By: Leo Schroeder, Staff writer
You are talking to your friend as you enter class where you immediately see and greet your teacher. “Good morning, Mr. Smith,” you say as a natural default. Everyday instances like this are prime examples of how an individual dictates their words. Words are omnipresent in every aspect of life, whether you are giving a speech, writing a school paper, or even talking to your best friend. Feelings and opinions are expressed through words.
The words you choose dictate everything you do. As a society, we have been programmed to choose our words carefully. It is common sense to speak in a professional manner when talking to someone of higher status or if you are simply trying to convey a more profound idea. For example, let’s say you are applying for the position of business manager at a restaurant. You’d never say in a job interview, “I think I’d be good at this job because I love to eat here, and I thought it would be cool to work at the restaurant I love.” Speaking like this will never get you that job. It projects your reason as lousy and very poorly thought out. The interviewer may feel as if you are uneducated and lazy; that you came to this interview ill-prepared and are wasting their time. Now, if you speak with strong opinions and enticing vocabulary, the interviewer will deem you as a more credible candidate. “I believe that I am the right candidate for this position due to my previous customer experience here. Your food is my absolute favorite. Every individual of the waiting staff holds a fond relationship with me . I would like to work here because I strongly believe that I would fit in with the staff here.” Speaking in this educated manner will boost the chances of getting hired by a thousandfold.
Many of the same characteristics of a well spoken job interview are present in pitching an idea. Whether it be in the classroom or in the workforce, the idea needs to be presented in a compelling way that grabs the interest of your audience. The only way to get people to understand and agree with your idea is to present it in an appealing way. The food may or may not be tasty, but if it looks good, you will probably try a bit of it anyway. The words you pick for the task will be the first exposure to your idea. Do your homework beforehand on what type of audience you have, then choose your words to best appeal to them. Your well chosen words are the candy, the hook that reels the audience in.
It is the responsibility of the speaker/writer to correctly convey their message to the audience. Misconceptions are a direct consequence of a poorly conveyed message. One may say “it was great” and be expressing feelings of joy and content but it means absolutely nothing if they speaks in a negative or sarcastic tone. Tone heavily influences the context of your words. When conveying a positive message, use positive connotations. Avoid using words that may be unintentionally misunderstood as negative. With this in mind, please take precaution when talking to even your friend or teacher. What you are saying might not be what they are hearing. Make sure to be explicit so that the person you are talking to understands correctly. Who knows, a misunderstanding could lead to a bad grade or even a broken friendship.
On a grander scale, history’s politicians give perfect examples of how and why words matter. Think about it: all the progressive leaders and change makers in history used compelling words to inspire their followers. World leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, John F Kennedy held their followers close with their thought-out choice of diction. A more recent example of this can be evident when contrasting between Obama and Trump. Obama often used warming words to appeal to the audience while remaining concise and straight to the point. The words that he chose gave the public an image of a well educated, tactical man. Trump, on the other hand, has shown a tendency to resort to speech that is mainly impulsive and emotionally driven, causing excitement among his posse. Remaining calm and collected or passionate and angry are both compelling tactics for public speaking. In both cases, the words that each individual picked were well formulated to their goal.
Robert Frost once said, “poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Most may agree agree that Adolf Hitler was a morally corrupt individual, hellbent on the execution of millions. This, however, was only made into a reality thanks to his clever and enticing words. He employed the same thoughtful tactics of nationalistic speech embedded in Gandhi’s push for peace to cater to a war-torn audience Words may be manipulated to serve good or bad.
This being said, please take a moment to think before you speak. Little differences in your speech may make or break someone’s day. They have the ability to cause misconception, among other types of emotions: fear, anger, and happiness. Words have the power to change the world. The small alteration of a few words may even reach as far as changing the world for the better. Remember, your words matter.
