Talk, talk, talk by Paul Lemberg.

Talk is cheap. (You’ve heard that, haven’t you?)

Yes, talk is cheap. At least most of our talk is. Cheap and meaningless. Filled with opinions, judgments, gossip, whining, and complaining.

Spend some time characterizing what is coming out of your mouth. How much of it falls into the categories listed above?

There’s another kind of talk that’s not cheap. It’s a special way of talking designed to produce results. It consists of requests, promises, declarations and straight reporting. Cheap talk produces nothing but more cheap talk. Opinions beget more opinions. Gossip begets more gossip.

Not-cheap talk – Action Talk – is a powerful form of expression with the ability to make something happen.

Action talk contains the following elements:

Requests – asking for something specific.

Promises – a commitment to do something specific, in a certain way, by a certain time.

Declaration – a formal statement announcing the possibility of something, the existence of something, or your intention to do something.

Reports – just the facts; without opinions, assessments, judgments, or evaluations.

Be aware of the kinds of language that come out of people’s mouths. You’ll notice right away that the effective people you know tend to make more promises and requests, and keep their “cheap talk” to a minimum.

When they are expressing opinions or judgments they label them so.
 

Copyright 2002-04 ©Paul Lemberg used with his expressed written permission

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