What are those words that senior managers have real problems pronouncing?
Today I'm going to go through three that I have cherry -picked for you to help you build your confidence using these words.
Let's crack on. Hello and welcome to Confident Business English.
I'm Anna, your host and neuro -language coach.
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you're going to get the extra full transcripts my weekly newsletter the nutshell and lots of extra bits and bobs as well link to sign up in the description box for this episode so the inspiration for this episode actually comes from the confident business english members i asked you guys what episode
you wanted next and over 70 of you wanted to hear about some the key mistakes that i hear on a daily basis i think that's a pretty clear mandate so you asked and I'm going to deliver.
When I was thinking about what to touch on today I was like I'm going to go into pronunciation because this is something that I don't touch on often on the podcast and if you like this episode we can perhaps do an open -ended series on it but it's really one of the areas where I see senior managers lack
a lot of confidence and maybe you're listening to this and you're like yes I absolutely fit into that category.
It can really make a big difference if you work on a word until you know that it's right.
You just feel so much better about using it.
You will actually use it rather than just avoiding it, which is often what people do.
It's what I do in Spanish if there's a word that I don't like to pronounce or don't know if I'm pronouncing it very well.
Just a little bit of work can have a big difference in how secure you feel when you're speaking.
Let's go through these words that I've picked for you then.
I'm going to give you an explanation, some tips, and then you can practice out loud with me.
Here's the first one then.
I had a client just yesterday actually, and they were giving a presentation about 2025, all the initiatives that they were doing.
And they were talking about the team and giving praise to the team.
And then they said, you know, Anna, I've always got this doubt in my head about this word.
Is it expertise or expertise?
This is a really good question and this word comes up a lot actually.
The unfortunate thing here is that this word is a little bit of an exception because you see the ISE ending and you think oh job done it sounds like prioritize so it should be expertise.
Makes perfect sense to come to that conclusion however we in fact to pronounce the ending like teas.
Almost imagine it as a cup of tea.
That's the way that I like to give my clients an association to the correct sound.
So unfortunately, instead of following the pattern like advise, realize and prioritize, this one's out on its own a little bit there.
It's on an island. Expertise.
If it helps you remember and get the sound right, think about a cup of tea.
Here's a couple of sentences to practice.
Our team has a lot of expertise.
Our expertise sets us apart.
What is your expertise?
Next on the list is a beautiful meaningful business adjective.
But I think it has a really low usage because people are scared of pronouncing it or worried that they're not doing it right.
And that is the word in -depth.
So what does in -depth mean?
Just means something detailed.
You've probably come across it before.
Maybe you already use it.
The most common mistake I see is that people say in -deep, but it's in -depth.
Here's a little trick to try and get it right.
I want you to think about Johnny Depp.
Pirates of the Caribbean.
So take the depp from Johnny Depp and put a th at the end.
In -depth. In -depth.
We did an in -depth analysis.
Just a fancy way of saying we did a detailed analysis.
Now you also might see this combination which is in more depth.
I would like to have a look at this in more depth.
Same sound, Johnny Depp with a th at the end, depth.
Let's have a look at some sentences.
I want you to repeat them out loud and practice.
Could you go into more depth please?
We did an in -depth analysis.
I would like to look at this in more depth.
Last but not least, the final one I put on the list today is a word that comes up a lot in the recruitment process.
Actually, I don't know if you've ever been thinking about going for another job and you read the job description.
and maybe it says something like we need somebody who can build rapport quickly in the team or maybe with clients.
Rapport is that close harmonious feeling that good feeling you generate with people good vibes basically and if you're able to build rapport with people you can create those good relationships quickly.
Maybe you're hearing that word rapport and you're thinking, what is that?
It's spelt R -A -P -P -O -R -T.
Now maybe if you saw that word, you might have said what a lot of people do and say report, which of course sounds like report as in a document, which is where the confusion can come in.
Rapport is in fact a French word and some French words that have a T at the end in English are silent.
So instead of saying report, we say rapport.
Here's another one, buffet, not in fact buffet.
Here's another one, duvet.
Duvet is what you use on bed.
I don't know what I'm saying there.
Duvet is what you use to cover yourself in bed.
Why is it so hard to describe what a duvet is it's the best thing ever a duvet keeps you warm it's comfy it's spelt d -u -v -e -t but it's not duvet it's duvet and in fact i'm bringing this up because you might think why on earth are you talking about duvet on a business english podcast because actually
a lot of companies now have something called a duvet day which is essentially where you can have one day off of your choosing where you want to be in bed or be lazy or whatever.
If you do have a duvet day, please let me know how does it, how does it work?
Let's go back and have a look at that word rapport then.
And here's some sentences for you to practice.
It's really important to be able to build rapport.
Building rapport is an important part of business.
We need somebody who is able to build rapport quickly.
I think a final comment I'd just like to leave you with there.
We looked at specific words today, right?
Expertise, in -depth, and rapport.
Also, another really good thing that's going to help you with your pronunciation is slowing down.
If you speak very quickly like this, and then you've kind of got all these words together, it's very easy to trip over your...
You know what I mean, right?
That feeling where you're tripping over your words.
One of the best things you can do for pronunciation is just slowing down a little bit.
Gives you a little bit more time, and you're a little bit more in control.
Thanks as always for squeezing me into a very busy day.
I hope you enjoyed your session with me.
Don't forget to sign up and become a free member if you want extra bonus content.
And I look forward to seeing you again next week.
Bye bye.
