Many of us would think that in this high tech, instant-communication, and instant-gratification world of ours, that getting our point across would be a snap. Not true! In fact, our messages have become diluted. Speaking, writing and language skills aren’t what they used to be. With technology, it has hurt the way we relate. Studies show that many of us have tougher time than ever relating to one another with words. The good news is that, if you realize and recognize the situation, adapt to it, and learn those wonderful words and phrases that can push through today’s communication clutter, you set yourself apart from others and have a much easier time getting your message over and win your audience over.
Admittedly, there’s more to effective communication and presentation than simply having a healthy vocabulary or the gift of the gab. It also involves relatively clear-headed attention between you and your audience, proactive listening skills, genuine interest, and open-mindedness. Once you’ve gotten the point where someone is listening to what you are saying or reading what you have written, grabbing your audience with a strong word or phrase helps keep the communication open and hits both your listener and reader with an impact that allows for important and desired follow-up from both sides of the message.
Knowing how to use words well wins your audience over and gets you things while not knowing how to use them keeps things out of your reach.
Some examples we can learn together:
Weak : “With a few simple steps, we can improve our situation.”
Strong : “To improve our situation with a great future, here’s how we can get there.”
Weak : “It’s a good opportunity, filled with lots of possibilities.”
Strong: ” We have discovered a fantastic path to a new world of marvels.”
Weak : “Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to complain…”
Strong: “Dear Mr. Chief Executive Officer, I am shocked, frustrated and outraged over my recent visit at your…”
Weak : “We have an important decision to make.”
Strong : “We have reached a historic crossroads.”
Weak : “Here are my goals.”
Strong : “Here is a vision for our future.”
Weak : “What will people think?”
Strong : “How will history judge us?”
Weak : “Let’s concentrate on results.”
Strong : “Let’s focus on the dream.”
Weak : “I’m the best person for this job.”
Strong : “I’m here specifically to make things happen for you and your company.”
Weak : “You’re making mistakes.”
Strong : “You have got what it takes to make this right.”
Weak : “You’re in charge. Now get it done.”
Strong : “Everyone has entrusted you with this responsibility. Don’t let them down.”
Weak : “This plan will improve productivity.”
Strong : “This plan will increase the output of each worker by 50 percent.”
Weak : “Here’s what you did wrong.”
Strong : “Here are the adverse results of your actions.”
Weak : “Those new employees seem very enthusiastic.”
Strong : “That’s what I call highly motivated.”
Weak : “When are you going to turn this bad situation around?”
Strong : “How can I help you make things better?”
Weak : “Not my problem.”
Strong : “How can we go about fixing this?”
Weak : “This will never get better.”
Strong : “This is just the downhill part of the rollercoaster.”
Weak : “Please do not hesitate to call.”
Strong : “Thanks so much for all your good faith. I will check up on you in a week or so.”
In this world of poor social skills, insecurity, high-paced, short attention, and high-volume transmission of irrelevancies, the gift of understanding words and using them well and correctly puts you ahead. If you engage in the craft of utilizing wonderful words and phrases, you make yourself more superior, more important and more influential. Using words well helps you gets what you want in life.
Whether you are presenting, writing a speech, an email, or an article for the local paper, you will have a tough time convincing your audience and readers if you can’t get past the first sentence. The problem these days is that people are flooded with stimuli – much of it designed to garner the attention of the audience and readers to sell them things. A great hooking sentence – a clever opening line catches your audience’s interest – at the beginning of any written message will help you push through all that stimuli and increase the chance that audience will delve into what you have said.
