The Power of Words: Mastering the Art of Communication

Have you ever considered the profound impact your words can have on your personal and professional life? 

In this episode, let's discuss the transformative power of words in our daily interactions and the idea that words are not just tools of communication but powerful agents that shape perceptions and realities. Drawing insights from medicine and marketing, let me share the importance of precision and intentionality in our language.

Introduction (00:00)
The Power of Words (00:48)
Active vs. Passive Referrals (02:48)
The Neglected Back Door: Preventative Care (05:45)
Praise and Certainty in Team Dynamics (07:49)
Names, Pronouns, and Building Rapport (09:43)
Shifting Mindsets with Contextual Phrases (11:39)
Key Takeaways (14:19)        

Transcript

0:00

Words are incredibly powerful. How you use those words can be incredibly powerful. And if you conceptualize that, you know, even in medicine, everything we say is important. And to Fred's point, everything we say is marketing. Everything you say, someone has an opinion about someone here, someone processes, perceptions, reality. And so it's incredibly important that we're very precise and intentional. With the words we use. Welcome to the end game podcast, where I bet you didn't know, what you didn't know Dr. Ryan Wakim here, successful entrepreneur and your end game coach. Today we're going to talk about the power of words. Part of what I did as my own personal development is I spent a lot of time training under a company called Fortune Management who had initially been founded by a few dentists and Tony Robbins. And who's accumulated that really important inner circle we've talked about in the past and that inner circle includes a gentleman by the name of Fred Joyal. Fred Joyal is actually the founder of 1-800-DENTIST,, and he has written a book, since then, called"Everything is marketing." And one of the key takeaways of Fred's book and his teachings and the idea of everything is marketing is the idea that words are very important as a psychiatrist. I will tell you, I very much subscribe to that, which is what we say. You know, everything has meaning, everything we say is important. So how you say something, you know, the tonality, the mannerisms and what to say. Are really, really important. And so first and foremost, that words are incredibly powerful. How you use those words can be incredibly powerful. And if you conceptualize that, you know, even in medicine, everything we say is important and to Fred's point, everything we say is marketing, everything you say is someone has an opinion about someone here, someone processes, perceptions, reality, and so it's incredibly important that we're very precise and intentional with the words we use so words have power. I'm going to go over a few kind of examples where that is highlighted, especially for a medical practice or. Or any kind of hospitality business, but specifically for healthcare. So one of those kind of buckets would be how we ask for referrals. And I know some of this stuff, like in medicine, marketing, and this idea of referrals or marketing for leads or referrals is almost a dirty word, right. If you think about healthcare in general, that's not generally adopted. Or at least it doesn't, the perception is that's not adopted. In our day to day, I would encourage you to go look at any Google business listing, any website is full of actual marketing in all facets of health care, including behavioral health, including mental health. And so this first concept of kind of asking for a referral Fred points out, which I think is incredibly important, this idea of a passive referral versus an active or sorry, a passive process versus an active process. So just having a sign outside. Taking new patients or, you know, some sort of sign in your waiting area. Again, words are important in your reception area for taking new patients or ask about this. That is a passive process. So, if we want to be exceptional at getting patients access to care, we want to implore a more active process. Active processes could include something like If you're happy with the care you've been provided, we'd love to offer that same care to your friends and family. And so that is a very different conversation than, Hey, we're desperate for patients or, Hey, we're at, we're looking for new patients. Or do you know anyone that's looking for dental care? We'd be happy to, to care for them. When you frame it in that other way, it really points out two things. One, we like you, which people like to be liked. And number two we have something nice for your friends and that something is us. And so if you believe heavily in what you're providing, your standard of care, asking for the, those referrals and an active process pointing out that we'd love to care for your family and friends we'd love to provide them the same excellent standard of care we've provided you is a really great active way to ask for referrals as compared to a sign on a desk or a banner outside. Another bucket of words being important is this idea of preventative care. And in dentistry, it's called recare or your preventative care appointments, your reappointments. So before you leave a dental hygiene appointment, you're often scheduled for your next one, so you're pre appointed for your next appointment. Again in medicine, depending on the different field of medicine that could look very different. It is a broad concept to understand, which is. So what we just talked about in terms of asking for referrals, you know, providing that standard of care to family and friends is your front of the door marketing or people that enter into your practice, what most medical professions, medical specialties do a really poor job at doing which is completely in disalignment with their standard is the back of the door. It is to get patients back in for preventative care. So we spend, in general, extreme amount of time, energy, money on getting new patients. When we don't really think about the patients that are already part of our practice, we don't, we're not active in getting them reappointed. An example of this is in the PCP world, where the idea is you come back once a year for a wellness exam or a wellness check, where at certain intervals in your life, you might have different screenings or tests that you have to do. And some. PCPs and some doctors are getting better with pre appointing, but I will tell you I just had an appointment with a primary care and I did not make an appointment for one year out. They did not stress it. It was not part of the process when I went to check out. And so I should be on the schedule for 12 months from now. And I'm not. And so this idea of recare or prevention, it's so important that we are more proactive and less reactive. That is super important for establishing well being in our own practices. A healthy practice has to function on a proactive basis. Otherwise, you're constantly putting out fires. You're constantly reacting and you're constantly losing patients out your back door. So if you feel like the front of the door is dirty and you really struggle with getting new patients and how you do that again, through the power of words and communication. Just think about what you're losing out the back. And if you, if you show up the back door. You likely will need less of the front door. Another really important use of the idea of powerful words is the concept that we as a team should do a much better job praising each other. So that is teammates praising teammates. As important is teammates praising the doctor, right? Teammates praising the provider so that that creates a level of comfort and certainty for patients when they are in your reception area, when they were waiting in your exam room, when they're about to have a procedure test, it is really reassuring for a patient to hear, I work for Dr. so and so because he is the best doc in town, perhaps the best doc in the state. I have options to go work elsewhere, but I believe in the standard of care here, the excellent standard of care, the higher level of care his, his or her skill sets are X, Y, and Z. So really building up that provider. And candidly, if you are in a practice, working in a practice, you are a team member. And you do not believe that of your providers then either(A) those providers need to step up, which would be an important point of what coaching or where coaching slots in or(B) you might need to find a practice where you do believe that, because we do not want anyone to Be talking about things that they do not actually genuinely and enthusiastically believe in. So making sure that we praise one another publicly, but also importantly, praising our providers to create that certainty that comfort for the patient in the process. One of the final things I would say around power of words is the same, the very same concept of a word can be applied to someone's name. Names are critically important. I've made this a point in my career partially at the behest of individuals like Fred and some of the personal development I've done. But when I see a patient, when I'm engaging with someone it is always important that I understand not only What is their name? But how do they say it? Names have definitely adapted over time. They've changed over time. So what you think might be the pronunciation of that name may not in fact be the pronunciation. So getting someone's name is important. And Oh, by the way, people have preferred names. They, their first name may be X, but they may go by their middle name or they may actually prefer to go by a nickname. And if you haven't asked that question and you don't know. What they like to be called and how they like to be called it. Then every time you talk to them, you're, you're making them feel uncomfortable or you're at the very least not making them feel more comfortable. So names are important. It's important that you understand. Who your patient is and what they want to be called, an offshoot from that, which has become more popular in recent years. Again, critically important in my profession is the idea of pronouns. Are they a he, she, are they a they understanding that gender fluidity, if you wanna take it one step further, also is really important in building rapport with your patient, building trust with your patient, and really engaging that person through. Your care standards to a level much higher than you would otherwise get if you didn't know their name, you didn't care about the pronouns. You didn't take the time to understand that. Final few points here around the power of words. There's a couple of kind of key terms you can use to create. You know, a different context. So an example might be the use of the word"yet.". If you talk to Fred or you hear Fred talk about this, he's used in 1-800-DENTIST this idea of the word"yet." So if someone were to call in and they're asking a question, one might respond by saying, are you having headaches yet? Not are you having headaches? Cause that doesn't imply any. Any contextual piece, but are you having headaches yet? That implies that you might very well get a headache or that whatever condition you have is likely to cause a headache. And so if you want to avoid having headaches, if you want to be out of the reactive and into the proactive, the word yet can really help shift your mindset, your team's mindset, and your patient's mindset out of the reactivity. Into the proactivity. So the importance of the of the word yet can go a long way. Other thing that I think we do a really, well, generally poor job on when we talk about front of the door, seeing a patient for the first time new patient experience again that's more of a customer service, less about the verbiage, although verbiage is important there too. But in that new patient experience, in that first visit, when they finally come to your office, are you asking the why now question? Even said a little differently, are you asking and listening for The W M I, which we all call what's most important to you questions, because if you come in to get out of pain and I'm talking to you about finances, the chances, those, those two things are not aligned. And that's a separate conversation around enrollment. But the point is, if you don't understand your patient's name, what they like to be called, how they like to be called it. But even the next step, if you don't understand why they're there. And what they're looking for in their care and how does that align with your standards of care or your practice and you have misalignment there or you've not taken the time to understand and use the power of words, the chances that that patient comes in the front door and stays in the door and doesn't fall out the back door goes down exponentially. So in all of this, I challenge you to understand that words are incredibly powerful. Again, not just what you say, but how you say it and understanding that names are also incredibly powerful. And if you just took a little bit of time, you, your team to understand who the patient is, what they like to be called and why they're in your office, you would be amazed at the amount of retention at the shift in mindset from reactive to proactive and the general growth that that will provide your office. With just using these small few contextual phrases in verbiage for you and your patients. And I'm Dr. Ryan Wakim, I'm a successful entrepreneur and your endgame coach. I'm here to teach you to exist today so you may expand tomorrow and create the ultimate endgame of your wildest desires. If you like this podcast, please don't hesitate to like, subscribe, follow. Looking forward to talking to you soon. Have a great day.