I used to think that words were unimportant, and in a sense they are. Actions speak way louder than words and we have all met people who talk big … yet do little. A person can speak for hours, day or even years about important things, and many people may believe what they say; but all of this can be undone with a single action.

That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594

Words are simply labels given to objects and concepts so that we may convey our thoughts and feelings with other people that speak the same language. Words are little more than a crude translator of our inner thoughts. I say ‘crude’ because only a small percentage of how we communicate is made up of words, and quite often words just don’t fully express the way we are feeling. Consider an angry person … words will convey how they feel up to a point after which they will swear, cry or throw things in an attempt express their feelings more vividly.

My ongoing point here is that successful communication is made up of much much more than words. Imagine for a moment that ‘Stephen Hawking’ was giving you a good telling off using that monotone ‘robot voice’ he has become famous for. The effect on you would be minimal compared to an angry father, veins popping, red faced, raged filled maniac wielding a leather strap! We rely on more than just words to perceive how someone is feeling. This epiphany came to me one day while sitting in a room full of people speaking very fast Portuguese (before I learned). I found that by observing other forms of communication such as intonation, eyes, head tilts, arm movements, facial expressions, pauses and other things I could understand the basics of the conversation.

When you are next involved in a conversation, take some time to step out from your body and look down at yourself. Notice where your arms move when you speak, notice the position of your head and where your eyes are directed. Make sure you still listen to the person while you do this or you could create an awkward situation.

Do you remember the game played as a child called charades? I love that game because it forces people to measure their representational systems and translate inner thoughts and visuals into a form that can be understood universally. Body language. Children learn to do it at an early age and the ones that are very good at it often delay their vocal progress.

While correct spelling and impressive vocabulary play an important part in defining your educational background, they are not the essential aspects of communication or indeed even writing. The ultimate goal of writing a sentence is to have someone read and understand it thoroughly. If a word is mispelled it really makes no difference in the larger picture... if it were not this way thou wouldst still speaketh an aged tongue ... and blessed would be thou spell checker.

To povre my pniot hree i wlil witre tihs stenecne wiht all the wosrd jbmlued up. Msot elsngish sakepnig ploepe will hvae no pbreolm rndieag txet taht has been wtirten in tihs menanr.