"Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation..." - The Gettysburg Address

Chances are your reaction to the above "quote" is something along the lines of, "No, no, no! You're wrong, wrong, wrong!"

And, of course, you would be right. Because Lincoln was not only a great leader, he was a great writer. So instead of beginning his Gettysburg Address with a cold, lifeless number, he opens on a prayerful note with a turn of phrase adapted from the 90th Psalm of the King James Bible: "Four score and seven."

Clearly, Lincoln knew the difference between the almost right word - and, the RIGHT word. A distinction famously defined by Mark Twain some 25 years later as...

"the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."

With that thought in mind, in this article I'm going to offer you a few choice words on word choice to help you get more of the right words into your communications. And, make your writing more readable and effective.

Let's start by looking at a line from the sports section of my local daily, The Columbus Dispatch. In a story by AP reporter Tim Reynolds, he describes Dick Vitale's reaction to being voted into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame. Vitale, writes Reynolds, "admitted he 'cried like a baby' upon learning he was induced."

Now maybe Vitale's use of the word baby clouded the writer's thinking. Because induced is so NOT the right word choice. (And yes, in all fairness maybe it was simply a typo. Either way, the end result is the same.)

Which leads us to this article's big (but hardly original) idea: For more readable and effective writing think harder about the word choices you make. For example, while it's obvious that Mr. Reynolds made the wrong choice, what about the people who penned these lines?

• This is literally the equivalent of Microsoft coming to your house and locking a CD in your car CD player.
   
• More CIOs are disinterested in Linux.
   
• WasteWise has collected the following environmental factoids to help you understand the impacts of waste prevention and recycling. (From the web site of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency)
   
• Acterna's OFM software delivers an inside look at the outside plant and can hone in on the exact location of faults....
   
• What we've done is look at creating backups, duplicity in development....
   
• And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.

How many of these writers made the right choice?

Actually, that's a trick question. Because in each instance the highlighted text is used incorrectly. Even though you've read or heard a word or phrase used a certain way - in a prestigious publication, by a noted expert, on a federal government agency web site... or by the President-elect of the United States of America... that doesn't mean the word or phrase was used correctly.

As to why the highlighted words are - in Mark Twain's manner of speaking, lightning bugs - I'll go over one of them: factoid.

According to Webster's a factoid is -

"something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised especially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition."

So, WasteWise is actually informing us that they have fictitious or unsubstantiated information to help us "understand the impacts of waste prevention and recycling." Sort of reminds me of that line we've all been taught to beware of: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

Now for two specific word choice tips:

1. Choose small, simple words

The Gettysburg Address is 271 words long. Two hundred and twenty of them, 81%, are just one syllable. My advice? For more effective word choice think like Lincoln. Think small.

Instead of writing: utilize, peruse, ascertain; write: use, read, find out.

Now by no means am I advising that you never use big words. But in most cases small words will serve your purposes better. And here's why:

"The more simply and plainly an idea is presented, the more understandable it is - and therefore the more credible it will be." - Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear - By Dr. Frank Luntz

My second word choice tip is this:

2. Use mainly nouns and verbs and active-voice words

Strunk and White in their classic book, The Elements of Style, put it this way:

"Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs... It is nouns and verbs that give to good writing its toughness and character."

As to the active voice, legendary copywriter Herschell Gordon Lewis lays down the law in his Active/Passive Rule: "Unless you specifically want to avoid reader involvement in your message, always write in the active voice."

So, with this rule in mind...

Instead of writing - Once the button has been clicked, the order is generated immediately and an e-mail confirmation will be sent automatically to you; write - When you click the button, we immediately generate your order and automatically send you an e-mail confirmation.

Notice the difference the active voice makes? Notice also how the active voice makes the writing more "you-centric." Using active verbs will keep your reader involved and improve your credibility and response rates.

For example, I seldom use the word "allows" in my sales copy because it's a passive, "permission granting" type of word. Instead, I'll opt for enables or the phrase makes it possible. Because in sales and marketing you want your reader to feel empowered to take action. Unlike "allows," enables and makes it possible have the muscle and energy more likely to produce this effect.

That said:

Instead of writing - Study Software allows you to learn faster by organizing exam notes as concept maps....

• Write - Study Software enables you to learn faster by organizing exam notes as concept maps...

Instead of writing - SmartList To Go allows you to create, view and manage databases on your handheld...

• Write - SmartList To Go makes it possible for you to create, view and manage databases on your handheld.

Words, used with thought, skill and finesse, can be a powerful growth engine for your business. Conversely, used amateurishly, without proper thought and skill, words are about as helpful to you as, well, lightning bugs.

So, to greatly improve your odds of filling your pages and screens with the lightning and electrical voltage to power your growth engine, keep today's big idea and two tips front and center in your mind:

For more effective word choice, think harder about the word you choose.

1. Choose small, simple words
2. Choose mainly nouns and verbs and active-voice words

Follow these recommendations and while your words might not make history, they will be duly noted, better remembered - and most importantly, more effective.