Words of Choice

I'd like to begin by thanking brilliant Erin Veltman for giving me this topic for today's post.  If any of you ever have ideas for me to write about please email me!

Have you ever found yourself saying, "it sounded a lot better in my head."  Or, have you ever said something and then realized that what came out wasn't what you meant at all? So language- more specifically using language, is one of the most complicated processes in our lives.  In our heads we have this great idea but communicating this idea to the world can be difficult.  In this situation there's no need to blame yourself, blame language instead.  English is very tricky.  Words that are considered "synonyms" are hardly that.  Let's take this example.  Your friend is going on vacation.  You say to her, "Are you prepared for your trip?" or "Are you ready for your trip?"  Think about how those both sound.  The "prepared" hints that there may be a negative element associated with the travel.  While the "ready" hints that the trip will be a positive experience.  Now ready and prepared are considered synonyms, but they certainly don't give the same feel to a sentence.  The feel that your sentences give can make or break your message; this is why it's so important to gain a better understanding and handle on language.  Using words to deliver your intended message will allow your communication to flow more smoothly; it can also increase your persuasive abilities.  There are countless key words that we should use in our vocabularies in place of common words we use without thinking twice.  During my NLP training, we learned about these key words and making better use of our language.  Since that training I can confidently say that swapping certain words for others has given me quite an advantage, perhaps even an unfair one.  This spring I will be doing a workshop teaching those vocabulary secrets.  I will keep you posted on when that will be and if anyone is interested in attending/ receiving more info please email me at beth@bethsmolen.com.  Until then, watch what you say!