Although I pay a reasonable attention to politics, I fundamentally detest all the politicians. Just looking at how much Obama and Romney have to talk each day, I got struck by a TMJ.
Without any hidden agenda, I must admit that I found the Royal family of England to be so inspiring by simply showing up (see the Jubilee or the London Olympics, more recently) and keeping quiet. How comforting and refreshing, indeed!...
As ya'll know I grew up in Romania; yes the exceedingly communist one! Well, we couldn't talk as we pleased, back then. Now, I live in the USA; God blessed it's Constitution which I took an oath on! Well, here people would exceedingly talk your ears off. While interviewing for a job, I was advised by one dear American friend in all his sincerity. He thought that my habit, as English as a second language speaker, to pause and look for the right words to use (which I am doing all the time while speaking) gives the wrong impression to any potential employer that I am not thinking fast enough, and I could even be on the slow side, or less convincing!? He's advice was "Just talk with confidence, and even if you are not sure for the answer, just improvise something. Keep talking as you know what you are talking about. The faster your talk the better is going to serve you!".
Coming today, I can assure you that I am still hopeless in that regard. I still talk slower than most New Yorkers, have a foreign accent, take breaks in between my words, searching for the right word(s) I would like to use at that time, and I also ask them to repeat when I am not sure I understood them (which sometimes aggravates them - because not only that they are supposed to talk fast, but not be interrupted either).
My goal, in general, has been to get my message across, rather than to break some fast speech Guinness World record.
I hope, with this post, that I've succeeded once again.
And my favorite copy-cats:
Without any hidden agenda, I must admit that I found the Royal family of England to be so inspiring by simply showing up (see the Jubilee or the London Olympics, more recently) and keeping quiet. How comforting and refreshing, indeed!...
As ya'll know I grew up in Romania; yes the exceedingly communist one! Well, we couldn't talk as we pleased, back then. Now, I live in the USA; God blessed it's Constitution which I took an oath on! Well, here people would exceedingly talk your ears off. While interviewing for a job, I was advised by one dear American friend in all his sincerity. He thought that my habit, as English as a second language speaker, to pause and look for the right words to use (which I am doing all the time while speaking) gives the wrong impression to any potential employer that I am not thinking fast enough, and I could even be on the slow side, or less convincing!? He's advice was "Just talk with confidence, and even if you are not sure for the answer, just improvise something. Keep talking as you know what you are talking about. The faster your talk the better is going to serve you!".
Coming today, I can assure you that I am still hopeless in that regard. I still talk slower than most New Yorkers, have a foreign accent, take breaks in between my words, searching for the right word(s) I would like to use at that time, and I also ask them to repeat when I am not sure I understood them (which sometimes aggravates them - because not only that they are supposed to talk fast, but not be interrupted either).
My goal, in general, has been to get my message across, rather than to break some fast speech Guinness World record.
I hope, with this post, that I've succeeded once again.
And my favorite copy-cats:
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