Do you need a bigger vocabulary in the workplace?

Chances are you are moaning about the size of your vocabulary.  Most people feel self- conscious about the size or limitations of their vocabulary, which is too bad because most people have a set of words at their disposal that will tell the truth just fine in the workplace. 

The words in your vocabulary are timeless and potentially each one is valuable for all kinds of reasons.  The precise word is what you need, but sometimes you will choose a word for the way it sounds and fits inside a sentence or because it is a go-to word and you have forgotten to think carefully about the impact of certain words upon readers.  It isn’t complicated.  Just use the precise word that you need to say what you want to say.  It can be a short, good word.  For instance, when some people are trying to sound more businesslike, he/she might choose the word “utilize” over “use.”  But “use” works just fine, and it doesn’t sound better or impress the reader, which is why people often use it.  Don’t look up any big words to show off.   Everyone has enough words to write in the workplace because the words you use in the workplace should be everyday words—not dress up words or big words for the sake of using big words.  Choose words for clarity.  Choose them for color or action or courtesy.  Choose them mindfully with a purpose you hope to achieve.  Choose them for the sake and interest of your envisioned reader.

 You don’t have to learn 100 new words; you simply need to be more careful about using the ten most commonly overused and not specific-enough words:

1.        Things—vague and over used
2.        Do—an all-purpose verb that often stands in for actions like chop, mow, eat lunch
3.          Get—Listen to yourself use this word and ask:  Which action am I trying to point to with this vague imprecise word?  Use that verb instead of get.
4.         So—For a word as small as this one, “so” tries to accomplish some very big jobs. Most often that job is to prove a logical conclusion that may not exist.  Listen to how people use “so” and you will see it as the connector between one action and the implied effect of that action. Just because people use the word “so” to connect an action to an effect doesn’t mean that the conclusion is trustworthy or reliable.  That is true of how the word sounds to other people, and when you use “so” very often and recklessly, others may view your logic in just the same way.
5.        A lot—A description for many items or a great deal of time, money or things in general.  If your answer is:  a lot of things, then you are using two vague ideas to try and represent a concept or item that is much more specific than these two words.
6.        Is—Try to see this soft, passive verb as a yellow caution light.  When you see it and you are the person who wrote it, ask yourself:  “Is there an action verb that could precisely replace it?”   Sister words for is include:  are, was, were, be, being, and been. 
7.       Awesome—This word is almost a filler now and means about as much as the sound of a sneeze or conversational fillers, such as “Hmmmm” or “Yay.”  Look for the adjective that describes that awesome sunset, that awesome dessert, that awesome song, that awesome bug on the wall and any other focus that has your attention.
8.       Amazing—See the above description for awesome. The same logic applies.
9.        You—Think “you” for the reader but don’t use the word very often in writing.  Minimize its use because while many writers intend for the use of the word to create a bond with the reader, it can sometimes feel to the reader as if he/she is being jabbed in the chest with a pointed finger.
10.     I—Presently our culture is built on building everyone’s self-esteem by celebrating the “I” in all of us.  Celebrate other people more than you do yourself, and you will be a far more effective communicator and your self-esteem and theirs will be just fine.

Maybe you use or overuse some words not on that small list of ten words. They key to creating a sharper and more powerful vocabulary is to know which words you overuse and start using more precise words that say exactly what you mean.

            Here are the key ideas to remember about your vocabulary:

• ·          Big words are not more valuable than smaller words.  
• ·         You already have enough words.    
• ·         The right word carefully chosen is priceless.
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• Daphne Simpkins' newest book is Christmas in Fountain City

Will you help me out?

Like you probably, I receive frequent requests from former colleagues (often very short-termed colleagues) who seek an endorsement for their employment opportunities.

I am not always sure how to respond.                                                          

I know the standard way of thinking about recommendations:  say what you know about the work performance in relation to the job for which the applicant is applying

Only with the various new ways of seeking generic endorsements from kith, kin and acquaintances (often I fit this latter category), I consider how to write what doesn't feel so much like an endorsement as it does a word of encouragement. These words are often recruited for public forums that are the professional social media version of Facebook, often Linkedin.com   Instead of writing, "Excellent work habits. Reliable.  Professional.  Customer-oriented. Logical.  Innovative thinker" I have to say more truthfully, "Nice guy who showed up when he was supposed to. Didn't make much fuss about anything.  Flew under the radar unless it was necessary to take a stand and he took one at what I considered the right time."


Truthfully I think these short declarations of what are my lasting impressions of people with whom I worked briefly tell the truth in ways that longer, more formal letters of recommendation do not.  And in a way that is different from the well-behaved letters of recommendation that are only positive for who would write a bad one (why waste your time and the reader's?), they tell a fresh kind of energized truth about the person who is seeking endorsements that show up in your e-box with words like "Can you help me out?"

Sure. If I can.

Do these short blasts of encouragement built on fragments of memory and good will help others?

I don't know.  No one who has ever asked me for this type of professional endorsement has ever sent a follow-up and said, "That did the trick."

In looking for a job, it's hard to know what the tipping point will be in the landing of a job.

One can deduce that every action of effort to get a job--and every act of good will that helps anyone along the way--has some part to play in the development of another person's professional life.

So, when someone asks me for some help that is partly an endorsement and maybe more encouragement, I try to write something good and true.

If I can't, I write nothing at all.

Daphne Simpkins' most recent book is Christmas in Fountain City

Make a proposal that others will accept.

Recommend what you prefer and watch what happens when you do it mindfully.

There is a difference between recommending an idea for consideration or a product and showing your own unbridled enthusiasm for it.

Sometimes I receive emails or Facebook messages that begin with LOOK! or CHECK IT OUT!  What follows is a gush of description that captures the honest, excited feeling the writer had to a product or idea but there is no summary of the benefit of the product itself for me, the reader and targeted customer. 

 To effectively pitch a product there must be a benefit for the intended reader or customer, and the enthusiasm can lead them to it but it is not a substitute for it.

How do you know whether you are offering a cheerleader response or a considered evaluation of a product or idea whose strengths rests upon reasoning rather than an effusion of emotions?

Check your wording and the style of the sentence you use.

A description contains adjectives and exclamations points, often.

A recommendation built upon a summary always points out a benefit for the reader that makes logical or common sense. 

Here’s an example of a recommendation for a book.

Description:  There’s some rich content in it.  I loved it!!!!

Summary:  Dr. James Doty’s new book Inside the Magic Shop explores the dynamic of neuroplasticity  from a neurosurgeon’s perspective, reaching the unexpected conclusion that practicing compassion builds better mind muscles and creates a more harmonious lifestyle for people who understand this.

How to know if you are someone who writes descriptions rather than summaries with benefits just watch how long it takes you to write an excited description and how long it takes to write a summary with benefits.

Time to write:  It takes five seconds to write a description. It takes about two-minutes to write a summary.  

The big difference is that the first grows tiresome to people who confront and brush off spammy posts, emails, and recommendations; the second one builds trust and offers benefits to the reader who knows the difference between an emotional response and a well-conceived logical one.

If you are trying to build a rapport with a consumer base through social media or your email contact list, take the extra minute and a half to craft a summary rather than spout an exclamation that could also just as easily be represented by an emoji.  How often do you think long and hard about an emoji’s content?

That’s about as long and as focused as a reader will respond to your recommendation that is based on your excitement rather than benefits to be gained from the product you admire.

 Daphne Simpkins' most recent book is Christmas in Fountain City

A Proverbs 31 Businesswoman

Often read at weddings and on Mother’s Day at church lady groups, this last chapter in the book of Proverbs is underestimated if read only in the context of a good woman being described as the ideal wife.  It is more than that.

For, when you look at the actions that prove her virtues, you see that she is a hard working business woman who sees a field and buys it, keeps her hands busy making crafts and clothing to sell or for her family, and gets up early and works late into the night to make sure she has provided for her family.  In the story, her husband strolls through the town admired and respected by all for having such a hard working wife, but the reader doesn’t see the husband working. The wife is holding the family together by being a good provider. 

In many ways this description of the hard-working provider encapsulates many of the nuggets of business advice offered throughout the book of Proverbs that points readers to look at how ants and other animals and insects store up food for the winter and how sluggards who don’t work won’t eat eventually.  It is a lesson is a work ethic and is written by a King’s mother to her son, who says he has special responsibilities because he is a leader.  Because of his great responsibilities he is urged to avoid heavy drink so that his mind is clear to make good decisions and if he really wants to be a leader he needs someone who will work as hard as he needs to.  There you see the description of what is called a Proverbs 31 woman:  a hard working business person who puts in long hours but works smart.

A Proverbs 31 Woman Mildred Budge in Cloverdale

Good Manners Make You a Better Writer

Good manners can make you a better writer because the stance of courtesy helps you to remember to put others first.  When you do, you write with someone else in mind.  Your agenda becomes what would help the other person.

Putting someone else first puts you in a position of vulnerability called being humble.  That is not a place America or many countries celebrate.  If people thought about the power of humility more, they would recognize that being in a "one down" position makes you stronger. The reason?  When you are in a more humble stance, others do not wear their defenses for long.  They trust you more easily. When people trust you they are more likely to work with you in the solving of problems or the selling of goods.

To build upon that position of trust actively express gratitude.  The simple exercise of good manners, like saying thank-you, greeting someone by name, offering to help, signing off with your own contact information on all  correspondence, make it easier for the other person to remember you and not have strange feelings of discomfort about you.

There you are in their memories:  offering to help, ready to say thank you, willing to say 'I am sorry' when you're wrong, able to listen to them and keep your opinion to yourself if it does no great good to offer it.

The more I think about other people and what they need the better able I am to understand how to write what will make sense to them and to provide information that anticipates their questions and concerns and respond appropriately.  All of these activities make a person a better writer and easier to work with in any environment--virtual or otherwise.

Worse than cussing in the workplace is the use of the word: "Whatever"

Emojis and other shorthand ways of communicating in the workplace have promoted the overuse of the dismissive word "Whatever" to suggestions and ideas sometimes tremulously suggested or thoughtfully constructed and offered with hope.

Meant to sound agreeable--perhaps even a compromise-- answering in response to a suggestion "Whatever" often creates the opposite effect of what people believe that they are achieving by using it.

"Whatever" said with a shrug signals to the speaker that the idea being mentioned isn't important enough to elicit a thoughtful response.

"Whatever" said while not looking up from the screen suggests that you are not really listening.

Look "whatever" up in a dictionary that captures popular culture words that have lost a precise meaning, and it could say:  "Anything goes and nobody cares."

If not having standards in the workplace and no passion for the job either are the ethics and attitudes you want to promote, then use the word. If not, don't say it.

Word to the whatever-wise:  Don't replace "whatever" with the word "Awesome."  

Awesome is not an awesome word.

Whatever isn't either.

Better manners means better tips (and ultimately, more loyal customers)

Yesterday I went to my hairdresser in a nearby town who when I arrived was engaged in a conversation with a co-worker—the hairdresser working at the next station. 

 A nod of hello to me, she continued to talk with her co-worker, while using her hands to signal that I should sit in the shampoo chair which I did.

I  submitted to a head-washing that made me think she had a dog at home that she bathed rigorously in the family bathtub.

As some people do when washing a head and find themselves distracted, she kept returning to the same place behind my right ear, and I fought the urge to say “Woof!!  Woof!”  for I had never felt more like a dog in the hands of an animal groomer.  Because I like dogs this did not offend me.

What did offend me was my hairdresser wasting her opportunity to earn more money, for I know something that my hairdresser doesn’t know:  she is better at her job than many other hairdressers I have tried, but other hairdressers with lesser skills have a more cultivated and refined professional personae than she evidences.  They charge more for their work, and they get much better tips because the environment where they work requires good manners and a professional personae.

The skills of creating and using that personae are not out of anyone’s reach for they are based in simple courtesy:  greet the customer, ask and answer questions according to what the customer needs and wants to know, be present in the experience (perhaps humbly or flexibly present), and smile often and generously.  Thank the customer for coming in and say, “I’ll look forward to seeing you next time!”

My hairdresser didn’t do any of that though I gave her ample opportunity.  The only question she asked was:  “Whatcha want today?”

I replied, “You have always given me an excellent haircut, but today I hope that the lengths in back can be evened up to simply one length, and I would prefer that my bangs not be shorter than my eyebrows.”

She gave me a superior haircut while her attention flitted back to her pal-co-worker, and their exchanges were like cheerleaders who band together and exclude other people who have come to the game.  They talked about other customers.  They talked about an absent co-worker who had called in sick, and they knew for a fact she was hung over.   It is not an uncommon dynamic in various places about town where you go to do business.  People at work often talk among themselves, and pretend that the customers are deaf, invisible—or simply not there.  

Yesterday at the beauty shop,  another customer was sitting with perm rollers in her hair and her head wrapped in a long string of cotton to keep the fluid from trailing down into her eyes and down her back, and she tried to enter their conversation to no avail.  We were adult customers but we were treated like children who should be seen and not heard.  We were customers who were handled efficiently but could have been handled better, and if we had been the tips would have increased and our willingness to recommend their services to others would be more often expressed.  The business would thrive. 

I will most likely go back to my hairdresser because she gives a good haircut, but I grieve for her future, which could be so much more prosperous than it is in the small town where she works hard all day long to deliver low-priced haircuts and earn the low wages and proportionately small tips that come with it.  Her work deserves the kind of price and profits other hairdressers earn with better manners in better beauty shops but don't cut hair as well as she does.   She could have more money and a brighter future, if she knew.  I want it for her.  All she needs to do is learn better manners and use them.  

The discipline of courtesy can flesh out a professional personae that will take anyone farther in life than bonding with your co-workers while customers sit quietly in your presence.