Executives and professionals who speak with poor diction may be missing out on opportunities and promotions within their company. Any voice or speech habit that draws attention away from the message undermines the ability to reach listeners. Good diction and pronunciation are two elements of speech that can be easily changed to produce more credibility.

The acceptable pronunciation of any word is determined exclusively by its usage in the general population. But a dictionary can be a valuable tool to learn how to pronounce words. Pronunciation in the dictionary is represented by symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). If you're not familiar with IPA, it can be confusing.

The IPA uses symbols for every sound in English. This is different from our regular alphabet in which one symbol stands for many sounds. For instance, the sound /a/ can be produced as in bad, bade, and ball. Mastering the IPA system will assist you in many ways, particularly when you need to look up a word.

Evaluating your pronunciation and diction is important. You may need to adopt new speech habits which will require perseverence and determination. Here are some common mistakes:

1. Omitting /l/ "Already"="awready"

2. Substituting /t/ with /d/ "letter"="ledder" "quantity"="quanidy"

3."Our"='r' "R boss is a really nice guy."

4. Reducing words by eliminating sounds. Here is a short list of some commonly shortened words. Sharpen your pronunciation and diction by practicing the correct pronunciation (you may have many others to add):

Almond (amond)--picture (pitcher)--supposedly (supposebly)--temperature (temprature)-- laboratory (labratory)--hospitable (hosptable)"Probably"="Probly"

5. Shortening/changing vowels in running speech. For example:

a. "For"="fer" "The phone is fer you."

b. "To"="tuh" "I'm going tuh the store."

c. "Just"="jist" "Jist a minute..."

d. "you"="ya" "I'll see ya at the meeting."

6. Reducing other sounds like, "Going to"="gonna" "Want to"="wanna," "Didn't:"="dint," "wouldn't"="wunt"

What can be done to ensure that correct pronunciation of words? There are a few simple things to try to speak more clearly. Here are some suggestions:

1. Put endings on words.

2. Lengthen the vowels of stressed words.

3. Over-articulate or exaggerate your words.

4. Practice saying tongue twisters to "warm-up" your articulators:

a. Rubber baby buggy bumpers.

b. Greta grabbed Greg's grater and grated greater green grapes.

c. Can cotton candy coat clean cold combs?

d. The wary women wept over the war waifs and weakened widows.

Practice these tongue twisters and gradually increase the speed until are every sound and word is precisely pronounced even at a faster rate. As you go faster, notice how exaggerated mouth movements are key to hitting the sounds accurately.

A great way to get feedback about your speaking skills is to tape record your end of a phone conversation. Keep the recorder at your desk and when you make a call, hit the record. After the conversation, listen to the recording. Listen to your diction and pronounciation of words. Is your speech clear and precise? This can be a humbling experience but it is often motivates one to make changes.

Copyright (c) 2008 Lynda Stucky