Excelle

This is great advice. I tend to talk a lot...I especially appreciate the idea of waiting 2 seconds at the beginning of a sentence and also after.

What a great and beneficial article!

I'm guilty of the last one. I'm constantly modifying everything I say. I guess that's a confidence issue. I'm just afraid of using absolutes, just in case I'm wrong.

I find that many people, myself included, initially feel uncomfortable listening to recordings of their own voice. If this is the case with you, don't let it stop you from practicing your speaking skills. After awhile, you'll become more accustomed to hearing your voice played back to you, and you'll be able to reap the benefits of improving your speaking skills. Also, voice recorders can be very useful in aiding memory and organization.

Slowing down is a key point. Actually, I talk fast when I am more prepared and talk slower when I am less prepared, but I learned that slowing it down seems to get the interviewer's attention hanging on every word you say, and by talking slower, you don't have to say as much. Small pauses are much better than saying "um." Also, I agree with avoiding the use of slang and the overuse of non-words-- they can be quite annoying to listen to. You don't want to distract the interviewer with annoying speech habits.... It seems that the presentation of what you are saying (how you say it) is far more important than what you saying. Unfortunately, people judge you the most harshly when they first meet you, so you don't want to create the wrong image of yourself to a person when you first meet them.

Excellent article. Another sloppy speech habit to avoid is using baby talk in your conversations. If you are talking to another adult (whether it’s a job interview, date, phone conversation, business meeting, or anywhere else), then you need to sound like an adult. Save the baby talk for your babies, please!

this is good ,as insignificant as this is ,it has been the cause of many loosing great oppurtunity.it is really helpful.

I completely agree with this article. The constant and consistent use of "like is annoying and makes the speaker appear juvenile.