Language shapes our behavior and each word we use is imbued with multitudes of personal meaning. The right words spoken in the right way can bring us love, money and respect, while the wrong words—or even the right words spoken in the wrong way—can lead to a country to war. We must carefully orchestrate our speech if we want to achieve our goals and bring our dreams to fruition.
—Dr. Andrew Newberg, Words Can Change Your Brain
Have you ever considered the impact your language has on your confidence and ability to increase your level of influence with others?
Often, language is something we take for granted. However, know that the language we use — both with ourselves and when speaking to others — has huge potential for helping us achieve success.
In this episode, the straight-talkin’ sales and communications extraordinaire Aaron Heath from boutique digital consultancy Briarbird makes a special guest appearance.
Aaron spends a LOT of time on the phone, connecting with the right people and selling large Government organisations on high-end web development services. It’s a tough gig, and over the past 15 years, Aaron has developed a set of effective techniques for success in sales, in which language plays a large part.
We talk about WHY language is key to being effective when you speak, present and pitch, and HOW Aaron uses the power of language to build rapport with and influence key decision makers.
Oh, and we share a podcast listeners-only announcement, so be sure to listen until the end!
A quick snapshot of what we cover:
1. Be aware of the language you use habitually. There are around 500,000 words in the English language, yet the average person only knows around 2,000 — 0.5% of the entire language!
2. Be aware of the language you use when you talk to yourself in your head, and how you talk about yourself to others. Do you use language like “I’m just a…” or “I’m only…”? Do you tell yourself: “You’re an idiot, you’re stupid, you should have known better.”? What negative words do you use that do not serve you? Maybe you should delete from your vocabulary all together?
3. Be aware of the language other people use. Are they direct? Do they speak in metaphors? Do they speak eloquently or are they a bit rough around the edges?
4. Practice using language that suggests certainty. “I guess”, “I think”, “pretty much” all suggest you’re unsure of yourself. How can you convince someone to listen to you, invest in your company, take action etc, when you yourself don’t sound certain of what you do?
5. Jargon and profanity – when is it appropriate?
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