Fans of My Fair Lady will recognize Eliza DoLittle’s famous tune in my title. She is telling her suitor to stop using words and instead, show her he loves her.
Forgive me if I borrow Eliza DoLittle’s phrase and twist it to suit my own meaning. Words alone may not work for the heartsick suitor but they remain the building blocks for writers and speakers. Strong words build strong messages though they work in different ways for writers and speakers.
Writers choose their words carefully, mulling over the nuances that each word carries. Afterall, one of the advantages writing has over speaking is that it allows you time to think, reflect and make changes until you convey the precise meaning you intend. Our challenge in communicating precisely is that readers attach their own meanings to words we use based on their experiences. Nevertheless, writing is a deliberative process. Writers must choose the words they put down making it impossible to write without some forethought.
Words serve speakers in a different way. The selection process has fewer filters. We’ve all had the experience of having our words tumble out too quickly, making us seem boring, stupid or rude. Despite those drawbacks, as speakers we have an easier time conveying exactly we mean thanks to the added interpretations we can embed using tone, gestures, body language or timing.
Consider, for example, the sentences below. Changing the emphasis can significantly change what a listener hears.
- Coming up with THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS was my last hope for avoiding the dreaded debt collector.
- Coming up with $300 was MY last hope for avoiding the dreaded debt collector.
- Coming up with $300 was my last hope for avoiding the DREADED debt collector.
The same words…. different interpretations depending on whether the focus is on the amount of the debt, the debtor or the debt collector.
Repetition of words — which can be thoroughly annoying in writing– allows speakers to drive a point home. (I’m assuming, of course, that the repetition is intentional and not a mindless attempt to fill silence.)
Even though body language, tone and other devices make words more vertatile tools for speakers, you still need to choose these building blocks careful. Simple, strong, descriptive words will move your audience to action or help them understand your meaning. Vague terms such as things or stuff or those lazy phrases It is and There are give your listeners permission to take a quick nap. Train your ear to hear those empty words like a fog horn that obscures anything you might say before or after.
I cannot talk about words and phrases without mentioning the popular list of banned words that Michigan’s Lake Superior State University publishes on January 1st of each year. The university officially sanctions words and phrases that have been so over-used that they are meaningless cliches.
The banned words on the 2013 list include
fiscal cliff
kicking the can down the road
job creators
passionate
bucket list.
Words. Words. Words. Some are perfect; others are useless. Any nominations for words and phrases you never want to hear again?
Special Speeches 