Words are the least understood part of that crowded, undisciplined and noisy group of ill-fitting elements that together constitute communications. In fact, words often get in the way of communications, like rider-less horses in a race or like hooting cars in a traffic jam.
We misunderstand each other every day, even when the meanings of the words seem complete, certain and fixed. Like cars for travel, words are built for communication, but neither work properly in a jam..
Words never are completely understood by audiences, and that’s because of four key properties that words have.
First, words mean very little on their own. They need context for meaning.
Outside their context words are not just confusing but meaningless. And they become useless and even counter-productive, not just weak. Their meaning depends upon their company, what is going on around them, on what has previously been said, or on what will be said next.
Second, in order to work out the meanings of words a lot of help is needed from punctuation. It’s difficult to be clear with spoken words because in speaking you can’t see the punctuation. You can only guess it from the way the words come.
So when you include correct punctuation, those little dots and dashes and commas, the meaning of the sentence changes. Dots and commas can save the words.
Third, words change their meaning as soon as they are spoken or read. Once expressed, once out, they start wandering all over the place, they get diverted, impeded, refracted, reflected; they meet other words you don’t even know and didn’t say or want, sounding stranger than you thought they sounded when you wrote or said them in the first place.
What you say is very rarely what other people hear, even when they are listening very carefully, and even when you have taken trouble to be clear in the words you use.
And it’s the same with the written word. Any misunderstanding will still be catastrophic. Everyone will still understand something different from the writer’s intention.
This is even truer of business language, where vocabulary gets limited and reduced by the need, where necessary, to avoid those ambiguous words with their loose ways and their wandering meanings (beloved of politicians and intellectually corrupt people).
Honest, transparent business writing has to tie these words securely down with strong pegs that don’t allow the words to flap around and confuse people or give them changed, different, or new ideas.
In business writing the principle task is to keep the range of meanings to a minimum with lots of rope, ties, tape, glue and formaldehyde.
Those butterflies cannot just flutter by. They must be caught, mounted and put in glass boxes so that they don’t move, and for their dead beauty to be seen. So if you want complete precision, you have to try to limit the connections that a word wanders off to look for except the ones you want.
The fourth overall property of words is that they are your unique and special tools. They are all we have as a form of communication to help us understand each other in any detail. We need to make sure that that the words we use don’t stop us in our efforts to do what we want to do with them.
Words can be strong for you; they can add to your conviction; they can improve your argument; they can make a sale or win a debate. But they can also do the opposite of all these things.
Because they can let you down, make you look weak, muddle your direction, make you seem confused and directionless. But the great thing is, we get to choose our words – and it’s quite a responsibility to be clear to others.
People concentrate a lot on improving their appearance, using make up, brushing their hair, cleaning their teeth, shaving, putting on nice smells, lipstick and generally creating an impression through appearance, sight, smell and so on.
But what about sound? Voice? Mostly, your words and the way you use and deliver them make a huge impression. Our words are ours; we choose them. So they must be memorable. There are no bad words, just poor choices of words in sequence.
In any given context, a word can be imprecise, flabby, flowery, boring, or perfect. It’s up to you, the writer, to choose the right ones.
Essentially, a reasonable rule for good business writing is to show, not tell. And in an environment in which words are highly controlled, use a word every often that lets in the light and allows the reader or the listener to appreciate that these words are your choices and not forced on you. Facts, like words, are not often persuasive on their own – they always need introduction and context
To be more memorable is mostly to remove those empty, stale, boring or lazy words and add stronger flavours. Your choice of which words depends upon your imagination. But a good bet for memorability will be the addition of emotion, an appeal to the senses, and personalisation, the real proof of genuine engagement.
Your text has limitless potential. Don’t squander it by using words that do not show or demonstrate. Try to use words and phrases that are as memorable as you would like to be to others. So charge up your communications – use them to revive yourself and inspire others.
words in books 
