 |
| Choosing the right words make or break a conversation. |
There’s a distinct difference between wording something
poorly mid-speech or mid-conversation and choosing the wrong words to manage
and motivate.
Making a gaffe during a speech will happen to you (if you indeed do find yourself giving
speeches). It might even become a
memorable part of the speech or conversation despite your protests and
embarrassment. Just chalk it up to your
growing 'binder full of gaffes.'
Carefully chosen wording used to manage and motivate,
however, can be instrumental in getting the best results from others. The right
word choices can make all the difference when trying to elicit positive
outcomes and feelings from an employee, in a meeting, during a review, or any
other interaction; be it in a business or a personal setting.
Saying, 'How might we…?'; as in this LinkedIn
posting from IDEO's CEO Tim Brown; is a perfect example of combining three
important words into a synergistic powerhouse of verbiage can generate positive
and creative results.
In IT staffing, words are an integral part of how we match
candidates and clients. We ask clients what they truly want in a candidate
beyond the job description. In addition to covering the skills, projects and
jobs listed on their resume/CV, we ask candidates more about what they want
from their career; we ask what they would like to take away from this project
or how they would handle a situation that the client has told us might come up.
Comparing and contrasting the client and candidate responses to these carefully
selected 'word strings' can be the key to mutually positive outcome for all of
us involved in the process.
Some other positive outcome provoking strings include:
- 'I really appreciate…'
- 'Tell me more…'
- 'Yes we / you can…'
- 'What do you think?'
- 'How would you handle…?'
- 'Please elaborate on …'
- 'How do you feel about…?'
- 'What's your take on…?'
- 'What can we do about…?'
I am sure there are thousands of other powerful and
efficient phrases out there that can be the catalyst for a positive
conversation or outcome when interacting with others. If you have some gems you
use to inspire, spur collaboration, praise, or motivate, I'd certainly like to
hear them. Feel free to comment or drop me a line.
Josh Kaplan writes on various subjects including
management, information technology breakthroughs, healthcare
IT recruitment and innovations, big data, IT staffing and recruitment, and technical industry news and trends.
