elegance, eloquence and conversational etiquette

First of all, apologies for the delay in this post’s surfacing – I have been experiencing technical issues initially to prevent its arrival, and latterly a lack of time to access Wi-Fi hotspots. Still, at least the next Thursday Thesaurus is only 48 hours away…

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Something that I wanted to cover early on in this blog, preferably with the intention of regularly linking back to this theme, was information on being able to apply the new knowledge and applications of the everyday words you are learning. After all, what is the point of holding all this additional information if you are unable to apply it!

When I first started studying the intricacies of the application of simple words to create powerful effects, it was related directly to my creation of magic routines. As such, it was simple to include the subtle applications of language into my scripts.

Everyday life isn’t scripted, mind.

(Nevertheless, certain aspects – especially phrases and patterns used to establish and open conversation – often are semi-scripted. It shouldn’t have taken long to add today to the end of your how are you questions. With some thought, you may find other areas of your life where you can apply what you’re learning here in similar ways.)

However, there are a number of points within our daily lives that allow you to pre-script your addition to the conversation before you submit it…

Tip One – Train yourself in e-loquence

If you’re reading this – published online – it is safe to assume that you have a high contact of interaction with the internet. Indeed, at this stage in the proceedings, this blog is relatively unknown, and it is very likely you would have encountered it through sharing based on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter.

In each of these, and also in SMS and email communication, you engage in alternating conversation almost in real-time. However, before you submit each of your messages, you are provided the opportunity to review, edit and alter them.

The first tip in this series (as will the majority of later tips) involves reminding yourself of the vocabulary you seek to instil in yourself, and becoming self correcting.

Say you notice you are about to send an SMS saying How are you today? and are trying to add both use of so and today into your everyday lexicon. I am sure you are ahead of me already – before submission of the message, you are able to alter it to read So how are you today?

I have used this system for a long time with interesting one-word comebacks/brush-offs/acknowledgements, like Ali G’s Respect and Tim’s (the Sorcerer who lives Beyond the Woods from Monty Python and the Holy Grail) Quite, and can vouch for its effectiveness.

After a short while, you will discover that you are naturally adding the words in when you type them – and soon after that, also when you speak them.

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Let me know how it works for you – and if you have any brilliant ideas for acquiring new vocabulary, I’d love to hear them – you’ll be credited and made famous in future editions of this series!