It's the Way You Say It, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 4Becoming Well-Spoken

Being well-spoken sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? It puts us in a certain class of people who appear to be polished and verbally competent, fluent, gracious, and proper. We all want to be well-spoken, because we know that (1) we judge people by the way they speak, and (2) we want to make a good impression.

To be well-spoken is to be articulate, fluent, and courteous.

Articulate means speaking in a way that is well-formed, clear, and sounds like we mean what we say. It also implies an extensive vocabulary that’s appropriate to the situation. The words people use carry information about their intelligence, socioeconomic background, and educational level. The specificity of our vocabulary reveals the distinctions our ...