The other way round

mikebird

Banned
I had an important chat on the phone with a recruiter on my heels to force me into a job; something I'm very used to - it's all sales force.

It was all blurb about what I had to do at interview, asking me questions...

One thing I noted was that this Mancusian bloke had a kind of speech problem which I really hate, even on TV and politicians, where I thought that presentation was supposed to be all polished and perfect.

This bloke spoke with about a second's pause between every word, and 'uh...' or 'umm..' in between and the usual '..you know...'. I see this as an incapability to form a sentence in your mind. The things I never say are those above. Occasionally I pause for about 0.25 of a second as I think, and then meaningful words come out.

No thoughts of SA with this bloke - can't really assume that. What I manage to do was put up with him. By default, I usually give an outright 'Look - you're wasting my time! **** OFF!!' and hang up. This time, I was in the mood to bear with him. His purpose was to get me on-side, and follow his instructions at interview, which I don't need. I play along, because it would otherwise deplete my chances.

We went on for 30 minutes, waiting for him to come up with a word... 80% of the conversation (I said nothing) really was 'uuhhhhhhh......' I've never encountered this. I sometimes get an entire paragraph spoken, with several sentences in there, with sometimes an 'ummmmmmm..' for time to think.

I think this was why I kept listening, because it was a serious fact that I heard 'ummmmmmmm... yeah... ummmmmmmmm... right...... uhhhhhh. so... uhhhh... ummmmmm... the...... ummm.. person......'

Each bit between the dots took a good 5 seconds. I am not joking. Recruiters really are very basic and are a huge challenge for me. I am on a perfect level with doctors, lawyers, and anyone with any interest in Latin or Ancient Greek...

If I had conducted the phone call above, I would have said: "Hey, thanks for calling, mate. I'll give you a call on Monday afternoon"
 
B

Beatrice

Guest
Hahahahaha. Oh god, I can't help but notice this when people are giving presentations. Though unfortunately I think I do it too, but this post has inspired me to be more conscious of it and stop altogether.

When someone is presenting in front of a group (especially inexperienced college students), I can't help but notice the number of "ummmm's" and "like's", because they say it SO MANY TIMES. One girl the other day... I swear her whole presentation was "So and so did this and ummmmm, blah blah blah blah, uhhhhhhh, blah blah blah, like, blah blah, like, you know like, uhhhhhhhhh......"

Drives me insane and it truly makes me feel the whole presentation is much less professional. Delivery is everything.
 
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