Kinda Sorta going to War on Softspeak
I hate very little. But today I have launched a new war on something I hate a lot. A war on something so despicable it deserves the grizzliest of all deaths. I want to launch a war on softspeak. Sawdust. Diet interjectives like "kinda" and "sorta". What the hell is wrong with us? Why do we all seem to say these? Really strong speakers are saying these things. I sorta want you to notice if you are kinda hearing these things too. Or is it kinda just me?
When people fill their sentences with "kinda" and "sorta" I immediately wonder if they know what they are talking about. Is it just a confidence thing? Then like a timid monkey, I start doing it...unknowingly aping them with this scourge of conversation. I hate it! I hate that I say it too.
There is another one too. "I mean." Oooo I hate that one more than the others despite it being slightly less prevalent.
"I mean, I kinda want to make sure we are sorta giving you what you sorta paid for in the first place. I mean, you know what I mean?"
My war has three parts.
Part one: I want to know if it is truly as pervasive as I think. So I am reaching out to everyone to check the communal pulse on this one. Is it just me?
Part Two: If it is as truly epidemic as I think it is, I want to come up with a strategy to get people to notice it and how ridiculous and destructive it is and sounds, and to take note of its sour consequences.
Part Three: Let's come up with a way to help people regain the courage to talk without filler words like "kinda" and "sorta" and "like" and phrases like "I mean". This will be the hardest part. But I think it will be worth the effort.
So, what do you say, are you with me?
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I am SOOO guilty of this.
@Steven: I'm with ya. I think we need to call these words "foghorns" because they occur in cloudy arguments and warn of flaccid confidence.
@Jody: Verbal Crutch Bingo would be sweet. Someone get Todd C on this stat.
Perhaps an office swear jar is in order? A couple filler phrases I despise are yada yada yada and blah blah blah. Regrettably I caught myself last week using yada yada yada on 3 different occasions. Everytime it came out of my mouth I shook my head in shame.
Yeah, I like sort of totally understand what you're saying. I mean, I think I've noticed stuff like that kind of happening in presentations. (How do you "sort of" come up with an idea? Or how do you "kind of" think your recommendation will work?) Must be a confidence issue. Or lack of salesmanship, you know? Time to whip out the "Verbal Crutch Bingo Cards!" Kind of.
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