Published
by Susan Young www.getinfrontcommunications.com
The Power of Words
Millions, if not billions of words, are spoken and written every hour
and every day. As adults, we’ve probably at one time or another, had our
words “come back to bite us.” The power of ordinary words strung together
in sentences is absolutely amazing. Words in a press release or email pitch can prompt an immediate phone call from a reporter who was so moved that they call to cover your story. Beautiful flowing words can move people to tears or can move them to laughter. The hateful words of Adolph Hitler prompted people to take action and follow his demented ideas that resulted in the extermination of millions of human beings. Words wield power, some good, some horrific. My uncle recently mailed his closest relatives copies of the 200 page book that he had written on the history of our family, tales of his childhood, stories of his children and other remembrances. The long-awaited book arrived in the mail in September. My 76-year-old spry “Uncle Bobby” did some fabulous prepublication word of mouth marketing to all of us and really created quite a buzz prior to distribution. We all were curious about what he had written. Certainly his remembrances are his own. But the perception and reality lies in his many words, and what lie in between the lines of those 200 pages. There are many stinging and hurtful pages. Perception or reality? He claims these are merely his memories and that his book will be a source of reference and remembrance for future generations. After reading a few chapters about people, many now deceased, and memories that I have held so dearly in my heart and in my mind, I closed the book vowing not to open it again any time soon. Yes, I laughed at some sections. But I cried at the rest. There were clearly more tears than smiles. It was then that I realized that even though this was my family too, his words and perceptions were not ones I wanted to read. His memories are certainly not mine. Uncle Bobby insists he wrote his book from a place of love, almost as a service to the family. Two of his own children, along with plenty of other relatives, disagree. Perception or reality? Three days after I vowed not to pick up the book again, I was still having dreams at night about what he had written. I also mulled over in my mind whether to call him, politely tell him off, drop him an email or in some way communicate to him that I was sad about what he had written. I wanted my turn to share my words with him. My perception. My reality. And then I remembered the pearly words of wisdom that my street-smart Grandma from Brooklyn, his mother, used to tell me. “Know when to speak up and know when to shut up.” In between the power of words is the power of silence. Be careful of the words you choose, whether they are in e-mails, press releases, letters or conversations. Words are more powerful than we think. They can build people up, encourage and show love. Words can also be misinterpreted, hurtful and destructive. When you spell the word LISTEN, if you scramble the letters, it also spells SILENT. |
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Communication Quote “The vacuum created by failure to communicate will quickly be filled with rumor, misrepresentations, drivel and poison.” -C. Northcote Parkinson, Historian One of My Favorite Quotes “Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.” -William Arthur Wood, Author Need a guest speaker or Keynote address? We provide customized presentations
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Meet Susan Young at The Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ on Friday, November 18, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. for a presentation on “How to Grow Your Business: The Power of PR & The Power of Selling." The co-presenter is Dan Shanok, President of TD Sales/Sandler Sales Institute. It is open to the public. $49 per person includes networking and light breakfast. Register at www.sueyoungmedia.com or call (732) 613- 4790. Meet Susan Young at The Bernardsville Chamber of Commerce for her presentation on Public Relations on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. It is open to the public. More information to follow! Don’t miss the November issue of “Life’s A Pitch.” Share this newsletter
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