One Word at a Time

The Lesson – One Word at a Time

Over the past few weeks, my two-year-old son has shown tremendous improvement with his vocabulary and comprehension. He is now at the stage where he points out and names everything he sees. His development is allowing the two of us to communicate more clearly, resulting in less confusion and frustration. As a parent, it’s pretty cool. As a collection professional, it’s a timely reminder of the important role that vocabulary plays in our conversations with customers, teammates, bosses, and clients.

In his blog post The Importance of a Good Vocabulary, author Bo Bennett lists the following benefits for strengthening your vocabulary:

Increasing your vocabulary allows you to use more descriptive words to better communicate your thoughts.
Understanding the meaning of more words will allow you to better understand information that you are reading or listening to (comprehension), thus increasing your retention.
Having a larger vocabulary to call upon will help your verbal communication flow and allow you to start eliminating noises such as, “umm” and “uhh”.
Being able to use more colorful words in speaking to others will allow you to project a more intelligent image.
Knowing more words will make you a better Scrabble® player.

Given the fact that our profession relies heavily on effective communication, certainly we can all agree that Bo makes some excellent points. After all, what collection professional doesn’t want to communicate thoughts more clearly, sound more knowledgeable, and improve his Scrabble® skills?

The Challenge

This week make a concentrated effort to upgrade your communication skills by strengthening your vocabulary one word at a time.

Here are three ways to make it happen:

Learn one new word each day. You might even consider using Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Day” email to have a daily vitamin delivered directly to your inbox.
Look up unfamiliar words. Often times we come across unfamiliar words. When that happens, take the time to look up the meaning of the word to further your comprehension.
Use juicier words. Marketing pro Drew McClellan understands the importance of word choice. In fact, he’s a big fan of using juicy words. In his post, My language is just grating!, Drew provides a three fun and challenging exercises that you can use to sharpen your skills. Be sure to click through and check it out.

The Reflection