Why Audiences Are More Forgiving Of English Grammar Mistakes Than Readers Are

I want to share with you a dirty little secret when it comes to English grammar when you’re speaking it out loud.

Now be quiet don’t tell many people this.

But here’s the secret.

Most people who are native English speakers - if they hear you speaking - are not going to be able to catch most of your grammar errors.

Of course if there’s something really horrific - horrible horrible agreement problems, tense problems, they may catch that.

But so many errors that are obvious when you’re reading it on a piece of paper or a screen, are not obvious to the ear.

Why do I say that?

Is it because I want you to have lower standards for yourself and not care about your grammar?

No.

But I do want you to realize that it’s going to be easier most of the time when you’re speaking to people.

Especially if you have good eye contact, body language, enthusiasm - for them to still focus on your message and get it without being distracted by grammar.

Because

the standards are very different.

The ear simply is not as capable of detecting mistakes as the eye is.

If you’re reading something and it looks a little funny, you can reread that sentence.

You can go back and forth and say hey wait a minute that’s wrong.

But if you’re listening to someone speak in person, or even on video, you typically don’t stop and rewind the tape and you can’t do it if someone’s talking to you in person.

So the standards are different.

The reason I’m really telling you all of this is I want to encourage you to speak out.

Use your voice to speak out to advance whatever it is you do - your business, your cause, your purpose, your goals, your ideals.

Speak out.

Don’t wait until that day when you have perfect grammar.

Some of the most effective communicators in the world don’t always use perfect grammar.

So start speaking at every single day.

You may want to speak frequently before you start publishing books and op ed pieces, so please keep that in mind.