maybe
uneducated. Whether you are giving an oral presentation, interviewing for
a summer internship or a job, meeting with a college recruiter, or engaging
colleagues at a meeting, sounding self-assured and speaking articulately is
paramount to being taken seriously.
The good news is that none of these disfluencies are pathological (although hearing five “likes” in your colleague’s or child's every
sentence may seem so). The way we speak - women and men alike - is behavioral and we could
all use a little more awareness and intervention.
