‘Words fitly spoken are like apples of Gold in a picture of Silver’ – these words of wisdom spells out the importance of using proper words in communication. It is a skill in communicating with other.  A skill worth developing as it helps us to communicate well-structured language with clarity of expression.

 A word loosely spoken can lose a friend or even cause a war. It was reported that a Japanese word ‘Mokusatsu’ that was loosely mis-translated by the press led to disasterous consequences during the world war. It was said that this word had two meanings and what was actually meant was “no comments”  whilest the other meaning was ” refuse to surrender” and  part of the western press translated  the second meaning that lead to disaster.

Even in modern times there are some  amoung us who do not care much about what they say or write. They react when an impulse moves. Then they utter words that comes to their mind without thinking of the effect that such loosely spoken words would have on others.

 Little they realize that words are like birds and once they fly away you cannot catch them back. It is interesting to analyze and find that there are different types of words. There are are bad words; good words. There are also words that flash anger, hatred, dislike and words the denote love, compassion, goodwill etc.

Unusually, a bad word is sharp like the sharp ended knife or a sward. There are other words, those resemble  blades with extreme sharpness at both edges. These words are the double meaning words. For this reason it is true to say that, the tongue is like a sharp knife and it can kill without drawing blood. 

Therefore, we should be mindful of the word that comes through our tongue and through our pen as well.  In society we often come across certain words that should be tagged in bold red -Danger-Handle with Care. Certain other words have to be tagged ‘ Poison- keep out of reach of children. There are heated red-hot words that can burn the user first and also icy-cool words. We must make it a habit to listen before we talk and listen attentively and use restrain in what we say. Fewer words make effective prayers. We must always keep in our mind that a closed mouth catches no flies. And man does not live by words alone despite the fact that he sometimes have to eat them.

We govern the world with words said one successful leader. Many leaders of men and women are good communicators. Their oratorical powers enabled them to captivate the hearts of their followers. They had the capability to cloth beautiful ideas in fitting words. The ability to use fitting words to mesmerise and captivate an audience is needed in business much more now than before with the advent of online communication innovations like email advertisements with promotional videos and online promotions using movie clips/video clips and also Video-Conferencing.  Therefore, in this age of communication the clarity of expression and meaningful contents in communication is of paramount importance.

The business environment of today is  more competitive with customer loyalty becoming a thing of the past.  The customer loyalty is being challenged because the customers can easily find other options such as low priced products from China etc.

 For communication to be effective in  the present competitive environment  its impact has to be strong and useful meeting essential quality enhancing requirements. And these quality enhancing ingredients are a) adequate preparation b) sound knowledge of what is communicated  c) clarity of expression c) new ideas d) innovative presentation  e) relevance of what is communicated to the needs and interests of the listener or the audience  f) facts in support of the view point being expressed by the communicator and g) the conclusion that should lead to a positive outcome such as a sale or an agreement.

And for a person to person presentation or a sermon to a group what George Burns said will apply. He said that  the secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending and to have the two as close as possible. Therefore, the brevity of expression is as important as the clarity of expression in enhancing the effectiveness of any form of communication.

Author Resource Box:

Chandrasoma Perera, a Sri Lanka born author, writes regularily on a wide range of subjects. For more information visit his website:- http://www.chanano.com