Deborah Tannen Power Of Talk Analysis

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In the article “The Power of Talk” by Deborah Tannen, the author talks about the two different culture tradition in which men and women speak differently. Tannen also extended her research to the workplace where she realizes that our “Ways of speaking learned in childhood affect judgements of competence and confidence, as well as who gets heard, who gets credit, and what gets done (Tannen, 1995).” If everyone in the workplace was aware of other people communications styles, there would be less more confusion and misread conversation. In this paper, I will be discussing the meaning of linguistic style, one up, one down, who get credit and who takes credit, who boast about accomplishments, and ritual opposition.
What is linguistic Style
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“Many Americans expect the discussion of ideas to be a ritual fight-that is, an exploration through verbal opposition. They present their own ideas in the most certain and absolute form they can, and wait to see if they are challenged (Tannen, 1995).” When we understand other people conversational rituals we can either (1) take part, or (2) at least try to understand rather than misinterpret their intentions. “People unaccustomed to this style may hedge when stating their ideas in order to fend off potential attacks. Ironically, this posture makes their arguments appear weak and is more likely to invite attack from pugnacious colleagues than to fend it off (Tannen, 1995).”

Conclusion
“The Power of Talk” by Deborah Tannen, the author talks about the two different culture tradition in which men and women speak differently. Men are more outspoken; women seem to be more relax. I wish it was easy for women to take account for their work, but we don’t like to be the center of attention all the