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Siobhan (shi-VON)
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Do it! I’ve seen this before and I think it’s helpful. I have what I thought was an easy to pronounce name but it’s not common outside of the US. I’ve given the phonetic pronunciation before.
I’ve seen it in some people’s signature at Deloitte. I think it’s helpful. People mispronounce my name all the time but that’s been the case since I moved to the US 6 years ago and I don’t really care enough. M but I could see that being helpful especially for names that some people might have no clue how to pronounce. Makes it less awkward for everyone.
Thanks for the replies! I think I'm going to add this.
Just as commentary: I actually did go by a shortened version of my name early in my career but stopped doing that out of principle. I don't particularly care for that name and my name isn't difficult to pronounce for the majority of the world. (I have no issue when dealing with foreign clients or individuals from Latinx backgrounds) so I kind of figured why should I have to change my name just to accommodate people who won't take 3 minutes to learn how to pronounce it?
I like this sentiment OP. Your name is your name, and you have every right to be proud of it. Don’t shorten it for the benefit of others. I love the idea of adding a pronunciation in your signature.
I think it’s super helpful to have in your email signature! I’ve seen it multiple times at EY, and honestly it’s been a help to me more than once when meeting with new project team members.
100% helpful, no judgment at all.
Super helpful! I personally feel horrible if I mispronounce someone’s first name, so I’d be grateful to see this. Also it shows personal pride in your heritage. So many people change their names to be easier for others to pronounce that they lose their identities. (My Family name was shortened by first gen American bc it was hard to pronounce.)
Curious, what is your formula to successfully balancing the scope of SVP oversight yet maintaining the capacity for attention to detail? I suppose the drill downs are a result of prioritizing the concerns that matter.
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People struggle to pronounce my name in my office. I’m considering taking a page out of the book of some of my Chinese colleagues and just picking a random English word that is easy to pronounce... like Fox
why not just change your name to Jo?
Change/shorten your name to something everyone can pronounce. The cumulative amount of time that you’ll save correcting/reminding, plus eliminating the awkwardness, is invaluable.
@SM1: Great idea! Or just call everyone “hey, you!” if you can’t say their name. Soooo much easier for all concerned. 🤦🏻♀️
Linkedin has a new audio feature.
I would add it to your website? maybe? get a nickname..
or laugh it off! nothing like having a good joke with a client. it shows you’re easy to work with.
It’s perfectly acceptable and very helpful to include a pronunciation guide! Strongly disagree with the idea that you should choose a shorter/more easily pronounceable name for this purpose -
I think that proving some help in pronouncing you name would be helpful and completely acceptable. Everyone mispronounce my last name. Since my last name is Slavic and difficult, I always go out of my way to make people comfortable once the mispronunciation happens. I never ever get offended by the mispronunciation and it makes a good ice breaker, and, we get some some good laughs from it.
Please do this. I would really appreciate it