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Public Speakers! Check Out These Most-Mispronounced Words and Avoid Pronunciation Gaffes.

Public Speakers! Check Out These Most-Mispronounced Words.

Yes, it's a living language--English is--but there still remain words whose correct pronunciation has yet to catch up with their mis-pronunciation! In addition to giving you the right pronunciation, I'll throw in a simple rule or two so you can figure out others on your own and not be afraid of embarrassing yourself with Pronunciation Gaffes.

(As a therapist for thirty-some years, I hate to do this to you--use the "should" word, but I gotta do it here.)

A Rule: When you have two "c's" together, the first C is pronounced like a K, the second like an S.

ACCEDE should be ak-SEED

ACCELERATE should be ak-SELL-uhr-ate

ACCESSIBLE should be ak-SESS-i-buhl

ACCESSORY should be ak-SESS-or-ee

ECCENTRIC should be ek-SEN-trik

FLACCID should be FLAK-sid

Only when there are double S's are they pronounced with only the S sound. i.e. as-SESS.

Middle Eastern countries are very much in the news these days, and it's nice to pronounce a person's country correctly. In the case of IRAQ and IRAN the I's are not pronounced "eye", but a short i, as in BIT. If you want to get fancy, it sounds both pretty and authentic if you can flip the R.

The A's are broad:

Iraq is not "eye rack" It is "i-ROCK";

Iran is not "eye ran". It is "i-RON".

Here are a few of the words I'm hearing commonly mispronounced:

CANDIDATE is CAN-di-date (Pronounce both D's)

ECHELON is ESH-e-lon

ETC. (etcetera) is eht-SEH-ter-a (No K sound)

NUCLEAR is NOO-klee-uhr

PATHOS is PAY-thohs (not pay-thahs)

PLETHORA is PLETH-or-a

VULNERABLE is VUL-ner-a-buhl (Sound the first L.)

SCHISM is SIZ-em

I hope this little foray to the dictionary will give you the confidence to use these very nice words with the security that you're saying them correctly.

About the Author

Carole McMichaels, Speaker, Coach, Author: "Fearless Public Speaking: How to Get Rid of Your Stage Fright and Prepare and Deliver a Winning Presentation", invites you to join her free newsletter, Fearless public Speaking & Performance". You may also get your free report, "7 Valuable Tips on Writing a Mind-Gripping Speech". http://www.getridofpublicspeakingfears.com

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