The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why Petra Formanová Daniela Jiroutová Petra Kliková Kateřina Lípová Matěj Mareš

Linguistic Style Talking is characterised by: Certain tone of voice Certain rate of speed Certain degree of loudness Features of talking include: Directness or indirectness Pacing and pausing Word choice Use of jokes, figures of speech, stories, questions and apologies In other words, linguistic style is a set of culturally learned signals by which we not only communicate what we mean but also interpret other´s meaning and evaluate one another as people.

The Role of self-confidence Judgment about confidence is based on how people present themselves when talking The way we talk and listen is influenced by cultural experience Women have often learned different styles of speaking than men Poslední věta (na kterou bude pak navazovat další slide  What´s „natural“ for most men speaking a given language is, in some cases, different from what´s „natural“ for most women.

Girls vs. Boys Girls tend to learn conversational rituals that focus on the rapport dimension of relationships whereas boys tend to learn rituals that focus on the status dimension.

Girls Girls tend to play with a single best friend or in small groups, and they spend a lot of time talking They use language to negotiate how close they are A group of girls will ostractize a girl who calls attention to her own superiority and criticize her E.g. A girl who tells everyone what to do is called „bossy“ Poznamka k 2: The girl you tell your secrets to becomes your best friend.

Boys Usually play in larger groups in which more boys can be included, but not everyone is treated equally Boys with high status in their group are usually seen as the leaders They learn to use language to negotiate their status in the group by displaying their abilities and knowledge, and by challenging others and resisting challenges

Getting Credit Even such a small thing as choice of pronoun can decide on who gets the credit (Me x I) Man tend to use „I“ when talking about what they have done, whereas woman usually say „we“ eventhough they have done it by themselves Credit is automatically given to the person using „I“

Confidence and Boasting Confidence is judged by an individual´s behavior, especially verbal behavior Woman again are at a disadvantage They uderestimate themselves in public so as not to seem boastful, eventhough they know that they are just as good as man These habits result from from the socialization of boys and girls by their peers in childhood play

Asking Questions Asking the right questions is one of the hallmarks of a good manager how and when questions are asked can send unintended signals about competence and power Along with cultural influences and individual personality, gender seems to play a role in whether and when people ask questions E.g. Asking for directions while driving – men seem less likely to ask than women But asking too many questions can make a person look like a fool

Conversational Rituals Conversation is fundamentally ritual in the sense that we speak in ways our culture has conventionalized and expect certain types of responses E.g. „How are you?“ is obviously a ritualized way to start conversation rather than a request for information

Apologies Women tend to say I´m sorry more frequently than men, and often they intend it in this way - as a ritualized means of expressing concern Ritual apologies like other conversational rituals - work well when both parties share the same assumptions about their use

Feedback Styles of giving feedback contain a ritual element that often causes misunderstanding

Compliments Common ritual to exchange compliments Women More often done between women (kind of automatic recognition, not expecting a critique) x fewer men are likely to ask because it can lead to an unwanted critique Men Men looking for an opportunity to put others down and take the one-up position for themselves (women in contrast – self-degradation - but expecting sb. to pull them back up)

Ritual Opposition Rituals like apologizing, miting criticism with praise and exchanging compliments that are taken literally Ritual fight – an exploration through verbal communication, finding own weaknesses and testing ideas (one moment collegues shouting to each other, a while after best friends), → ritual opposition as a tool for expressing potential and strenghts (sometimes used by companies as a confontational interviewing technique)

Negotiating Authority Formal authority coming from position Actual authority has to be negotiated day to day (reinforcing or undercutting an effort) Indirectness Tendency to say what we mean without spelling it out Can couse enomorous misunderstanding 2nd in command are more likely to express themselves indirectly INDIRECTNESS Tendency to say what we mean without spelling it out: It s a fundamenal and prevasive element in human communicatio It can cause enomorous missunderstanding It deepends on the habits anfd expectations WOMEN: telling others what to do MEN: push around the on-down possition

Negotiating Authority Managing Up and Down Women do a great job is not the only one necessary to do for rewarding and authority women as bosses are more concerned about the other‘s feelings – downplaying rather then flaunting their superiority) Men People have to promote themselves (men) Communication, conversation with the boss

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