In working on my ISTE Ignite talk with specific requirements: 5 minutes for 20 slides timed out at 15 seconds each, I’m reminded that it is important to choose our words wisely. This isn’t only true for 5-minute talks on a topic that we could discuss for hours but in our day to day work as well. We’ve only got two things to hang our hat on, actions and words. They aren’t both appropriate at all times. We know that actions speak louder than words, but in some venues, people don’t get a chance to see our actions. It’s here that our words take over. So we must be precise and accurate in choosing words to properly represent our viewpoint or represents the actions that we’ve taken.
To make the connection to my previous post on accuracy and precision: accuracy is how closely your words represent your viewpoint and actions, and precision is how consistently you describe these viewpoints and actions.