A marketer was explaining how to prepare a presentation for potential clients.

At least, that was what he intended to explain.

What I heard was:

Later, he advised the audience to:

He meant “pitch deck” and “deliver your pitches.”

These pronunciation mistakes completely distracted me from what he was saying.

This illustrates a serious communication problem.

Once listeners hear an unexpected word, especially one like that,

they stop thinking about the speaker’s actual message and the attention goes to the speakers pronunciation instead.

Listeners may be trying not to laugh, wondering whether they heard correctly, or mentally working backward to decipher the intended word.

This can happen when the air release on the P sound is missing or too weak.

This is a rather extreme example.

More often the result is that your listeners just don't catch the word you said.

So really, it's a clarity issue in most cases.

In American English, the sounds P, T, and K require a small burst of air, when they occur at the beginning of a stressed word.

Without that release:

• pitch may sound closer to bitch
• talk may move toward dog
• key may become difficult to distinguish at all

These small sound differences matter during investor presentations, client conversations, technical demonstrations, team meetings, and conference presentations.

Try this

Hold your hand or a thin piece of paper a few inches in front of your mouth and say:

• pitch
• talk
• key

You should feel a puff of air on the palm of your hand.

Or the paper should move slightly as you release the first sound.

You do not need to exaggerate it during normal speech.

The exercise simply helps you feel the air that should accompany the sound.

In my Youtube video, I explain how to pronounce P, T, and K more clearly and show how one missing sound can completely change what listeners hear.

Best,

Nicole

P.S. I recently held a small in person meetup in Bellevue for local professionals and am considering holding the next one in Seattle. If you live in the Seattle area and would be interested in joining us, reply and let me know.