A way with words: A guide to seeming articulate

Sumayya Baig

It is no secret that appearance matters in all walks of life. Whether it be a simple conversation, a crucial pitch or more importantly, the interview of a lifetime. There is no better way to demonstrate your intelligence than through the power of words. Do not let your ego fool you, many medicine applicants possess the same or even better grades than you but the three most important factors that distinguish the successful from the unsuccessful are passion, excellent communication skills and confidence.

The first step you must take to enhance your conversational skill is to initiate conversation. This may seem basic for some of you but for a vast (and depressing) majority, confidence remains to be an under-developed quality even at later stages of adolescence. You must force yourself into conversations that are out of your comfort zone so that you are able to develop skills which allow you to speak about a topic you know little about with clarity and confidence. This is crucial when it comes to medicine interviews as students are often asked about the mechanical aspects of advanced diseases. It is unlikely you will know this kind of information and often, the interviewer will know this too. They will be more eager to see how you handle a gap in your knowledge. It is important that you take this opportunity to express your passion for the subject. Take your time to mention everything you may know about the disease in particular and be sure to mention extra-curricular facts you may have learnt during independent research. By doing so, you show the interviewers that not only are you passionate but you have an eagerness to learn – a quality often more prized than intelligence.

Conveying your ideas in an intelligent fashion makes up more of the recipients opinion of you than you may acknowledge. To be able to develop a wide vocabulary you must incorporate a variety of terms in your daily language. Students from private school backgrounds seem to have an upper hand when it comes to conversational skills as they are rigorously taught proper grammar from a very young age, hence making it easier for them to speak with confidence and clarity when older. This does not, however, mean that you cannot develop your own. Many of you are taking essay-based A-Levels along with science and mathematics, which means you can start incorporating alternative words in your work. Doing this on a regular basis will result in speech which is eloquent and well presented, perhaps not straight away but with time.

I will close with a final pointer; do not be afraid to be wrong. All too often I see intelligent students hold back from making a point simply because they think what they are about to say is wrong. The best way to deal with this kind of anxiety is to weigh out the pros and cons. If you do make your point and it happens to be incorrect, you will have learnt from your mistake and learnt something new which will perhaps be beneficial later in life. On the other hand, failing to raise your point may lead to incorrect knowledge and possibly harm in later life. More often than not, you have nothing to lose. With that, I wish all of you luck in your future endeavours.