Are you a professional person living with teens? If so, you need to watch your language.

No, not because you need to be careful what your kids hear. They’ve been hearing from you all their lives, so changing your speech habits now won’t make much difference.

I’m talking about what you pick up from listening to them - words and figures of speech that simply aren’t appropriate in the business world. These are words you wouldn’t intend to use, but when kids pick up slang at school and use it at home, it is very easy for parents to “catch it” and start using it too.

One of the worst habits has been around for quite a while now - it has unfortunately not died out the way some fads do. That one is “like.” It has invaded society to such an extent that you might even hear prominent people using it in televised interviews. And it makes them sound unintelligent every time.

Once several years ago I overheard a Realtor talking with a client on the phone. She was describing a house they should see, and when she got to the living room she said: “It has like a fireplace.”

After she hung up I asked her what that room had that was like a fireplace. She answered that it was a fireplace. I asked why she didn’t say so instead of saying it was something that was like a fireplace. Of course she got mad.

But hey, she was representing my company with that Junior High School language - and that wasn’t the image we needed to project. Thank goodness she hadn’t picked up ALL of her daughter’s language. She didn’t say “I want to like tell you about the like living room because it has this like fireplace.” But some people have picked it up to that degree.

I’ll admit to being paranoid about that one. So much so that if I really mean that something is “like” something else I’ll often change my words to say it “resembles” something else. I’m afraid that with current usage, some people might not understand.

Women especially need to watch out. I don’t know if we pick up our children’s speech habits more easily than men do, but it appears that way. And, since we still have to work a little harder than men do to be respected, we can’t afford to come off sounding like school children.

A second habit that is more common for women than men is sounding unsure. It happens with the voice inflections rather than the words. That is the habit of putting a question mark at the end of a statement. I’ve known several women — and a few men –who do it all the time.

They make a statement such as: “I’ll have that report on your desk in the morning?” or “I’ll expect your decision on Monday?”

The words say one thing, and the voice says another. What should the listener believe?

For women who need to “make it” in the world of business, a very good resource is A Woman’s Guide to the Language of Success, by Phyllis Mindell.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter and former real estate broker who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries.

Her e-book, Getting Clients, is a resource for beginning real estate agents as well as seasoned agents who want to know how to make more money in less time. Read all about it at http://www.marte-cliff.com/career.html

Marte offers a weekly ezine for real estate professionals and others with an interest in marketing themselves or their property. Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to realestatehelp@getresponse.com and you’ll immediately receive a copy of her real estate ad writing report.

Visit her at http://www.marte-cliff.com or contact her at: writer@marte-cliff.com

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