How Much Difference One Word Makes

I was at a buffet for lunch and read the slip of paper that my receipt was stapled to.  On it, there were a number of customer rights.  One of them was that we have the right to eat as much as we want, but please bring a clean plate up each time.  Another was that kids have the right to make whatever combinations of food they want, but please have an adult accompany anyone 10 and under.

When I finished reading it all, I was struck at how truly terrific the writing was.  Aside from being worded well and reading smoothly, it told customers the rules of the buffet, but did so in a warm, inviting way.  From the examples I gave, we know that customers need to get new plates every time they get more food and we know that children 10 and under need supervision to get food, but we don't feel bad about it.

We aren't being given a list of rules.  We're being given a list of rights.  We're being told how much freedom we have, and boy there is a lot of it.  They simply ask a small favor along with those freedoms.  As a customer, all I can think is, Sure.  It's the least I could do when looking at all the freedom I have.

An extremely useful technique is to present rules as anything but rules.  Goals, expectations, favors, trade-offs, all these are terms to elicit a desired action in people.  These are all positive ones, too - far more positive than rules or requirements, which are negative and restrictive.

It can amaze me how much difference a single word can make.  If somebody asked you to write a list of rules, you would create something very different than what you would make if you were asked to write a list of goals. Similarly, the two lists would likely be interpreted very differently by readers, even if the lists covered the exact same things.

It can be frustrating when people are fussy with their words.  If you have somebody editing your work and making tons of tiny word changes, you may be tempted to tell them that what you had was good enough.  Well, maybe they are good enough, but maybe they could also be much better.  If you are the editor in this scenario, you may be ready to give up picking nits with these word changes, but if you are already willing to do it, you know that the difference is a noticeable one and worth the effort.  And if you are writing without an editor to do this, you should be as fussy with your word choice as possible.