LinkedIn Adds Option to Record Pronunciation of Names
Preface
Whenever I meet, or talk to, someone for the first time I ask them how their name is pronounced. I then try to pronounce it back to them correctly, sometimes I get it right and sometimes not. But one thing is key, I’m determined to provide that person with the respect they deserve by correctly pronouncing their name (and correcting others that don’t).
Unfortunately, I know for some people that can be an awkward exchange, with many saying “That’s close enough”. But for me, “close enough” isn’t good enough.
Hello New Feature!
LinkedIn have come up with a pretty nifty new feature where it shows a little speaker icon (as shown in the above image) next to your name. When pressed it plays a recording that you’ve previously created to audibly show how your name is pronounced.
There’s no machine learning, or text to speech feature here, just good old voice recording, because who knows how to pronounce your name better than yourself?
This is pretty neat
I’d love to see this rolled out into other applications, where people are able to get a better understanding of how to pronounce words before they actively interact with that person. Maybe from this point forward, before going on a meeting with someone who’s name I might mispronounce, jumping on LinkedIn and giving it a quick listen will make that person’s experience a better one.
Somtimes it’s the small things that can mean a huge difference to other people
How do I do it?
- Go to your profile on LinkedIn
- Click the Pencil Icon in the top section (by your name)
- Click “Add name pronunciation”
- Press & hold on the microphone icon
- Repeat till you’re happy
- Save your profile