Make People Listen with a Powerful Vocabulary

I’ve always been jealous of Michael. Having worked alongside this smart guy for years, I wondered for ages what it was about him that made everyone shut up and listen the moment he opened his mouth.

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Softly spoken and quiet, this guy would walk into a meeting, sit silently for most of the time, and generally blend into the background. But when he did speak, he got everyone’s full attention – instantly.

I, on the other hand, tended to blurt out my thoughts energetically – and often found myself getting ignored! It was frustrating to say the least.

If you’ve ever had this kind of experience, you might be surprised by what I learned when I eventually studied Michael more closely and finally figured out for myself how I could make my colleagues listen.

The motivational power of jealousy!

I knew early on that Michael was the person I wanted to model myself on. He was well respected, almost revered. I was incredulous to one day overheard the boss stating that he had never made a mistake – clearly impossible – but it did illustrate very poignantly how much respect this guy had earned!

Not only that, but Michael earned a salary that I could at the time only dream of! So you can imagine that I was very motivated to learn how to emulate his success.

A commitment to change, and some things that didn’t work

Once I committed to making a change and learning how to make my workmates and superiors listen respectfully to me, I was surprised to find how easy it was to turn around. Although there were some wrong alleys and blind turns!

The first thing I tried was to be like Michael in his quiet ways. That helped me to be a better listener, but still didn’t make anyone listen to me. And it was so unlike my natural buoyant style that I felt stressed.

Next, I thought that it might be Michael’s superior technical knowledge that made others listen to him. But then I realized that it couldn’t be that simple, because lots of my other colleagues were just as smart and as experienced as Michael, but they didn’t command the respect that he did.

How I turned around my image and reputation at work

It was when I finally realized that it was simply the words that Michael used that had won him the position and success that he enjoyed, that I had my real breakthrough. I committed to increasing my vocabulary and set myself clear goals. It was amazing how fast I took leaps and bounds with my new vocabulary, and I’m proud to say that my salary is now almost as good as Michael’s! Maybe one day I’ll even overtake him…

If you are ready to turn your career around and get on the train to success, building a powerful vocabulary is the one sure way to have those that matter listen to you!