Words: The Building Blocks of Communication Skills
Posted on February 22, 2012 by Baxter Dickson
For 37 years, Lake Superior State University has been publishing an annual list of “Words Banished from theQueen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.” A frightening number of this year’s entries come from the business realm, including: shared sacrifice, blowback, the new normal, and win the future.
Newly coined phrases can have real expressive power in the beginning. They can help us think about an idea in a different way, see it in a different light. Over time, though, their popularity is their downfall. They become clichés, so overused that all meaning is drained out of them. Is there some tired, worn out language used in your workplace – or by you? Maybe it’s time to find a “new normal” for your new normal.
Words define reality
Of course, thinking about language is more than eliminating the weak phrases. It’s about finding more powerful ones. Words have shades of meaning that can help attune the mind to an idea, shape an opinion or sharpen a point of view. Think about these pairings and how they communicate differently.
History vs. legacy
Parent vs. Daddy
Community vs. town
Change vs. update
Rules vs. standards
Streamlined vs. sleek
They feel different, don’t they? Each has its own connotation that conveys a different underlying thought. I’m not suggesting one is better than the other in any given situation, just that you should choose mindfully. Words convey emotion: anger, trust, fear, excitement, belief, doubt. Be aware, so that you don’t set a tone you don’t mean to. By the same token, it doesn’t benefit anyone if you whitewash a problem with words that hide it.
The words behind the words
Remember the adage, “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting.” Let me rephrase it. “If you keep saying what you’ve been saying, you’ll keep getting the behaviors you’ve been getting.”
That’s the reason to take your wordsmith work deeper – to its most valuable communications level. Use words to uncover – and convey – ideas deeper than the surface information. Here are some examples.
What are the words that form the underpinning for customer service? “Trust”? “Delight”? “Constancy”?
How can you communicate change? “New landscape” or “changed priorities”? “Possibilities” or “survival skills”? “Overhaul” or “new paradigm”?
Think of words that reshape the familiar. Are “customer commitment dates” more motivating than “due dates”? Is “personal responsibility” stronger than “job description”? Is a “goal” more or less achievable than a “must-do” or “competition killer”?
So what’s the good word today? Think before you speak, and it’ll say more than you imagined.
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