Words
The power of using and choosing words wisely

There’s something undeniably wonderful — magical, even — about the way well-chosen words can make us feel. Well-crafted writing catches us up and carries us away, to wherever and whenever the writer wants to take us; just as well-delivered speeches wrench the air from our lungs and draw us towards new ideas and ideals.

Unfortunately, when it comes to words at work, most of us can relate to a meeting that goes something like this:

Cue an overenthusiastic young buck or go-getting doe leaping from their chair and bounding across the room. ‘We need to think outside the box’, they declare sagely. ‘If we’re really going to embrace blue-sky thinking, we need to reach into the bottom drawer for a competitive advantage.’ Another pause to let the significance of that statement sink in. Then, a strong finish. ‘I’m sure this is already on everyone’s radar. There’s lots of moving parts, but with a robust strategy we’ll innovate a solution. It’s just going to take some heavy lifting …’

Everyone’s nodding. We’re nodding. We’re all in alignment. We’re definitely singing from the same hymn sheet. We’re dying to get back out there and value-add. But, quite honestly, we’re fairly fucking confused about what we’re meant to be value-adding to.

Here’s the thing, though … [whispers] No-one else has any idea either.

This is just one example of a business lexicon gone wrong. Jargon-laden meetings, endless-scroll emails padded with waffle, vague instructions. While they’re often given little thought as they’re pounded out on keyboards or creaking from our voice boxes, the words we hear, read, say and write have a colossal impact.

What could be more important to business than the words we use? They’re fundamental to communication, obviously. They allow us to share information with each other. But they also build or undermine relationships. They foster a sense of belonging or a feeling of exclusion. They can inspire, motivate and rally others to action. They can change people’s behaviours. They can shift and shape culture.

Let’s get words right, lest we start referring to brainstorming sessions as thought showers.

Words worthy of attention

In a world and workplace flooded with countless words competing for our attention, the ones that are clear, direct, relevant and surprising are the ones we focus on first. There’s no sugar-coating it: this takes effort. But it’s effort well spent when it means the difference between our message connecting or missing the mark.

Words inspire action

Ever noticed how great leaders always seem to know exactly what words will compel people to act? It’s not voodoo, though. When we analyse their words, there’s a recurrent swing between formal and colloquial; passive and active; relational and rhetorical. The only constant is that their words always ring authentic.

Words bring people together or tear them apart

What are the words your culture is built on? Is it a culture of inclusiveness — us and we? Or a culture of individuals — I and me? Even this tiny distinction can change the dynamics of our teams and the way they work together.

Active versus passive

What do we want people to do? The verbs we use and the way we arrange our words can compel people to act or respond. An important part of making this happen is choosing between passive and active voice.

Passive voice is a wonderful choice when we want communication to be unbiased and objective, which is why it’s often used for scientific reports and reputable news reporting. But it tends to produce tepid messaging. The active voice is often tighter, less wordy, more direct and easier to understand. It’s more likely to translate into action.

How do we know which voice we’re using? The simple rule is to ensure our subject is doing the action, rather than the action being done to the subject. ‘The cat bit her owner’ versus ‘the owner was bitten by the cat’. There’s more impact when we put the emphasis on the feline.

What does this look like in action?

Well, instead of saying, ‘An email will be sent to confirm the details’, we could say, ‘I will confirm the details by sending an email’. Instead of messaging, ‘Instructions will be given to you by the site coordinator’, we could send, ‘The site coordinator will give you instructions’.

In both of these examples, we’re being more direct and assigning responsibility and accountability.

Think about the people you work with every day. Who tends towards the passive voice, and who favours the active voice? Active voice comes across as more direct and authoritative. However, it can be construed as a little brusque when used too frequently. This is why we like to dial up the human.

We could change the previous examples to:

‘I’ll confirm the deets by shooting you an email.’

‘Our site coordinator, Paul, will give you instructions.’

As long as the additions are authentic, appropriate and dovetail with our company’s culture — let rip.

Loaded language

Our choice of words can also influence others’ actions by evoking emotions. This devious technique is known as loaded language (also: emotive language or high-inference language).

It’s a trick abused regularly by politicians, public figures and brands, who exploit our tendency to act on our initial emotional response without thinking it through. It’s a tactic best used for good, and avoided when fairness or neutrality is needed.

Think of words like ‘torture’ and ‘freedom’. These words carry an emotional charge that resonates beyond their literal meaning. They trigger a subconscious value judgement that escalates into an emotion.

Consider the difference between ‘invading Iraq’ and ‘liberating Iraq’. Were their wages ‘reduced’ or ‘slashed’? Is a new 4WD a ‘cost’ or an ‘investment in lifestyle’?

What loaded language is used, or can be used, in your workplace?

Rhetorical versus relational

All workplace communication comprises rhetorical and relational language.

Relational language is exactly what it sounds like: it’s used in conversations that forge connections, build trust and credibility, and foster collaboration. It can be as simple as asking someone what they got up to on the weekend or a conversation about sports during a lunch break.

On the other hand, rhetorical language is all about influence, persuasion, argumentation and getting others to bend to our point of view. It’s frequently used in presentations and meetings, and whenever we’re asking someone to do something.

While the origins of rhetoric can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece, the fundamentals still hold true. It incorporates three distinct styles: agility (logos) employs logic; authenticity (ethos) appeals to hopes and dreams, ideals, morals, values, and guiding beliefs of a community or culture; and empathy (pathos) is about care and appeals primarily to our emotions.

Influence isn’t only about rhetorical language, though; we need a balance of styles to communicate effectively. It’s all too obvious when a leader tilts too far into rhetoric, just as it is when conversations linger too long in the relational.

Abstract versus concrete

Abstract language is intangible and vague. It references big ideas, concepts, themes and categories. But because it lacks tangibility, it also tends to lack emotional impact.

Conversely, concrete language evokes a visceral visual image. It uses specific words to paint a compelling picture that’s rich in detail. ‘Imagine’ is a particularly powerful word because it encourages us to visualise an outcome.

Effective communication dances between abstract and concrete words, yet business communication — strategy in particular — frequently floats in abstraction.

It’s an easy trap to fall into: sweeping, cliché-heavy proclamations like, ‘let’s focus on the key priorities’, or, ‘our customers come first’. But what do those statements really mean?

Using generic language assumes everyone shares the same definitions of words like ‘loyalty’, ‘accountability’, ‘culture’, collaboration’, ‘alignment’ and ‘results’. Yet business terms and buzzwords rarely make for compelling or influential language.

No, if we want to bring our vision to life, we need to swing our language into the concrete.

Consider a typical organisational value set: Excellence, Integrity, Respect, Teamwork, Safety. All wonderful words, ideals that are well worth aspiring to. But what do they actually look like on a daily basis? Unless we unpack the behaviours and share what they look like throughout the employee lifecycle, they’ll no doubt remain words — not values.

Now, look at the values of Ueno Digital: We’re all in this together, Be raw, Figure it out, Nothing here is someone else’s problem, Bring the chocolate, Life is short, enjoy it. While these ‘Culture Values™’ still need to be unpacked, they paint a more detailed and memorable picture than empathy, transparency, courage, self-awareness, motivation and gratitude. Not only is this concrete language, but it’s decidedly human as well.

Formal versus colloquial

For several centuries, formal was the default at work, but our appetite for formality today is significantly different. The trend towards human has brought a craving for language abundant with colloquialism and other informalities.

The appropriate level of formality should be determined by context, brand, culture and audience — never by outdated notions of professionalism.

In Australia, for example, there’s an odd phenomenon where the more colloquially we speak, the more we’re liked. Conversely, the more formally we speak, the less we’re trusted. Our national culture bends towards underdogs, battlers and blue collars. Of course, this is different for everyone, depending on where we are in the world, which company we work for and what industry we work in.

Regardless, the one thing that should never be tolerated is jargon (hands up if you thought it was going to be swearing?). Jargon is insidious, the very worst of formal speak. At Jaxzyn, we don’t have a swear jar, we have a ‘jar-gon’. If anyone uses unnecessary terminology, everyone is encouraged to call it out. The word is written on a piece of paper and put into the jar-gon as an act of penitence.

Familiar and inclusive

People speaking different languages find it tougher to communicate with each other, but comprehension doesn’t only apply to speakers of different nationalities.

A neurosurgeon and a builder both have their own languages. A developer at Atlassian speaks a different language from an executive at Nestlé. A safety leader speaks a slightly different language from someone working in sales. And while there are certainly commonalities, language can easily become a barrier to comprehension and influence.

Simply: it’s easier to understand language we use regularly.

The challenge is that language varies across age groups, cultural backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds and roles. This is where we need empathy to look beyond what seems natural to us and to use language that’s familiar to the people we want to connect with.

Beyond comprehension, familiar language also fosters inclusion. Unfamiliar language emphasises our differences rather than our similarities. If we’re working towards a sense of community, commonality and shared purpose, we should also be working towards a common language that feels familiar to everyone.

So how do we keep it familiar and inclusive?

Well, if our people are prolific jargon users, perhaps we can include a jargon cheat sheet in our induction kits.

Setting context before diving into content also goes a long way to ensuring everyone feels included. This might mean starting meetings by framing where we’ve come from and where we’re at.

Finally, let’s say things simply. If Stephen Hawking could explain time travel in a way that most of us can understand, there really shouldn’t be much that can’t be said in a way that’s universally understood. We just need to invest a bit more effort.

Inclusion versus exclusion

Our choice of pronoun also defines our relationships with others. Changing a single word can bring us together or set us apart.

‘We’ and ‘us’ is inclusive, while ‘you’ and ‘I’ is exclusive. Is it me and you, or us together?

Let’s consider these in a work context.

We often hear: ‘The CEO sent an email to all employees’. But what about: ‘Our CEO sent us all an email’. Simply using ‘our’ and ‘us’ brings everyone together facing the same challenges. It fosters a sense of inclusion and unity.

It’s no accident which particular pronouns are used most frequently in this book.