Conversational Habits and Mannerisms

Conversational Habits and Mannerisms
1. Laughter
A good hearty laugh is always welcome but it should be
under control at all times. A person with a sharp or shriU
laugh, which conjures images of a horse snorting, a donkey
braying, or a bird shrieking, should be controlled. While
forced laughter sounds very artificial, loud thunderous
guffaws, which fill the entire room disrupting others'
conversations, also need to be reined in.

2. Actions
Scratching of the head (or other parts of the body), nose
tooth picking, clearing the throat, yawning, snifflin
coughing, chewing gum, spitting, blowing the nose loudl:
(and then examining the contents in the handkerchief)
all of these are disgusting or very irritating to others.

3. Other Noises
you should never play tunes with the cutlery and crockery,
r drum your fingers on a table, (still less, you should pound
a n a table). Do not belch, break wind, crack your knuckles,
:hist1e, sing or hum in public. Most of these actions or noises
are habitual. We are often not conscious that we are doing
them, or at least not conscious of the frequency with which
we do them. If we get the hint that we indulge in anyone
or some of these habits, needless to say that we should
immediately take the necessary means to weed them out.

Some Common Don'ts
(a) Avoid topics of ethnic jokes, religion, politics,
personal philosophy, spouse, diet, health, or doling
out advice when not asked. Do not ask about the
age or wage of others.
(b) Never talk in a regional language that cuts off other
people who don't know the vernacular. Speak a
common language which is understood by all, or
else take pains to translate to the person who doesn't
understand the language you spoke.
(c) When speaking to a person in authority, do not fish
for information about your colleagues or
subordinates. Do not ask questions about matters
or policies that are confidential.
(d) If you know a person has been in trouble of one kind
or another do not speak about that person in public
which may cause embarrassment to others because
of the subject.

Practice Makes Perfect

Merely reading this chapter will not improve your
c onversation skills. Self-improvement will come only from
S onest self-criticism and deliberate practice in improvement.
so , choose an important conversation that you had
esterday, or today, and take an inventory. You are your

teacher, so be honest and self-critical. Here's the check list
Did you talk on subjects that interested others?
Did you do most of the talking, or did you pass the
conversation on to others?
Did you talk too much about yourself?
Did you gossip?
When you passed the conversation to others, did You
make it easy for them to pick it up? Or did you try to
be clever and put them in a spot?
How often did you interrupt?
How many times did you try to argue?
Did you side-step disputes when others tried to argue
Were you sincere?
Did you listen when others talked?
Did you encourage timid persons to talk?
Did you avoid asking embarrassing personal quest
or making personal remarks?
Did others seem interested when you talked?
Did you help to create an atmosphere for g
conversation?
How often did you express your appreciation for
good ideas shared?
Speech Drills: The Vowels

The moment we open our mouths to speak, our words
and voice tell others who we are and what we are.
Many of us have never spared a thought to think of how
we really sound when talking to others. Our speech may
sound nasal, hoarse, breathless, thin, feeble, shrill, or harsh,
while our words may sound, clipped, fractured, clenched,
jaded, or monotonous. How many of us really care about