Language You Use May Be Sabotaging Your Career

ForbesWoman:

The ability to communicate effectively and confidently has a dramatic effect on our ability to advance our careers. Yet many of us fall into the trap of using weak language that sabotages our efforts to present ourselves with authority and confidence.

I would just like to say that I may not know as much as some of the communication experts out there, but I feel that women undermine their credibility time and time again by using minimizing language.

This one sentence says it all! By using the words "just", "I feel", and stating that I may not have as much expertise as perhaps other do, I have reduced my credibility to almost zero! How many times have you heard women communicate this way? How many times have you yourself used this type of minimizing language?

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Comments

[french queen13]

07:30 PM on 12/12/2011

Too often, it seems women in work situations who are direct and confident in their speech and presentation are frowned upon - it can be a no-win situation. Not always, of course, and it would depend on the workplace culture, among other things, but we hear enough instances of it. A man will be called assertive and admired for it, and a woman doing the same thing and speaking the same way will be called aggressive or pushy.

[SeeTheFnords]

03:26 PM on 12/11/2011

I completely agree with the author's ideas. However, I must point out that we have to use our powerful speaking abilities in the right environment and in the right context. Sadly, the audience must be taken into account. I have found this out the hard way - by being my usual direct self in an interview with a woman who qualified every single statement she made. She told me after the interview that I would not be having a second interview me because I was too much of a threat to her position.

[Otherday]

05:55 PM on 12/09/2011

How you speak can make all the difference while climbing the ladder of excellence. Remember not to snort.

[probo]

10:11 AM on 12/11/2011

And limit your use of the word _f u c k...