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UM COUNTER / GRAMMARIAN
Serving as Um Counter- Grammarian is a great opportunity for growth as well as a tremendous service to members. Listening closely to others’ speech habits will help you identify your own. It is only through awareness that it is possible to improve.
During the meeting:
- Pay close attention to every introduction, table topic, speech, evaluation, and comment.
- Listen for and tally verbal fillers or crutches, including sounds such as “ah,” “er,’ “um,” and filler words such as “like” or “you know.”
- Listen for and tally grammatical errors, mispronounced words, misused words, incorrect plurals, redundancies, etc.
- Listen for and note words used creatively and phrases that are especially effective.
- Note words or phrases about which you are unsure.
When you are called upon to give your report:
- State the number and nature of verbal fillers uttered by each club member (but not guests). (Example: “Sue -- Three ‘ums’ and one ‘you know.’”)
- Report grammatical errors, mispronounced words, misused words, incorrect plurals, redundancies, etc. and identify speaker when necessary for clarity.
- Mention words used creatively and phrases that are especially effective.
- Comment on words or phrases of which you are unsure and, if time, permits, ask for input
- If the meeting is running late, comment only on the most egregious gaffes (Example: “John said “um” 17 times, everyone else, fewer than 5.)
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