THAT H-FACTOR

The ability to communicate with confidence and in a good manner cannot be over-emphasised. 

Your confidence is even boosted when the person/people you are engaged in a conversation with are not laughing at you because of how you speak but are paying rapt attention to what you are saying. Today on Medic-Monday, we look at ‘that h-factor’.

H-factor is said to occur in English language when the speaker puts that ‘h-sound’ in words that do not have the sound and removes the ‘h-sound’ from words that do have the sound. This factor should stop being seen as something common to a few select tribes in Nigeria but as something that would definitely occur in anyone taught by teachers who already have the h-factor in them.

Speaking with h-factor is actually not a deliberate act as the person speaking is even unaware of the flaws in his/her speech pattern. There are few instances where a person deliberately speaks with the h-factor but this comes with the intention of passing a funny message across to an audience. The person must be able to switch back to the normal speech pattern when the need be.

For those of you who may not understand what I am trying to pass across, let us checkout some examples:

Normal Speech – Good evening

1 with H-factor – Good hevening

Normal Speech – Church

1 with H-factor – Shursh

Normal Speech – How are you doing today?

1 with H-factor – ow hare you doing today?

All through my days growing up, even to my days in the University, I mixed with the awesome, the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of speaking ability and I grew from the bottom to what you can term the top (or the ‘near-top’ as we still learn everyday), so I am here to make everyone understand that you can beat this h-factor.

Steps in defeating H-factor

1. A close friend or family member has to bring this flaw to your notice or if you have friends who speak well, you would see your flaws in the way the same words are pronounced differently by both of you.

2. Becoming aware of your flaws, you need to decide to be better and to be above this flaw.

3. Make use of a good English dictionary, infact it should be your second Bible. Words that trouble you should be looked up and the speech pattern studied. Ask for help from friends or family members who would not laugh at you if you discover you find it difficult to read the patterns.

4. While speaking in public or in a gathering, take your time. Rehearse the ‘troubling words’ in your mind, deciphering the right pronounciation from the wrong one. When that is done, you speak only the right one. It is better to be called a slow, calm speaker known for speaking in the right manner than to be tagged as someone known to speak in a flawed manner.

5. Recovering from a life-long habit of speaking with flaws is a gradual process so do take your time and aim to be better with each passing day. Thank you.

Wishing you a happy new month and a Blessed month of May.

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