The Power of Words

Many times during my professional career and my time at university I was confronted with people questioning the value of PR, Marketing, Messaging and Communication Skills of staff. People say that only action counts, as words don’t mean a thing. Words are wind. And I totally understand where people saying that are coming from, I really do. Because in private life, this is totally true. But if people apply that mind set to work and politics, to business life, they’re so wrong. Of course, we could ignore them. The issue is that these people sometimes end up in leading positions and ruin teams, campaigns and entire companies with their negative view on the use of words. This article is a very short, yet honest and hopefully inspiring view on the value of words and their potential to business and movements alike.

Now, no matter what we think about the subject – many times, actually ever since, the written or spoken word has been essential for mankind to achieve, convince, negotiate or simply befriend with one another. We all know that from the early ages on, most conflicts were begun and ended with words. Imagine the sheer inequality in power in the middle ages (and even today), when only the lucky ones are able to read. In the recent past, the word became almost everything. The recent past, that is the age of mass media. Where the value of a word reached its ultimate relevance and retained it ever since. This age has shown that without the right words, even the most righteous move and action will fail, and even the worst evil will gain.

Some may say that words are wind. They might be right. Yet, if words are wind then they can be breeze, storm, tornado. They can create and destroy, nourish and starve. Words can be the source of good or evil, joy or pain. The devastating horrors of World War 2 would not have been possible without the massive propaganda machines on all sides, especially though on the German. The united rise of the supressed African American minority in America would not have happened without Martin Luther King expressing his dream.

Words inspire, words excite, words engage. How else would great business leaders like Steve Jobs or Richard Branson ever have inspired the masses of employees they built their companies on? It was what they said, first and foremost, that caught people’s attention, that drove people into their stores and product lines, that told their story, their vision.

Words create a feeling. They sow a seed into one’s imagination, where it grows into a thought, a desire. The last smartphone I bought was a OnePlus2, and I love it. However, what first caught me was their marketing punchline: “Never Settle”. Two simple words, that express a real lot. Freedom, being on the move, being extraordinary. Of course, that doesn’t attract everyone – these people buy a “Life Companion”. (just kidding).

Words can be weapon and armour, silk or steel, roses and razorblades. They can be everything. One thing is for certain though: Words are the key to people’s mind – once that door is open, everything is possible.