Communication skills?

I agree. So many young people seem unable to construct sentences without including several totally superfluous ‘like’s.

It could be stage fright from being interviewed on TV, and having a big microphone shoved in yoir face is enough to make the most confident talker forget to end their sentences.
I was once interviewed for radio and was mortified by the number of times I said "err" - and its not something I do normally.

I agree in principle.
My communication skills are second to none, however I would not impress anybody with my prowess as an Olympic athlete.
We each have our own talents and perhaps the fault lies with TV producers who insist on interviews with footballers, rugby “men of the match” , tennis players who have just slogged their guts out for 2 1/2 hours in blazing sun or indeed anybody who is no different to Joe Other in being less than articulate, especially with a mic in his face.

Also, information is being delivered more in sound bites now. The numbers of times I have to go back to my different companies/services to get things corrected i.e. they get the wrong title, address name, telephone no. You tell them you want green and they deliver blue. A year or two back I had to execute some quite serious business and out of ten tasks, the firms involved got 9 of them wrong. Fortunately, I kept a tight rein on my side and called them out on it. Excuse: 'clerical error' - my foot!

This isn't a lack of communication skills, it could be anxiety and a feeling of frustration that he was being asked stupid questions, which they often are.

The interviewers often ask ridiculous questions of people who in the end, are good at sport, not always good at talking.

Communication is a two way process. If you want clear answers from people you have to ask them the right questions.

That said, I do believe that over reliance on texting and messaging has left people unable to have a decent conversation.

Speaking and listening was once an examined part of the English GCSE syllabus, until Michael Gove stopped it.

What maw said.

His 'job' isn't to communicate and he is, presumably, still young.

keepingquiet

This isn't a lack of communication skills, it could be anxiety and a feeling of frustration that he was being asked stupid questions, which they often are.

The interviewers often ask ridiculous questions of people who in the end, are good at sport, not always good at talking.

Communication is a two way process. If you want clear answers from people you have to ask them the right questions.

That said, I do believe that over reliance on texting and messaging has left people unable to have a decent conversation.

Speaking and listening was once an examined part of the English GCSE syllabus, until Michael Gove stopped it.

Another important skill in communication is listening! This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, as so many times I see people wanting to have their say, without paying heed to others’ opinions.

The one that I find a bit irritating is when politicians say 'look' before they answer questions. It sounds so 'teacherish' and condescending. 'Now you look here, you dimwits - I will tell you how it is . . .' They all seem to do it - it's not confined to one party, or even one personality type.

As regards sportspeople and so on - I agree with RosiesMaw. Politicians and representatives of 'causes' etc get media training so they come across well. The ability to sound articulate in front of cameras is not expected to come naturally.

Programme makers are aware of this, and will often interview managers in an industrial dispute in book-lined offices, giving them plenty of notice, and then stick a microphone under the nose of a worker who is getting into his car to go home and tell his family he's just been told his job is on the line. It stands to reason that one will seem measured and articulate and the other emotional and angry. Very few people can switch off their feelings and paint on a neutral face and tone of voice if they are upset. Except for psychopaths, maybe . That applies to stressful situations of all types, including sport.

Also, often sportspeople are asked about things they don't want to share. They don't necessarily want their views on 'issues' to be known, or some of them do, but don't know as much about them as they think.

We are anonymous on here, and if not I'm sure we wouldn't be as open as we are, or come across as well as we do. It's easy to be articulate when we can type instead of speak, read through before clicking 'post' and consider an opinion before choosing to get involved.

If someone had doorstepped me and asked about my views on the poor communication skills of random people on TV, I'd have, like, um'd and err'd with the best of them, yeah.

Ah, the ubiquitous "y'know?" No I don't, not being the fount of knowledge that people who insist on peppering sentences with "y'know?" obviously must be.
My Dad, donkey's years ago, met a certain very famous footballer who had been in the World Cup winning team. He said that whilst he was a genius with a football and he was an extremely polite gentleman off the pitch........he was astonishingly inarticulate and could barely put two sentences together, linking words with "y'knows?" incessantly.
They say you should never meet your heroes.

‘Do you know what I mean?’ Is another bugbear. Yes, you’re speaking in English, I do understand English.

This.

"I turned around and said..."
Or "turnt around and said..."

RosiesMaw2

I agree in principle.
My communication skills are second to none, however I would not impress anybody with my prowess as an Olympic athlete.
We each have our own talents and perhaps the fault lies with TV producers who insist on interviews with footballers, rugby “men of the match” , tennis players who have just slogged their guts out for 2 1/2 hours in blazing sun or indeed anybody who is no different to Joe Other in being less than articulate, especially with a mic in his face.
Sorry! Forgot to paste.

Germanshepherdsmum

‘Do you know what I mean?’ Is another bugbear. Yes, you’re speaking in English, I do understand English.

Well, I am often tempted to answer that one with, "No, I have not the foggiest idea, as you are expressing yourself so badly!"

"Where shall I begin, Your Majesty?" asked the White Rabbit.

"Begin at the beginning and go on until you reach the end, and then stop."

Sound advice if followed, but it rarely is these days.

RosiesMaw2

I agree in principle.
My communication skills are second to none, however I would not impress anybody with my prowess as an Olympic athlete.
We each have our own talents and perhaps the fault lies with TV producers who insist on interviews with footballers, rugby “men of the match” , tennis players who have just slogged their guts out for 2 1/2 hours in blazing sun or indeed anybody who is no different to Joe Other in being less than articulate, especially with a mic in his face.

Exactly this.

A colleague of mine used to say "if that makes sense" all the time.

"So, I got the milk out of the fridge, if that makes sense?"

Yes, yes, so far, so good.
Sounds a sensible course of action...

Why do people now start a sentence with 'so' it's getting to be as irritating as 'like'.

Actual recent photograph of me

I too hate it when anyone begins with ‘Look’
My mother , bless her, used to say ‘At what?’. Which quite wrong footed the speaker.

I would think that the Olympic athletes would be given a bit of a short course on media interviews. For many of them, it's not something that they've had to do before, and they could feel awkward. I know I would!

My DH watches a lot of sport, and sometimes I'm impressed with the eloquence of the athletes. How many ways are there to say ' we made mistakes and lost!'

So

All politicians and people working in jobs that bring them in contact with the media are usually sent on media training before they start dealing with the media.

Why shoukd asportsmen and athletes be any different. The question is, knowing that key ath;etes will be wnate dand interviewed by the press. , isn't it the responsibility of those putting them up for interview to mke surethey are properly trained?

I agree BUT they are competing in their particular sport, it's not a communication sport. Many well paid journalists drive me mad with their poor grammar. "different to " is common, the correct form is "different from". not pronouncing the word "law" properly - they end it the word with "r" to quite just two.

how can you pronounce law other than saying lor ???