A Strong Vocabulary is Important to Your Business
A good idea can go to waste if it can’t be effectively communicated with someone else. After all, how can other people appreciate it if you can’t properly explain what it’s about? The potential of this good idea will simply be lost if you can’t find the right words for it.
In 1984, a George Orwell classic about dystopia, the government created a language called Newspeak in which the number of words are very limited. The goal was to make language as limited as possible so as to prevent people from thinking of complex ideas that could start off a revolution.
The novel showed that words aren’t just words — they represent ideas. If your vocabulary is small, then you’ll be unable to clearly express your thoughts. The inverse is also true: The more words you know, the more ideas you can convey and share with other people.
This is why a strong vocabulary is important especially for business. You don’t need a Pulitzer novel-level of vocabulary, but you need a strong enough grasp of the English language — or any other language you use for business — in order to successfully reach out to customers, whether via emails, over the phone, or face to face.
A strong vocabulary helps you to say what you mean and mean what you say in a concise manner. Nowadays, with so many sources of information available on hand, people are quick to lose interest in something they don’t see as valuable or relevant within the first few moments of encountering it. Thus, you need to catch their attention right away, either with good copy or engaging conversation.
A strong vocabulary also exudes confidence and authority. If you sound like you know exactly what you’re talking about, then people are bound to listen to you more and respect your input. In business, this helps you establish a reputation for being an expert within the industry, giving you an edge over the competition.
But a strong vocabulary doesn’t just make you a better writer and speaker. It also makes you a better listener because it helps you understand what people are saying. This is especially useful in business. When speaking with your customers, you’ll be able to pick up on exactly what they’re looking for. In turn, you’ll be able to give them what they need, which in turn, will make them happy and satisfied customers.
A strong vocabulary is perhaps one of the best tools you can ever have in communication. So don’t wait long — build it now with the help of these tips:
- Read: You’ll come across a lot of new words the more you read. Make sure to have a dictionary and thesaurus at the ready if you need to look up a word.
- Listen: You can also catch new words when you have conversations with different kinds of people. If you’re talking to a friend, you can just as easily ask for the definition if an unfamiliar word pops up.
- Write: Take down the words you don’t know as soon as you encounter them and look them up later as soon as you have the time.
- Practice: Use words you just learned in emails, phone calls, and face-to-face conversations. Once you inject these words in your vocabulary, using them will feel more natural.
