As I was searching, I just happened to stumble upon this video of Caroline Kennedy’s speech. This video is a little clip of her 30 minute interview on Manhattan’s local news channel NY1. At the time, Kennedy expressed her interest in becoming a member of the US Senate. In this video her communication skills are terrible. As you can see in the video, she must have used the word “you know” about one hundred times. She does not sound very professional or intelligent. Vocal fillers are okay if you use it sparingly because I understand it is very hard to get rid of them completely. However, to use it to her extent is just unacceptable considering she is hoping to be a public political figure.

As a public figure, people will look up to you and it is only expected that you sound confident and strong. “You know” is probably not a good word to use a gazillion times if you want your audience to listen to you because it makes you seem like you don’t know what you are talking about and people will take you less seriously. You will not be able to get your message across effectively.

What I learned from her interview is vocal fillers used to her extent is just unacceptable. You will lose credibility and people will just think to themselves what in the world is she talking about? NO I don’t know! To give her the benefit of the doubt, this was an interview and there may have been no way for her to fully prepare herself because she won’t know what questions would be thrown at her. However, she still should  have kept her “you knows” to a minimum.