Words are incredibly powerful. Whether spoken or written, the language you use when communicating with your employees can hearten or discourage; convince or dissuade; inspire or depress.

As a leader, you must choose your words with care and intention. While your actions undoubtedly speak volumes, what you say and write communicates how you feel about fundamental workplace values like respect, accountability and initiative – and plants seeds that take root in your team’s mind.

No pressure, right?

If you’re looking for compelling ways to share your enthusiasm, motivate, inspire or thank your staff, keep these pointers in mind:

Use “You” More than “I”

If you want to influence others’ thinking, you/your statements are much more persuasive for one reason: They refer directly to the listener! When communicating with your employees, don’t just share your perspective. Choose words that include your listeners and answer the unspoken question they’re thinking: What’s in it for me?

Incorporate Cause-and-Effect Keywords and Phrases

Persuading others to take action requires convincing them to agree with you, sharing your values, and/or accepting your conclusions. Cause-and-effect reasoning is an incredibly potent way to make your claims sound rational, by linking what happens first with what happens next as a result. Whether you’re aiming to motivate, convince or inspire, use these terms to make your case:

• Accordingly
• As a result
• Because
• Consequently
• Since
• Therefore

Craft Sentences that Inspire Courage in Your Team

This Leadership Freak blog post contains fantastic examples of language you can use to encourage employees to do amazing things. Here are a few of our favorites:

• You’re great at…
• You’re making a difference when…
• I notice…
• If you weren’t nervous, what would you do next?
• You’re on the right track.
• Let’s give it a try.

Share Inspirational Quotes in Your Communications

If you think they’re corny or cliché, you just haven’t found the right ones. Insightful quotes can motivate your team to perform better and renew their enthusiasm for whatever it is they do. In this post, “Perform, Lead and Succeed: 10 Inspirational Quotes,” we share wisdom that’s inspired us here at Exact Staff (and we hope they’ll do the same for you).

How do you inspire courage, action and bold thinking in your employees?

We’d love to know – please leave your comment below! And if you need supplemental staff to support your busy team, The Exact Family of Companies is just a phone call away.