Improve Your Business English Strategy: Use of Thesaurus Part 3 of 4

Remember a thesaurus is an alphabetical list of synonyms.

Look for Power Words!

These are words that paint a picture in the mind of the reader but have a similar meaning or connotation to the word you always write.

Improve your business English emails to clients and co-workers by replacing only 2 or 3 words in emails you send frequently.  Make your written communication interesting and impressive.  

Re-write your common, boring sentences to give a new mental picture to the reader. Use a thesaurus to find similar-meaning words to paint a more vivid picture in the minds of your readers.

Example: Our client said she wanted to finalize the contract soon.

    Boring sentence – not exciting or used too often.

Want to make your business writing more interesting or impressive?

Be sure the new replacement word has the correct meaning or connotation.

HOW? Here is an example…

“Said is Dead” – Too many people write the word “say” or “said” in past tense.  In the thesaurus, you will find “say” synonyms such as suggest, report, and declare. Each of these words has a slightly different meaning that may or may not fit what you want to express.

“Our client suggested she wanted to finalize the contract soon.” = This is not a strong statement, only a suggestion or a hint. The original sentence gives the idea that the client is definite about what she wants.

“Our client reported she wanted… = Not the right word to replace “said” because this means to repeat something or describe an observation. Again not the meaning of “said” in our original sentence.

“Our client declared she wanted…. = Better word! This gives your reader the more vivid mental picture of “making known” what a person wants. Replace “declared” with “said” for a more impressive sentence with similar meaning.

                                                                      Now it is your turn!

1. Look at a typical email that you send to your co-workers, clients, and customers frequently.

2. Choose two common, everyday words in the email. Replace them with new words of similar meaning. You can use the thesaurus to find a similar word – a synonym with a similar connotation or meaning.

3. Save that email text so you have a small collection of emails that you can copy and paste to make your business English communications fresh, interesting, and impressive!

The reader will think – “this person knows a good amount of English!” And you do because as you use a thesaurus, you build your English vocabulary for future use in speaking and writing.

To learn more about my micro-habits to advanced English for business professionals, please contact me on LinkedIn.