One of the most important qualities of successful leaders is an ability to express thoughts and knowledge.

One of the most important qualities of successful leaders is an ability to express thoughts and knowledge. Research by management and human resource experts confirms that no matter what the field of employment, people with large vocabularies—those able to speak clearly and concisely, using simple as well as descriptive words—are best at accomplishing their goals.

Well-chosen, carefully-considered words can close the sale, negotiate the raise, enhance relationships, and change destinies.

In a world of email, voice mail, business plans, and meeting briefs, the individuals who can articulate their goals, substantiate their claims, and support their visions, will own the future.

Increase your reading by 100 percent. Decrease your television watching, and that of any children in your family by 50 percent. By reading book summaries, you can gain the essence of all the top business books in a very brief period of time. Action Idea: Read at least one book each month, and listen to at least one additional audio book during commute or down time. All kinds of reading and listening to fiction and non-fiction will increase your vocabulary, writing and presentation skills. Incredibly, a mere 3,500 words separate the average person from those with superior vocabularies. Keep a dictionary beside you when you read and look up every word you don’t fully understand. Doing that on the spot helps make the word part of your vocabulary forever. And don’t depend on your computer’s spellchecker for your spelling. You not only want to use the right words. You also will want to spell them correctly.