Vocabulary Can Make or Break a Shop

This article was written by Geoff Williams of Entrepreneur.com

Ask any English professor or business communicator, and you'll receive the same answer: Whether you're speaking to the public or chatting with an investor or vendor over lunch, the quality of your vocabulary affects your company's bottom line.

It's not surprising that grammarians and business experts don't recommend botching the language to the point where you interchange the words "good" and "well." "It isn't uncommon, even at fairly high levels of business, to find people who have never been told they're using improper grammar," says Suzanne Bates, president and CEO of Bates Communications, a consulting firm that helps executives and professionals improve their speaking style.

"Even if people aren't telling you you're using incorrect grammar, people are evaluating you, and often concluding you're not intelligent," says Bates, author of Speak Like a CEO: Secrets to Commanding Attention and Getting Results. If you consider yourself educated and articulate, you have cause for concern, too. People can come to the same conclusion -- that you're an idiot -- if your vocabulary comes off as too erudite.

"Amazingly, many otherwise sharp professionals are unaware of the need for down-home language," laments Bill Lampton, author of The Complete Communicator: Change Your Communication, Change Your Life! and founder of Championship Communication in Gainesville, Ga. "They use 75-cent words when their customers would prefer 10-cent words that get the meaning across without confusing or annoying listeners."

Another frequent offense is sprinkling conversation with industry jargon that consumers or other laymen can't understand. "Simple words work best," says Lampton.