How Our Speech Affects Self-Esteem, Personal Branding, and Work Success
Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 8:07 am
Popular wisdom advises: spread only good rumors about yourself - the source will be forgotten, but the meaning will remain. We do not consider rumors a good way to build a reputation, but it is worth talking about yourself in a positive way. In many ways, it is with words that we form our self-esteem and the attitude of others, the virtual image and brand of ourselves as a specialist in the labor market. Insecurity, self-deprecation, filler words are bad image makers, you should not work with them. This article will be useful to anyone who wants to use the power of words to their advantage.
Words have power
King Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs 3,000 years ago, which, among other things, talks vietnam whatsapp list bout the power, potential danger, and possibilities of verbal communication. For example: “A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his lips...”; “A fool’s tongue is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul”; “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life, but whoever opens wide his lips will have disaster.”
Of course, you and I don't consider ourselves stupid people. And even more so, we don't want to die: neither ourselves, nor our careers, nor our business. But our words sometimes harm us.
What (and how) we say about ourselves is often more important than who we really are. Of course, a handyman won’t be able to pass himself off as a serial entrepreneur with just smart talk. But in general, if our image clearly matches our content, people perceive us the way we present ourselves. And in this presentation, all factors are important: social circle, appearance, portfolio, self-presentation at a conference podium or over a glass of wine. All this forms a personal brand that can work both for us and against us.
There are few auditory people in the world: only about 10% of all people on Earth perceive and absorb sound information best. Moreover, in Russia and the USA there are 5% of them, and in Great Britain - 10-15%. We are talking about the most well-established data transmission channel, and not about the volume of data we receive through sound. It is more: we absorb up to 35% of all information verbally.
To be convinced that words have power, you don’t need pseudoscientific theories about the memory of water or record-breaking cows giving Stakhanovite milk yields to the accompaniment of Vivaldi’s symphonies. Just remember your state after communicating with positive, successful and self-confident people. Remember? And now, for contrast, recall the feeling of toxic people stewing in a broth of criticism and decadence.
Different cultures around the world use the same terms to denote words and “things.” In a number of countries, words have the same legal force as our documents with signatures and seals. And the speech of the South American Matsés tribe is structured in such a way that the speaker always indicates the source of information and the degree of its reliability. Different verb forms help with this. Ask such an Indian how many tomatoes he has, and he will answer something like “the last time I saw a basket of vegetables, there were five.” It doesn’t matter that it was a minute ago and no one else has approached the basket: if the Indian is not looking at the tomatoes right now, then he is relying on the last confirmed fact. Such legal precision would sometimes come in handy when communicating with colleagues, wouldn’t it?
Words have power
King Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs 3,000 years ago, which, among other things, talks vietnam whatsapp list bout the power, potential danger, and possibilities of verbal communication. For example: “A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his lips...”; “A fool’s tongue is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul”; “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life, but whoever opens wide his lips will have disaster.”
Of course, you and I don't consider ourselves stupid people. And even more so, we don't want to die: neither ourselves, nor our careers, nor our business. But our words sometimes harm us.
What (and how) we say about ourselves is often more important than who we really are. Of course, a handyman won’t be able to pass himself off as a serial entrepreneur with just smart talk. But in general, if our image clearly matches our content, people perceive us the way we present ourselves. And in this presentation, all factors are important: social circle, appearance, portfolio, self-presentation at a conference podium or over a glass of wine. All this forms a personal brand that can work both for us and against us.
There are few auditory people in the world: only about 10% of all people on Earth perceive and absorb sound information best. Moreover, in Russia and the USA there are 5% of them, and in Great Britain - 10-15%. We are talking about the most well-established data transmission channel, and not about the volume of data we receive through sound. It is more: we absorb up to 35% of all information verbally.
To be convinced that words have power, you don’t need pseudoscientific theories about the memory of water or record-breaking cows giving Stakhanovite milk yields to the accompaniment of Vivaldi’s symphonies. Just remember your state after communicating with positive, successful and self-confident people. Remember? And now, for contrast, recall the feeling of toxic people stewing in a broth of criticism and decadence.
Different cultures around the world use the same terms to denote words and “things.” In a number of countries, words have the same legal force as our documents with signatures and seals. And the speech of the South American Matsés tribe is structured in such a way that the speaker always indicates the source of information and the degree of its reliability. Different verb forms help with this. Ask such an Indian how many tomatoes he has, and he will answer something like “the last time I saw a basket of vegetables, there were five.” It doesn’t matter that it was a minute ago and no one else has approached the basket: if the Indian is not looking at the tomatoes right now, then he is relying on the last confirmed fact. Such legal precision would sometimes come in handy when communicating with colleagues, wouldn’t it?