Happy 2018 – Day 294 – The Seven Deadly Sins of Speaking: Are you guilty?

Words matter.

They have a direct impact on how we feel and how others feel and react to us.

Yet, how many of us really pay attention to the words that we use each day? How many of us regularly feel that we aren’t really heard, or understood, or appreciated? How many people do we hear, that we actually find rather difficult to listen to?

According to sound and communication expert, and 5-time TED speaker, Julian Treasure, there are the 7 Deadly Sins of Speaking.

Click the video below or see my breakdown of the sins underneath to find out if you’ve been offending ears all along, without even knowing.

Are you guilty of these speaking sins?

1. Gossiping: As seductive as gossip can be, when you hear someone slate a person who isn’t there, you can’t help but wonder if they’d say the same about you.
2. Judging & Condemning: Listening to someone’s loaded comments in judgement of another breeds mistrust and dislike in the person passing judgement, not the person being judged.
3. Negativity: Urghhh. Being around someone who always sees the worst in every situation is just straight up miserable.
4. Complaining: Although it’s a British pastime, constant complaining is basically the opposite to practising Gratitude; it’s misery-spreading.
5.  Excuses: Hearing someone repeatedly avoid taking responsibility for their own actions and choices is frustrating to say the least. When they blame others, it’s even worse.
6. Lying: Whether it’s exaggeration, embellishment or outright lies, no one is interested in listening to someone who doesn’t tell the truth.
7. Dogmatism: When somebody confuses opinions with facts, it creates an oppressive style of speaking that isn’t pleasant to hear.

Understanding what not to do or rather say, is a key step towards more effective social interactions, personally and professionally, resulting in better speaking, listening and feeling for you and those around you.

So ask yourself now: Where am I guilty of these speaking sins? How could I start to make a change, one word at a time?