Can you talk

Can you talk? This seems like an absurd question at first glance. Almost everyone can talk. Quite true but how many young people in business know-how to talk in such a way as to enhance their chances of winning promotion? Not many, Why? Well, let us see why.

First: Too many people mumble their words; force their hearers to listen attentively to catch enough of what is said to understand what the speaker intends to convey. This mumbling habit usually is the result of what may be called "speech laziness".

Second: The lour talker maybe even more annoying than the mumbler. He makes the listeners understand what he is saying, but he has too many listeners. Everyone within earshot hears what he says. Loud talk is a sure barrier to promotion except in the field of auctioneering.

Third: The "soft-spoken" individual carries a decided handicap. People have to strain too hard to catch what he says. Few will do it. Thus what is said is lost on his listeners.

Fourth: The talker will wear out almost any but the rugged listeners in any business office or store. He will be too far ahead of his hearers most of the time. Being unable to catch up they lose interest. Too fast talk, however good, fails to register. It never inspires confidence.

Fifth: The slow talker is little but more effective than the fast talker. His listeners either are way ahead of him or have lost interest altogether. The employer of a too deliberate talker easily associates slow speech with dullness or laziness.

Sixth: The incessant talker is a pest. Few, if any, men have enough important things to say to risk talking all or most of the time. One who talks too much irritates his hearers.

Seventh: The "silent man" may fail to impress his employer with his real ability. He is hard to appraise except for jobs that call for skill only.

Young people who are preparing for a business career should appraise their own speech habits right now. Remember that speech habit that really counts, and that good speech habits are the result of persistent, intelligent, purposeful practice.