Six Sloppy Speech Habits by Diane Diresta

You may look good on paper or in your suit, but if you're looking to nail your big interview, looks aren't everything. How you sound is often more important. But many job seekers let careless speech habits sink their chances of landing that plum job.
Here are six common language mistakes and how to keep them from sabotaging your interview:
1. Non-words
Filler words such as "um," "ah," "you know," "OK" or "like" tell the interviewer you're not prepared and make you sound like a Valley Girl (or Boy). A better strategy is to think before you speak, taking pauses and breaths when you lose your train of thought. Everybody utters an occasional "um," but don't let it start every sentence.
2. "Up-Talk"
A singsong or rising inflection at the end of every sentence creates a tentative impression and makes it sound as though you're asking a question instead of making a definitive statement. You need to speak with conviction when selling yourself in an interview. Bring your intonation down when ending a sentence to avoid talking up.
3. Grammatical Errors
The interviewer may question your education when you use incorrect grammar or slang. Expressions such as "ain't" "she don't," "me and my friend" and "so I goes to him" aren't appropriate. Be sure you speak in complete sentences and that tenses agree. The interview is not the venue for regional expressions or informality.
4. Sloppy Speech
Slurring words together or dropping their endings impairs the clarity of your message. To avoid slurring and increase understanding, speak slowly during an interview. Make a list of commonly mispronounced words, and practice saying them into a tape recorder before the interview. Some common incorrect pronunciations include "aks" for "ask," "ath a lete" for "athlete," "wif" for "with" and "dree" for "three."
5. Speed Talking
While everybody is a bit anxious during an interview, you don't want your information to fly by like a speeding bullet. A rapid speaking rate is difficult to follow, and speed talkers are seen as nervous. Slow down your racing heart by doing some breathing exercises before the interview. To avoid rushing, listen to the question, and then count two beats in your head before answering. When you finish a sentence, count two beats again before continuing. Don't be afraid of silence. Pausing is an effective communication technique. The interviewer needs a few seconds to process what you just said anyway.
6. Weak Speak
Wimpy words modify or water down your conviction and in the end your position. When you pepper a conversation with "hopefully," "perhaps," "I feel," "kind of" and "sort of," the message you convey is a lack of confidence. Use power words such as "I'm confident that," "my track record shows," "I take the position that," "I recommend" or "my goal is." The language you use gives the listener an impression about your level of confidence and conviction.
The Bottom Line
You don't have to study elocution to speak well. Simply slow down, take time to pronounce all the syllables, and leave slang at home.
Companies want job candidates who are well-spoken and articulate, and recruiters won't represent a job candidate if they don't match the client's profile. According to Lori Zelman, vice president of human resources at Strategic Workforce Solutions in New York City, "The people most highly sought after are the ones who are succinct in the explanation of their work experience."
[Diane DiResta is the author of the public-speaking best-seller, Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message With Power, Punch, and Pizzazz, and the president of DiResta Communications Inc., a New York speech coaching and training firm.]

Using p2p softwares

Perhaps the best way to download almost everthing you want is using p2p softwares. P2P is short for peer-to-peer software. In this kind of technology the users act as servers. It effectively means downloading from a person's desktop.
For the help of people interested in p2p, I have listed down a few softwares.
The most commonly used p2p softwares are mirc, torrents and limewire.
Let me start with the simplest which is Limewire. This one has a very good interface and an effective search engine. The biggest disadvantage is that it brings in hordes of virus and trojan. The other disadvantage is that you can never know what you are downloading unless you have downloaded the whole thing to your hard disk. It may sometime happen that a bollywood blockbuster can turn out to be a C grade porn movie. Therefore I would not recommend users to use this option unless they are utterly flabbergasted with my other two options
The second option is using mtorrent. Its a tiny software which wont use any disk space. Torrent files can be downloaded from torrents.to. Just keep in mind that the file you download has more seeders than leechers. Seeders are those who are giving that file while leechers are those who are taking it. You may very well understand that if you use a torrent file with less seders than it will months to download. Save the torrent file (a very small file around 30-40 kb) into your hard disk. Now using mtorrent open the saved torrent file and start downloading. The only trick lies in selecting the correct torrent file. People who have limited broadband connection are not advised to use this as seeding will also take place when you download. Suppose you download a software of 10 mb, you will see that a data transfer of around 20mb has taken place.
The third option and perhaps the best and fastest way to p2p is using mirc. It negates all the disadvantages exhibited by the above two softwares. The only thing which does not work in favour of mirc is that it is a tad complex. People who can understand this can download anything with mirc. Let me explain you the working of this complex but dependable technique. Mirc has lots of channels which are like chat-rooms of any chatting software, say yahoo. People are logged on to these channels and display whatever they have on their computers. Depending on your choice you can go to a particular channel. The difficulty lies in finding the best channel out of hundreds of them available for your needs. After you log on to a channel, you may be asked to become a member of that channel to be able to download anything. The command or the process to become a member is given in that channel. You just need to wait for that command. For more information you can always search for mirc on the net and use it.
So happy downloading. Let me know if you face any issues.

The Surprise

The crowing and cacophony of the village heralded the dawn of a new morning. Lala Pulakchand woke to these sounds everyday but this was no ordinary day. It was his 60th birthday. Didn't Ramesh tell him he would give his dad a surprise on his 60th birthday? With these thoughts he got up from his rickety bed, performed his ablutions and sat down for his morning prayers. His mind wandered back to a hazy past when his mother used to wake him up early on this day, made him take a bath so early, and made him sit down for prayers. How quickly has time travelled? He got married, had children and opened a small shop in the village which sold sweets. Meanwhile, his not so beautiful wife had left him for her heavenly aboard. His son had gone to the city for God knows what? He said his future will be ruined here. So many thoughts were crossing his mind that he was not able to concentrate on the prayers.
After finishing his prayers he lied down on his bed. It had become as old and frail as him. His eyes stared fixedly at a hole on the roof from where a tiny ray of light came directly on his face. He was thinking of fixing it for long time but old age and lack of help had made him postpone it again and again. It was summer and the rains wont be coming in soon. He can ask his son, no not his son, he is a respectable man now. He wont like to fix these tiny issues. Perhaps Ramlal's son can help him in lieu of some sweets.
It was almost time to open his shop to cater to the breakfast of farmers going to their fields and children going to school. He did not feel like getting up. He can take the luxury of sleeping a bit more. After all it was his birthday. Suddenly a huge thundercloud sounded which made old Pulakchand shudder. His heart beat faster. In his heydays, he always used to enjoy these rains. With friends he used to play in the muddy water not heeding to yell of his mother. He didn't know what had happened to him. He felt afraid often.
A small drop of water fell on his face. He enjoyed the cool drop as it was a hot summer day. "This wont go on for long", he told himself. Hadn't he passed each day of the 60 years here to know how weather changed. The small drops soon changed to a steady stream and wet the old man's shirt. Pulakchand got up and tried pushing his bed away from the place but his feeble arms could not as much as push an inch. He hobbled to the door in the hope of finding someone to help him. As soon as he opened the door, the cold wind came in with all its fury bringing along with it a dash of rainwater. It wet the Pulakchand's dhoti and made his teeth chatter. He quickly closed the door and went to the window. He peered through the sheet of water expecting Ramlal's son playing in his backyard but there was no one.
Resigning to his fate he began to walk back to his bed but found that it was dripping wet. He cursed his luck. At least he should have removed his bedsheet and pillow. He quickly changed his wet shirt and lied down on the floor. It was so chilly. Ramesh would be coming soon, he thought. He should have come by now. Maybe the rain is holding him back. Counting each passing minute, thinking of all the good and bad times he had had, Pulakchand waited for his son and his surprise to come.
The cacophony of the birds arrived once more. They were now going back to their homes after a hard day. "Baba, baba, open the door baba", a young man shouted outside the old run down house of the village sweet seller. "I am sorry baba. I know I am a little late but I have got a surprise for you. He was holding a little girl in his arms, his little girl, his darling daughter who he had bought for the first time for his father to see. He felt sorry that he had not told his father of the birth of his grand-daughter. He wanted to bring him a surprise after all.
Sensing something was amiss, he handed his daughter to his wife and gave a huge heave to the door. The door creaked but did not open. Ramesh went back a foot and pushed the door with all his might. With a great noise the door swung back. A piercing shriek rent the air. Sprawled on the floor lay old Pulakchand, the village sweet seller.