If you are not using these 10 words and phrases regularly,
then you might not be as elegant as you think.
Now in today's video,
I'm going to go through those words or phrases that you should be saying if you
want to sound like an elegant woman, rather than like an awkward woman.
My dear elegant ladies, welcome back to a new video.
Ladies, I need to be honest with you because there are two things that
I have really struggled in my own personal upgrade as I've been doing this journey to
remove some of my bad habits and improve myself,
and become more also elegant as a result. Now,
two of those things that I've really struggled are posture and speech. Now,
I've spoken about posture before in previous videos,
but today I want to talk a little bit about speech.
So because I am not a native English speaker,
I do speak sometimes with bad grammar.
I don't always know how to pronounce things correctly,
and I don't always know the right words to use in certain
circumstances, but I am trying to do the best I can. However,
I have been working a lot on trying to improve my speech.
I have taking speech coaching lessons,
and today's video is actually all about the things that I have learned while
taking this coaching. So I'm hoping that this is going to help you.
I am not an expert on the subject at all,
but I do want to share some of the bits and pieces that I have learned,
because I know that it's going to be of use for you. But before we begin,
I want to remind you to subscribe to my channel so that you don't miss any
videos that I release every Sunday.
Now, let's start with elegant phrase rule number one.
Let's talk about alcoholic beverages, such as Prosecco and champagne,
and you know that they should always be called Prosecco or champagne?
You should not be using phrases like, oh,
I would like to have a glass of bubbly please. Okay.
I don't know why I said it like that,
but an elegant lady would never refer to a fine alcoholic
beverage with those terms. Instead,
she would call it by its proper name. So let's say you are drinking Prosecco,
you say Prosecco, or if you drink your champagne, you say champagne.
So we don't really want to add all kinds of different nicknames here. Plus,
there's also other words like booze or fizzy that we should avoid
calling alcoholic beverages, because it just sounds so much more refined. Now,
point number two that I've learned,
and that is to avoid abbreviations because speaking of nicknames,
it doesn't sound as elevated,
when you, as an example,
say PJ's instead of pajamas or uni instead of university.
But I want you to be aware that it's not an elegance crime that you commit if
you use abbreviations, not at all. Just try to say,
let's say, invitation instead of invite as an example,
but you're going to notice how your speech will simply sound so much more
elevated when you use the full sentences or full names,
instead of shortening them. So this is more of a tip than a rule.
Number three is to say terribly, instead of very,
and now this is an advice that I really need to listen up myself,
because this is actually one of my worst habits in speech and I still haven't
fixed this. It's when you overuse very, you say very, very bad, very,
very here, very, very there, you know.
And I say that so much and pretty much in every sense almost so
not good, but I am trying to reduce it.
And one of the advice that I've received is to say terribly, instead.
Example,
instead of saying that the restaurant was very full last night,
it sounds better when you say it was terribly full last night. But mind you,
ladies, it can sound a little bit repetitive if you keep
using terribly in every sentence. So you need to really mix this up.
So just make sure you start reducing very from your vocabulary and add a
little bit more terribly. Oh, by the way,
if you want to work more closely with me, you visit
www.AnnaBey.com
because there,
you will get more information about my coaching program,
but you're also going to find out more information about my current free
workshop called,
10 Brutal Mistakes That Show You're Not Elegant and how to fix these mistakes.
Ladies, this workshop is absolutely free and soon,
it's about to disappear.
So make sure you visit
www.10EleganceMistakes.com
to sign up for this free workshop.
You can also visit
www.AnnaBey.com
See you there.
Point number four is instead of saying, can I have this,
can I have that? You can say,
may I have?
Ladies, if any of you are familiar with formal writing and speaking practices,
then you'll know how may I is the right way to ask permission for
something. Can I is definitely commonly used,
but it actually technically makes more sense to say, may.
It also sounds a little bit more polite too. Number five,
ladies, stop saying, pardon me,
especially if you're saying it,
because you think that this is going to make you sound more posh. Now,
it is actually a common misconception that pardon me
is a proper way of excusing
yourself and that it's also posh and polite.
Well, I thought so too for years,
but I've actually learned that in upper class circles,
it's actually viewed as something quite basic and unsophisticated.
So a proper and more correct way is to simply say, excuse me.
Number six. Some other words that I have learned that most of us keep overusing.
Those words are totally and completely,
these words can be replaced in your vocabulary by using instead the
word quite. As an example,
instead of saying it's totally hot outside, it sounds better when you say,
it's quite hot outside.
Number seven is to add rather to your vocabulary. Example,
it was a rather lovely day,
instead of saying it was a really lovely day and we can
use rather as a word when we really want to emphasize on something a in an
elegant way, because it does sound a little bit more posh this way.
Number eight. Ladies,
do you go to the toilet or the loo for my British ladies?
Or do you visit the lavatory? As I've learned in my speech coaching,
toilet is considered a lower level speech and the word itself has
been historically incorrect.
As toilet or a toilet was used before to refer to a person's
makeup, hence toiletry bags or the Eu de Toilet.
Another variation could be to say bathroom,
but the word would then describe a room with a bath,
which is oftentimes not the case. For this reason,
lavatory is the correct word to use,
but I actually personally don't even think it's necessary to always give
a description of where you're going.
I would say sometimes only, excuse me,
if I leave for the lavatory or let's say, I say, excuse me,
I'm going to the ladies or the powder room. I just find that sometimes,
lavatory can in some circumstances, feel a little bit like TMI,
too much information.
Number nine. Hello ladies,
doesn't that sound better than, hey ladies or hi ladies.
But there's nothing wrong with saying, hey or hi,
but you need to really be aware of that it's actually an informal way of
greeting someone versus hello.
Hello is simply more formal.
So you need to think about who it is that you are saying hello to. As you know,
the rule of etiquette is that you adapt depending on situation and environment
that you're in because rules, they change. For this reason,
with close friends, you can say, hi can say, hey,
you can say even What's up if you want.
But I believe it's better that you get used to always use the formal greeting
with people that you are not so familiar with,
or maybe you don't even know them, rather than using more intimate words.
Number 10.
Last but not least to spice up a vocabulary to sound a little bit more refined,
one of the tip is to say how, and then
as an example. You basically say how lovely,
how charming,
how wonderful than just saying nice or cute or fun.
It might sound a little bit old fashioned, but ladies,
it is going to elevate your everyday language. In my next video,
five things you should never, never, never,
never say to rich people,
I will give you tips of things you should avoid saying if you're going to mingle
with the upper circles of society. Because you know,
they have their own rules and rituals,
and I don't want you to make mistakes in that community. Ladies,
I will see you in that video.