King Solomon said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.

Words have the ability to make or mar. The whole creation is a product of words; everything in the universe, from religion to our text books the medium to express are Words.

Who can forget the mesmerizing words of Rabindranath Tagore? Is it possible to ignore words of Shakespeare? Didn’t you like the winning speech of Barrack Obama? Aren’t you glued to your seats when you hear Oprah Winfrey? Have you heard the famous speech of Steve Jobs?

Be it the world of politics, religion, media, education, entertainment and technology, words have always made history. No one can deny the importance of words in our lives; Words can inspire you, words can comfort you and words can influence you. It’s the meaning behind those words that make the real difference. The choice of words can make you smile and they can make you cry as well. Although many situations desire that silence is best but that might be situational, eventually you have to break the silence by using the power of words.

Here’s a story that takes me back to my college days.

A friend of mine was preparing for an Inter- College debate competition. Although she spoke very articulately, the content of her speech was not effective. Our professor who was training her tried her best to make my friend understand that she needed to improve on the debate content. Somehow my friend was of the opinion that the content doesn’t really matter as long as she delivered it well. Finally, my professor went up to her and told her “you are loser and you are useless – you can’t do anything in this world”. We were all stunned and taken aback by her words. A few minutes later my friend composed herself and asked the teacher, ‘what kind of a teacher are you? Is this the way you speak to a student? Then my professor smiled and replied, ‘my dear, this is what I am trying to say – the content has to be powerful. You saw your reaction because you were not happy with my choice of words? Words do matter!’

The power lies in the words or phrases like Please, I appreciate, kindly, if you don’t mind, it was nice of you and thank you. We need to constantly remind ourselves to use positive words in life, the waiter who takes our order at the restaurant, or the person who helps us with our laundry, an old beggar on the street, the young guy who fills our fuel tank or the uncle who cleans our car. Our language, our behavior, our attitude all go hand in hand.

Words when spoken are often supported by the tone of your voice; at times we use the best of words but in a harsh tone and the meaning changes.

Words have immense power in them, they give birth to ideas, which in turn create powerful emotions, which rule the hearts of people who then decide to act constructively or destructively, for justice or injustice.