You and I may not aspire to write great books or make great speeches. But almost all of us want something to happen when we write or speak. And, the more we direct our words to the ears of readers and listeners, the greater our chances of getting the results we want.

By writing or speaking for the ear, I mean that spoken words can have more power than written words. After all, when we have important messages, we prefer to deliver them verbally and personally, rather than by sending a written message.

Of course, it's not practical or possible to deliver every message verbally. But, if we can capture some of the nuances of the spoken word we can increase the power of our messages. When we write for the ear, our writing undergoes some subtle but important changes. Our words, sentences, and paragraphs change in several ways.

Consider the number of pauses that occur when we speak. Most of us pause often, more often than when we write. To capture those pauses, use commas or one of the other 'slowing' punctuation marks, such as colons and semicolons.

Writing for the ear also means shorter sentences. And even fragments of sentences. As you can imagine, speech tends to greater spontaneity than written expression, which means shorter sentences and more fragments.

Many of the same principles hold when we make formal speeches or presentations. Especially if we speak from prepared notes.

Whatever we say, when we speak publicly, has to go in through listeners' ears. And so, if you'll allow me to belabor the obvious, we need to write speeches for listeners' ears, not our mouths.

You can call on many quick and easy techniques. For example, use short words whenever possible. Words such as 'many' rather than 'numerous'; 'use' rather than 'utilize'; and 'need' rather than 'require'.