Proper Pronunciation

At every Excellence in Speaking course, we ask our students what traits they admire in an effective communicator. Every time we ask the question, the answers are always the same because people can easily recognize the traits of a good speaker. Once we make our students aware of what it takes, we coach them to adopt those traits for themselves. What we can name, we can develop. 

The flip side to that is becoming aware of distractions - how we shoot ourselves in the foot with our own actions and limitations while trying to communicate. So in addition to asking our students what they admire in effective speakers, we ask them what detracts from a speaker's message. Once again, the answers are consistently the same. And throughout the course, our students learn that each and every one of the distractions can be overcome.

You wanna talk distraction? Try listening to a speaker who constantly mispronounces words. Improper pronunciation can cause a breakdown in communication and often requires more effort on the part of the audience to understand the message. Most of us pronounce words based on a lifetime of influence from our parents and friends, as well as our culture and the region where we grew up. 

• The folks up in Boston "pahk the cah in Hahvad Yahd"
• Because of the cold winters, Minnesotans have a hot dish season, "Ooh ya hun, da taater tot hot dish ya made was just deelish, oooh ya...."  
• Y'all know that in the south they do not differentiate between the "e" and the "i" in a word. If y'all are doing it right, then someone should wonder whether you're wanting to sew or write when you ask for a "pen".

But we're not talking about dialects, we are talking about words that are frequently mispronounced by native English speakers regardless of their regional accents. Pronunciation plays an important role in a presentation, so don't let yours be a distraction to your audience.

www.yourdictionary.com has put together a list of The 100 most often mispronounced English words. You can click on the link for each word and hear the proper pronunciation (including the pronunciation of the word "pronunciation"). 

Here are some of our favorites: 

You're wrong if you say: artic

Say: arctic

You're wrong if you say: dialate

Say: dilate

You're wrong if you say: jewlery

Say: jewelry

You're wrong if you say: realator

Say: realtor 

You're wrong if you say: sherbert

Say: sherbet 

You're wrong if you say: spitting image

Say: spit and image

You're wrong if you say: supposably

Say: supposedly

Right or wrong, your audience will judge you by the way you pronounce words. Your credibility and authority as a speaker can be negatively affected by mispronouncing words, so if you're not sure about a word - look it up. And if you want to polish your skills and put them to good use, the faculty at Ty Boyd, Inc can help you become a more significant communicator.