Please Stop Using This Word, ASAP
Please Stop Using This Word, ASAP
Call us old fashioned. Call us the children of public school english teachers. (We are, and proudly so.)
Call us just cranky if you wish, but allow us this small rant (especially after watching a lot of live local news coverage over the past weekend.)
For the love of all that is holy, please stop saying the word “yeah” on television.
Yes, everyone knows it is the less formal way of saying the word “yes”. But it is just so informal it sounds out of place to many ears. It expresses a certain casualness that some people will associate with just sounding as lazy as the proto-valley-girl saying “Yeahhh, for surrrrre.”
OK, maybe that’s overstating it. But only a little. See also, “yea” (except when talking about voting), “yep” and for certain parts of the upper midwest, “you betcha.” Unless you are at a state fair.
If you mean “yes” then try saying that. If you are starting a live shot and doing the head nod as the anchor is introducing you, perhaps substitute “that’s right, (anchor name)” when you begin. That approach has the added benefit of showing that you were listening to the person speaking before you.
The folks at Strategic Leader Coaching have a really good article about why “Yes” is preferable to “Yeah” in business. One line jumps out from it as the best reason we can give you for dumping “yeah” from your on-air vocabulary:
“Yes” is like water, when very hot or very cold, it is useful and powerful. “Yeah” is the lukewarm of water, and nobody wants tepid water.
Amen, don’t be tepid on TV. Speak with a bit more formality and you will be taken more seriously.