- Invigorating and expanding your communications skills
For a more successful, fulfilling life ** Since 1993

The Articulate Professional

The words in The Articulate Professional are selected from our extensive database that documents the vocabulary being used by today's most articulate Americans to emphasize an accomplishment, highlight a challenge, assert a point of view, and incite others to action.

A larger vocabulary will make your verbal expression more effective and distinctive! And it will vastly strengthen your ability to affect others and shape their thoughts. You will be able to give greater emphasis to your accomplishments, assert your views better, and incite others to action.

• Fortune and The Wall Street Journal frequently cite the correlation between the ability to articulate well and the ability to influence others. No wonder! A word that is less trite or commonplace is often more effective in motivating others and in shaping their thoughts and actions.
  
  
• Research at Columbia University bears out what you may have already observed: people who are better educated or have a stronger command of the language pause more often when speaking as they search for the next word since they have more word options available to them.
  
  
• Top executives consistently cite communication skills as one of the most important attributes they look for in employees to be hired or promoted.
  
  
• A richer expression enables you to be more assertive without showing anxiety or anger. With a larger grasp of the language, you can communicate more clearly and concisely. And your listeners will be better able to recall your words.
  
  

Dear fellow high-achiever:

The Articulate® Professional was several years in the making before it was first published in 1993. It has been designed expressly for those who play vital communication roles such as occur in meetings, presentations, interviews, and of course, e-mails and letters.

All of the word entries in the book meet my stringent criteria for inclusion: they help make one's expression vivid and stirring, and they are used conversationally by America's opinion leaders to emphasize their points and capture the attention of their audience.

I list below some of the book's unique features that have earned it endorsements from top executives, including John D. Ong, then-chairman of The Business Roundtable, as well as academia:

• Words are not obscure ones, culled from the innermost recesses of the dictionary. They are selected from our extensive database, over six years in the making, which documents words used conversationally by today's most articulate Americans to EMPHASIZE accomplishments, HIGHLIGHT challenges, ASSERT their views, and INCITE others to action. These articulate Americans include respected opinion leaders like William Bennett, Colin Powell, Patricia Ireland (NOW), Tom Friedman (New York Times), Jack Welch (GE), lawyer Alan Dershowitz, William F. Buckley Jr., and Richard Holbrooke (Dayton peace accords negotiator).
  
  
• Its focus is the workplace, with examples illustrating both formal and casual usage.
  
  
• Every word carries a full page of diverse examples designed to give you confidence in its use. The linking of each word to well-known people or events helps implant it in your mind, and also makes the contents interesting.
  
  
• Words are grouped according to their most closely related workplace theme, with one section containing words to describe accomplishments and justify actions, another section comprising words to specify criticism or disapproval, a third to describe problems, and so on.
  
  

Please do tell your high-achieving friends and associates about this book. I am sure many of them will want to know about it. After all, a key ingredient of influence and persuasion is the ability to create lasting impressions and indelible images when emphasizing one's points.

Sample page 1 (actual size 8.5" x 11")

     Definition

Main example - drawn from current headline events, to help implant the word in your mind.

Formal/Semiformal workplace example - drawn from a typical on-the-job scenario (such as a meeting or presentation).

Casual example - from an off-the-cuff conversation such as around the water cooler. It also shows how one should use synonyms or colloquial expressions to ensure that the word is positively received and fully understood.

Other examples - provide even more diverse applications of the word.

Liberal white spaces make the pages reader-friendly and inviting.

Actual page size is 8 1/2 x 11". Printed on sturdy, premium grade paper--#1 Opaque White Offset

"The Articulate Professional deserves a place among the essential resource books on every professional's bookshelf. It offers a practicable approach to sharpen verbal skills in an easy and fun to use format."
      – Ray Scippa, Corporate Communications Director - Continental Airlines. Inc

"The Articulate Professional is the ultimate self-help tool for professionals in all walks of life - managers, educa-tors, job seekers. With it, communicators attain the precision of expression so necessary to convey their ideas and opinions in a cacophonous marketplace...."
      – Dr. David B. Small, Director of Career Planning & Placement - University of Houston

"The Articulate Professional should prove a useful tool in building an effective and distinctive vocabulary for today's managers."
      – John D. Ong, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer - The BFGoodrich Company

"An increasingly competitive business environment requires sharp and clear communication. The Articulate Professional is indeed a strong and useful tool in maximizing the benefits (of) enhanced communication."
      – Brian Ruder, President & Chief Executive Officer - Weight Watchers Food Company (Affiliate
           of H.J.Heinz)

"The Articulate Professional is a book that should be owned by anyone seeking to enhance their communication skills. It is not just a vocabulary book. The pages serve as a comprehensive easy to use guide with a strong focus on commonly used words in the business world. I especially liked the format of the book. Examples are provided for each word with its main, formal/semiformal, workplace and casual usage. I have recommended this book to other managers in my company as well as friends. I give this book the highest rating possible. It is an excellent tool."
      – Jocelyne Barnave, Amazon.com customer

Houston Chronicle Thursday, July 27,1995

Book focuses on the power of vocabulary
By BERNADETTE GILLECE
This Week Correspondent

Untenable. Disaffected. Inveterate.

According to V.J. Singal, knowing the meaning of words like these and using those words in the workplace can help advance a person's career.

"When people have a good command of language, it gives them more sway," said Singal. "It makes them more persuasive…. and improves the recallability of their message."

Since the mid 1980s, Singal has studied the effects of language in the workplace. He has collected information, interviewed executives, and observed the speaking patterns of successful professionals. His conclusions are that people who articulate their thoughts well have a better chance of being hired and being promoted.

"Vocabulary can do a lot for people," he said. “Your life can change if you have a good command of the language."

In response to these findings, Singal published a book in 1993 entitled The Articulate Professional. Geared towards white-collar workers, The Articulate Professional is a tool for enhancing one's vocabulary. Singal said his product differs from other vocabulary-building programs because it addresses the particular concerns of professionals.

"We've designed this book for professionals who are in the position to sway clients, who are in meetings, who have to write memos," Singal said. "We selected words appropriate to the workplace setting. The book is divided into sections such as 'Defining Problems' and 'Justifying Actions.' Each section defines a function that all of us in the workplace may be involved with in one way or another."

In addition, each term is accompanied by a full page of examples illustrating how the word can be used in different situations.

"A couple of the examples are linked to headline events," said Singal. "Three or four examples show how you would use the word in a presentation, meeting or memo."

The other examples focus on more informal situations - such as chatting during a coffee break. about to go into its third printing. Overall, Singal said, the response to the book has been positive. Though the company offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, no one who bought the book ever returned it.

"In a survey we did recently, our respondents said unequivocally that there was not a finer vocabulary ex-panding book for professionals," said Singal.

Even John Ong, chairman of BF Goodrich and Chair of the Business Round Table, has endorsed the book.

For more information or to mail order the book, call 281-463-25OO.

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 by V.J. Singal. Articulate is a registered trademark.
Phone: 281-463-2500, P.O. Box 841155, Houston, TX 77284-1155