The Power of Language
Vol. I of The Wellspring
Over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed the way we have leaned increasingly on words to find order, sense and connection.
When we're stripped of the ways we typically come together (such as work and events), and the ways we typically craft and communicate our identity (such as the way we dress or the activities we’re seen doing), it comes back to the oldest way of bonding and expressing - language.
At the individual level, language is a form of self-expression.
What makes us unique as a species are our minds. We are capable of dreaming and imagining beyond what is tangible and existing. What makes us unique as individuals are our subjective experiences and intimate, internal states.
Our deepest desire is to feel accepted. But for there to be understanding, there has to, firstly, be self-expression.
Through language, we encapsulate and express our emotions and perceptions. Words give shape to the abstract or visceral such as the feeling a musical score evokes, the sensation of sun on skin and the way we interpret a particular scene in a film.
Without words, it would be infinitely more difficult to also realise our ideas and plans. Words allow us to persuade and thereby coordinate actions and behaviours en masse.
Expression isn’t all verbal or written. Yet, the power of language is that although only some of us have the privilege to share them, most of us have access to words.
Even if we ourselves can’t find the words, we can all relate to that feeling when what we’ve experienced, felt or thought, is perfectly summed up by another. It’s a spark of being seen, the warmth of validation and the relief of not being alone.
At the collective level, we can cultivate compassion and community through language.
Whether it’s from our own sharing or reading what others have written (or a lovely combination of both), language can help us unite, both in similarities and despite differences.
Words can reveal that we are sharing the same experience, though worlds apart. Or they can highlight nuances in things that are seemingly common or simple. In doing so, words via stories foster an appreciation of the diversity of the human experience. This, thereby, cultivates compassion.
The best singular example I can use to underline this, is the success of ‘Humans of New York’. Here are countless faces that would go unseen if it wasn’t for their story, told and shared in words. As readers, we find ourselves feeling so much for, and even sometimes relating to, a total stranger. Through words, their reach and resonance essentially has no bounds.
The business of copywriting
For a business, words may be the only way you can meaningfully interact with some of your customers. Not everyone can have the opportunity to use your product, step foot into your store or go to your event. But most can have your words in their hands or ears, at a tap of a finger.
Most Instagram tiles mean very little without the caption. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but which thousand words are they? Interpretations are limitless but as a business, your intentions and resources are not. So, it’s essential that you carefully choose words, with your brand voice in mind.
As individuals, we can become known for the pace and tone with which we speak, and the type of words we use. As a business, your brand identity becomes intricately linked with the copy that you put out, whether it’s via your social media channels, on your packaging and swing tags, on your website or spoken by your CEO in interviews and publications.
In a world where things are ever-changing, with unpredictable rapidity, there’s one thing we can count on and it is the power of language. Though there are continued debates on the origin and evolution of language, we can be certain that language is as old as us. As our most enduring form of communication, perhaps we forgot about its importance somewhere along the way. However, I daresay that the last couple of years have firmly placed the power of words back into our awareness.
I hope this article prompts you to be more conscious and daring with the way you use language as an individual, as part of a community and at work.
At Fiction, we’re currently:
Keeping (still) a notebook of words, quotes, ideas and facts that never fail to inspire and fascinate. A leaf through this book is the unfailing cure to a creative rut or writer’s block. You’ll find words like ’touchstone' and ‘assuage', the poem ‘Clearing’ by Martha Postlethwaite and passages like the below:
‘When they move in and across a landscape, humans are wading through a shared past, surrounded at every turn by events and processes that will never be over.’
- Tim Winton in ‘Island Home’
Making tangible and ordinary items with our own bare hands. It started with pinch pots, then moved on to terrariums filled with rocks, soil, moss and plants from the property we (so fortunately) live on. On the horizon are bleach-dyed garments (as a way to save stained but much-loved clothing).
Swimming in Tim Winton’s words in ‘Breath’ and all the thought-provoking, sometimes confronting concepts in Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Homo Deus’. ‘Breath’ is exquisite. I’m obsessed with the way Winton weaves themes so intricately throughout.
Head-bobbing (and poorly rapping) to Certified Lover Boy, the latest drop from Drake…which then prompted a journey through his discography from the very beginning.
Tailoring copywriting for different social media platforms
When it comes to copywriting for social media, it isn’t as simple as a copy and paste job across different channels.
As individuals, how we present varies depending on settings. As a business, how we speak to our customers on Instagram should differ to Facebook, to LinkedIn and such.
It is more work. However, by meeting your customers where and how they are on each platform, your posts and messages will resonate more strongly.
And if you’re trying to get the most out of your organic social, then the work is most definitely worth it.