The Power of Words in Business: We, I, They, and It

Author: Simmons
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: Words Build Business Relationships, Words Shape Corporate Image
We – Words representing the company
I – Words as the author
They – The audience the words are directed at
It – The words themselves
An exciting and thought-provoking journey, this book truly inspires all business professionals. John Simmons will inspire you to rethink, appreciate, and use words. John shows us that in a world of increasing competition, the power of words can give your company a fresh, clear, unique, and distinctive personality. This book emphasizes the need to recognize that words are living entities. As humans, we must treat other living beings with kindness. Most of the time, we don’t. We are indifferent to them, allowing them to freeze or starve to death. On the street, they desperately try to get our attention, yet we trample them underfoot. We draw curtains to avoid acknowledging them. If we perceive them as a threat, we even lock them away.
Our words reflect our personality. Personality is the core of any writer’s "tone"—that is, "I." However, our words are also influenced by others. At work, the words we write come from us, from our organization itself; friends and colleagues exert visible pressure on us. This is because, in a sense, we are writing on behalf of everyone, as all have a stake in collective life. The people who read what we write also influence us, because you know they will interpret what they read in their own way. And the words themselves—the content you write or speak—have their own personality. Information shapes the delivery of information.