By: Catalina Jiménez - Director & Founder, Sentidos Comunicaciones
Article published in Forbes
Words by themselves generate a certain impact, no matter what channel we use: written, spoken, text message, chat, or video call, we are always communicating and its effect on our audience and interlocutor exceeds by far the meaning each one of these has.
It is often said that we are what we speak, but to this we must also add that the way we speak defines us, the tone we use and the type of words we use to communicate.
They gave me some figures of the three wise Buddhas, inspired by: "Three Wise Monkeys" (The Wise Monkeys), one has his eyes covered, another in the same attitude, but with his hands on his ears and the last one with his mouth covered; about these, there are many interpretations; however, the one I like the most and the one I identify with is not seeing evil, not hearing evil and not speaking evil. In other words, taking care of what we hear, say and see… for me, it is about watching our words. This made me think about the power of what we say and how we say it.
Words by themselves generate a certain impact, no matter what channel we use: written, spoken, text message, chat or video call, we are always communicating and its effect on our audience and interlocutor exceeds by far the meaning each one of these has. According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, our language has more than 93,000 words; however, it is estimated that, during daily communication, a person uses an average of something between 300 and 500 words. But then, if in general most of us use more or less the same expressions, what makes some of them better captivate their audience? The answer is simple: the purpose we give them.
We often use a series of words when we are faced with a situation in which we are positive; but instead, in those moments when we feel less hopeful, our script is restricted and this limits the way we communicate; It is in these cases when we must far care of our vocabulary, tone, and its use the most.
Let's not doubt it, words have the power to move us and are capable of healing us. Through the use we give them, we transmit the knowledge we have about a situation, what we think and what we feel; They are capable of causing a response in our interlocutors.
The same language creates a group, as does belonging to a country, region, entity, company, or to a certain school; and codes are created through words. The other day, my daughter was interacting with another girl of a similar age, but of a different nationality, and in their conversation I could see how between the two of them they were trying to find codes through their differences, they shared the same language, but their words led them to a different message.
This intention, about finding the same code and thus obtaining the impact we want on our interlocutors, is what makes the job of Public Relations special; Our role empowers the messages we deliver to make it possible for a client to speak simply and clearly about a complex cybersecurity operations system or for something as technical as payment processing to be reflected in how it is capable of changing the lives of a person with a tailor-made solution to attend to their personal finances from a mobile device. To be effective with the language we use, we must first be clear about the type of audience we are addressing, also, and regardless of whether it is a one-on-one conversation, or for a large crowd of people, recognize that on the other side there is a human being, with their own needs, concerns and motivations, this is what allows us to adjust our speech according to the type of audience and, above all, the effect we want to cause on them.
Each of our clients and the issues that converge to the purpose of their organizations have a wonderful opportunity for the corporate side to build powerful messages from communication, loaded with words that, in addition to being related to their business; Are also based on a message that invites and motivates them to adopt good business practices, because we all owe that to ourselves as a society. When we lead a company and have the opportunity to communicate with different audiences, we can be reflective and also motivate each person who listens to us, that spark that makes them feel that they are important and that their work also has the ultimate goal, because that is how it is done. we are making you feel. I believe that great deeds are those that are achieved with effort and daily work, and for that purpose, I am convinced that just a couple of words like good morning, thank you very much, I love your work, we will return it try together, are that engine capable of crossing any border and making the impossible a reality. Words unite us and their intention gives us power.
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