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“So, do you need to erase . . . ‘So’?”

 In Delivery, The Winning Voice

Have you noticed the plague that’s infecting the speaking of . . . well, just about everyone?

It’s the plague of ‘So’.

That is, you’ll often hear: yourself, family, friends, colleagues, clients, journalists, politicians, business people, artists etc. start speaking with the starter word ‘So’.

It’s as if people are rejoining an endless conversation ‘…….. so, I just . . . ‘

Even the host and excellent interviewer, Terry Gross, of the popular podcast Fresh Air  often prefaces questions to her guests with, ‘So’.

There are apps to help you excise the ‘So’ starter word. One I recommend to my clients is, LikeSo

In addition to using the LikeSo app,

Here are other suggestions to remove ‘So’.

Everyday for just one speaking ‘event’ per day, deliberately aim to omit ‘So’. Trial this task for five to seven days (keep a record of each day’s completed task) and then reflect on how it’s worked on reducing ‘So’ usage. If it has worked, continue the task until you’ve removed ‘So’.

Another way you can monitor your ‘So’ usage is this. At the end of your business day make an educated guess on how many times you used ‘So’ as a starter word, and write down the number. (Awareness is the first step in changing behaviour). Do this task for five to seven days and then reflect if it’s worked in reducing ‘So’ usage. Again, if it has, continue the task until you’re not hearing yourself say ‘So’.

I welcome your feedback on the suggestions and on your use of the LikeSo app. Thanks.

p.s. You might want to trial my Confident Personal Communication video learning programme because it will give you practical techniques to ‘Own the Conversation’.

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