Written by Bill Morgan | 1 February 2011
It is sometimes the most challenging thing we do every meeting.
Choosing the Word of the Day is deceptively hard. If you use an obscure word from Elizabethan England you will not get much participation. If you choose a word with negative connotations people are not attracted to using it.
Although the grammarian usually has no trouble actually selecting a word, it’s imagining how it CAN be used that makes it so challenging.
When you had to pick a word out, you probably opened a dictionary and thesaurus and selected one at random. You can go to to an online dictionary (try http://dictionary.reference.com); there it not only gives a word, it allows you to be emailed one automatically!
Remember that getting everyone to use the Word of the Day begins with some simple steps:
- Pick a word that is in common usage.
- It should have more positive connotations than not
- It can be widely used, which means adjectives and adverbs are best.
- A great Word of the Day is like a delicious dressing on a salad – it makes a wonderful speech even better!