Research conducted by professor Cynthia Rudin of M.I.T. and student Been Kim, on highly effective words for business meetings, found that the words yeah, give, start, and meeting have a larger impact in meetings than other words.

However, while the discussion also made their list of effective words for business meetings—we warn you to be cautious. 

Discussion or Concussion?

The word discussion is closely related to the terms concussion and percussion. Discussion signifies unstructured meetings.

WARNING: Unstructured discussions are the primary reason most people don’t look forward to meetings.

Unstructured Headaches

How’s that unstructured discussion approach working out for you? When you have a headache departing a meeting, it’s probably because the meeting was not structured and you’re not sure what, if anything, was accomplished. Even lousy movies or novels have three components: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Ever been in a discussion without one of those components? Unfortunately, all too often, we all have.

Therefore, let’s embrace the first four words and strive to avoid the fifth. In order to structure discussions, consider the analogy of the three activities of professional brainstorming:

1. List (diverge)
2. Analyze 
3. Decide (converge)

One Activity at a Time

Groups can successfully complete any of the three activities, but they cannot complete them all at the same time, and certainly not without structure. Therefore, stop using the term “brainstorming” as a verb (and its surrogate term: discussion). Do NOT brainstorm something any more than you do NOT do Agile. You may be Agile and do Lean or Scrum, etc. Likewise, do NOT brainstorm or discuss, rather—list, analyze, or converge—but have your meetings focus on one activity at a time.

“Yeah” — M.I.T.’s Effective Word Number One

As a positive affirmation, Yeah comes as no surprise. We spoke personally with Dr. Max Bazerman at length. At the time, he was our Negotiation professor while attending the Kellogg School of Business in Evanston. His research affirms that some of the guttural expressions can be the most effective words used during negotiations as well. 

For example, the simple expression Huh, will incite the listener to respond. Note that the speaker is not saying “no” nor are they saying “yes.” Therefore, the speaker continues to unveil their position, providing additional insight into their true demands. 

The next time you are negotiating a major purchase, try it. For example, let’s take a new or used vehicle purchase. The sales associate stops with their reasons for you to purchase from them and you say huh. You have indicated that you are not rejecting their offer, nor accepting it. The term huh motivates them to continue, likely sweetening the deal even further with additional concessions or better pricing.

The word huh really says, “Tell me more.” When parties exchange more information the likelihood increases that they will find an integral solution, one that benefits them both. Without open communications, the participants treat the negotiations as cutting a pie, determining who gets the largest piece. Collaborative negotiators understand that carefully exposed positions during negotiations can lead to a bigger pie for both parties.

Neither party should expose themselves entirely up front, but be willing to barter and exchange for more information that leads to higher quality decisions. Expose too much up front, without reciprocity, and you risk being taken advantage of.

“Give” — M.I.T.’s Effective Word Number Two

People love to receive. Go to a major trade show sometime in Frankfurt or Las Vegas and watch people waiting in line to get a “free” chotsky or promotional product. People like to receive free stuff so much that there are dozens of terms and spellings used to describe what others give them including:

• Bauble
• Chotsky
• Doodad
• Freebies (free stuff)
• Gewgaw
• Gift
• Giveaways
• Goodie bag
• Handouts
• Knick-knack
• Ornament (“ornamental festoon”)
• Promotional product
• Souvenir
• SWAG, swag bag, ”Stuff We All Get” (the PG version of two variations)
• Tchotchke, tshotshke, tshatshke, tchachke, tchotchka, tchatchka, chachke, tsotchke, chotski, or chochke 
• Trinklet

While dictionaries want you to believe that such items are tacky, nondescript junk, and have “inconsequential value,” the eBay sales site proves otherwise. Plus, we’ve all heard about free iWatches and similar quality items that are given away at the Academy Awards and other award ceremonies. Free stuff can provide value.

“Research has uncovered that ‘grateful’, ‘happy’, ‘good’ and ‘awesome’ are some of the top words that come to mind after somebody receives a promotional product as a gift, and these are the type of feel-good emotions that people will generally want to pay back in terms of brand loyalty. It’s a real win-win for everybody.”[1]

Tell your participants that they are being given something and you will have their immediate attention. As always, however, avoid saying “I” and absolutely do NOT say that “I am giving you something.” After all, giving is about them, not you.

“Start” — M.I.T.’s Effective Word Number Three

Being from Indiana, you would soon discover that few, if any words have literally launched more horsepower among land vehicles than “Start Your Engines”, the command issued annually in May at the Running of the Indianapolis 500 (rescheduled in 2020 for Sunday, August 23). 

The word start signifies the transition from being passive to actively doing something. Borrowed from common dictionaries, we’re talking about . . .

• To begin to work on, 
• Cause (something) to begin,
• To produce or give attention to (something), and
• Set out on a journey.

The term start both incites and motivates. For example, more people look forward to the start of the fütball season than to the end of the season. While the ending games are well-watched such as the World Cup or Super Bowl, they also bring a bit of melancholy with them. Fans really don’t want the Big Game to end, but they always look forward to the start of a new season because it signifies a fresh opportunity. 

For you non-sports fans, you might equally look forward to the start of a movie, a party, or reading a treasured novel more than the end. Starts are universally acclaimed because everyone has hope and opportunity at the start. Especially if you are a Cincinnati Bengals fan, when there is much less to look forward to at the end, except at the start of the next season.

“Meeting” — M.I.T.’s Effective Word Number Four

Amplify your formality. Facilitators cannot afford to be lax and informal. Announcing the ceremony or event as a meeting or workshop carries serious implications we need to get something done. Frequently, the DONE is called a deliverable. Nobody wants more meetings but we meet a lot. Why? We need deliverables.

Substitute your use of the term meeting with two components:

1. The deliverable or meeting output, what DONE looks like. A clear understanding that the primary reason for the meeting is not because we enjoy meetings, rather it’s because we need deliverables to accelerate the development of the products and projects that support our livelihoods.
2. The agenda or meeting design, HOW you are going to lead your group from the start to the conclusion that builds a robust deliverable and concludes the meeting. Nobody wants more meetings or more time in meetings.

Summary: Effective Words for Business Meetings

Their research also indicates that . . .

• You use these words in the right way and at the right time,
• When used at the beginning of a meeting, they grab attention and increase focus, and
• When used at the end of a meeting, they prompt a positive response.

Other interesting findings and conclusions from Rudin’s and Kim’s research include:

• Compliments that are used to offset negative comments in meetings are frequently viewed as disingenuous, and therefore should be avoided (NOTE: Be kind, NOT nice).
• Not surprisingly, participants want a conclusion. The worst deliverable from any meeting is another meeting. Participants would rather do a lousy job than need to meet again. We’re not condoning lousy, but we are suggesting that structure (and our proprietary approach to testing and ensuring meeting output) will both prevent “lousy” and ensure a sense of completion.
• Yeah indicates agreement and sets the tone for building consensus.
• Start grabs attention and creates focus by diverting the chitchat or silence to the topic of the moment. You can also leverage the term start effectively during your transitions from one agenda step to another.
• Give triggers subconscious excitement over something potentially valuable.
• Meeting amplifies the formality to get more done faster but can be substituted with appropriate synonyms such as ceremony, event, session, or workshop.
• Discussion implies an unstructured headache and should be avoided.

Since the ending for a caterpillar is the start for a butterfly, treat your closings carefully. Continue to treat each end as an opportunity for a fresh start and your participants will give your meeting lots of yeahs.

[1] Source: http://www.ipromo.com/blog/swag-meaning-acronym-the-modern-definition-of-swag/

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