For a long time, I have always thought how articulately he/she can express him/herself really varies. Is it because of a gift or a result of training? At first, I could not figure out why, but I have come to a conclusion that the difference lie in his/her thoughtfulness.
A number of seminars to lecture on how to speak well are available these days, but I personally believe the ultimate key is not a technique to speak but whether you can LISTEN to yourself as you SPEAK”. With this in mind, I would like to raise eight useful tips to speak articulately.
8 tips to speak articulately
- Tell the result first
Ex.) When asked, “How did today’s meeting go?”
Articulate speakers would start with the result such as “It went well” or “The meeting was not successful”.
On the other hand, not-articulate speakers would answer, “First, we began discussing on subject —, and Mr.A said —…. And then, Mr.B said ….”
Unless you are describing a story of a novel or a movie, you don’t have to explain from the beginning to the end with every detail. Tell the result first.
- Avoid ambiguity. Be specific.
Ex.) When asked, “How do you prioritize your tasks?”
Articulate speakers would answer, “Firstly, I will make a list of my tasks with each deadline. And then, I will divide them into three groups: Group “most important” (Number 1), Group “important” (Number 2), and Group “not so important” (Number 3). Finally, I will multiply the number of days left until the deadline for each task by the number of the group the task belongs to. The result of the equation shows how much important the task is. The bigger number a task has as a result of the equation, the higher priority the task has.” Like this, their answer is very clear.
Non-articulate speakers would answer, “I will work on urgent tasks and prioritize important ones.” Although they say “urgent” or “important”, the listeners never know why t