{"id":11135,"date":"2010-08-03T10:12:43","date_gmt":"2010-08-03T15:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=11135"},"modified":"2010-08-03T10:41:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-03T15:41:00","slug":"what-causes-people-to-be-successful-in-their-careers-part-iv-effective-speech-making%e2%80%94word-choice-style-and-language-sophistication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2010\/08\/what-causes-people-to-be-successful-in-their-careers-part-iv-effective-speech-making%e2%80%94word-choice-style-and-language-sophistication\/","title":{"rendered":"What Causes People to Be Successful in Their Careers? Part IV: Effective Speech Making\u2014Word Choice, Style, and Language Sophistication"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout these blogs, we have been asking the question: What causes people to be successful in their careers? The answer we provided was the achievement of people skills. We showed evidence of this position through research from leading universities. This research showed that much more than half of job success comes from people skills. We also noted that much of what we call people skills is effective communication.<\/p>\n

Communication as a Premier People Skill<\/strong><\/p>\n

In our first blog<\/a>, we used the model developed by Robert Bolton in People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts<\/em> to show that certain attitudes support a person\u2019s successful efforts at effective communication, attitudes that produce good relationships before formal communication even starts. These attitudes are genuineness, respect, and empathy.[1]<\/a> We will refer to this paradigm as the \u201cBolton Model.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

The following is a visualization of Bolton\u2019s model:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In efforts to apply these qualities, they appear as a blend, an overlapping; the way we participate in society, in our family, in our social network, and in our workplace, however, all depend on applying these characteristics.<\/p>\n

In efforts to apply these qualities, they appear as a blend, an overlapping: the way we participate in society, in our family, in our social network, and in our workplace.<\/p>\n

To make clear the meaning of these words, we cite some approximate equivalents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Our Term<\/span><\/td>\nApproximate Equivalents<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Genuineness<\/td>\nAuthenticity, Transparency, Openness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Respect<\/td>\nCaring, Agape Love<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Empathy<\/td>\nUnderstanding, Feeling With<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In the second blog<\/a>, Part II, we examined the art of listening as a starting point for our examination of effective communication, with a regular circling back to those three essential attitudes of genuineness, respect, and empathy which support the person\u2019s credibility with an audience of one or one hundred. Listening represents a learnable skill supporting the three attitudes.<\/p>\n

In our third blog<\/a>, Part III, we examined the challenge of effective speech making through a variety of topics developed from the personal experiences of the writer and from reliable sources, including Aristotle from his On Rhetoric<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We now turn to the subject of the fourth blog: word choice, style, and language sophistication, which, taken as a whole, covers the subject of writing the speech. Many of us were taught in speech courses to prepare a detailed outline with information supporting our main topics and speak extemporaneously. This approach was said to be the most natural, causing us to link with our audience more effectively. This model may be useful for certain speech situations, but if a person has to prepare for an important speech, which goes to the reputation of the speaker, it\u2019s always best to write out the speech word for word. I\u2019m not recommending reading the speech, for this is the most difficult approach to speech making. But, if one writes out a speech and then practices extensively from the written speech, the words come fluently when one actually delivers the speech from an outline. It can be lively and direct.<\/p>\n

Choice of Words<\/strong><\/p>\n

Words are vital to our own thinking process. Until we can express a thought in words, it is useless to us. Getting the right words is equivalent to \u201cHey, I have a really great idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being an excellent communicator means that we can convert our ideas into communication symbol systems, words, spoken or written, body language and facial expressions, speech delivery, all supporting our verbal processes. Not only do experts believe this, based on social science research, but we know it based on our own introspection. We know that to communicate effectively, accurately, and clearly, we have to be able to manipulate words as symbols.<\/p>\n

As with so much of human communication, the cognitive base for word selection and word processing into larger chunks such as phrases, clauses, and sentences represents a vast reservoir of conscious and subconscious ideas. So, to uncover some of the widely acknowledged truths about speech writing, we turn to the subjects of word choice, style, and language sophistication.<\/p>\n

Word Choice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Create Mood with Language<\/span><\/p>\n

In our earlier blog, we pointed out that word choice determined the overall mood of a communication, along with other symbol systems such as body language, facial expressions, and voice. Two dimensions of language that greatly influence mood are positive vs. negative language and formal vs. informal language[2]<\/a>:<\/p>\n

POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE TONE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Negative<\/strong><\/td>\nThe office will close at 7 p.m.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nThe office will remain open until 7 p.m.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Negative<\/strong><\/td>\nThe plan is not practicable.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nThe plan has major stumbling blocks.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

FORMAL VS. INFORMAL TONE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Formal<\/strong><\/td>\nInformal<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
few or no contractions<\/td>\ncontractions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
few or no first-person pronouns<\/td>\nfirst-person pronouns<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
few or no colloquial expressions<\/td>\ncolloquial expressions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
complex or technical vocabulary<\/td>\nsimple, non-technical vocabulary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
longer sentences<\/td>\nshorter sentences<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
passive voice<\/td>\nactive voice<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
precise figures<\/td>\napproximate figures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
introduction and conclusion<\/td>\nno introduction or conclusion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
salutations and signatures<\/td>\nno salutations or signatures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
table of contents<\/td>\nno table of contents<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
bibliography or footnotes<\/td>\nno bibliography or footnotes<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Eliminate Clutter<\/span><\/p>\n

Our speech is often filled with clutter that creates an adverse effect on our speech efforts in a number of ways:<\/p>\n