Words, Women and Wisdom by Yvonne E.L. Silver – Book Summary

For several weeks, Yvonne E.L. Silver’s elegant book, Words, Women & Wisdom: The Modern Art of Confident Conversations sat on my bedside table. But once I picked it up and cracked it open, I was immersed!

Overview

Silver packs a mass of empowering content into her work, including flashbacks of moments with her abusive father, insights from her days as a corporate leader, observations from her executive coaching, relevant research, personal vignettes of the plights and pleasures of being a woman, freeing action steps, and discernment about the power of words and phrases.

What glues it together, is her love of the English language and effective communication.  Words, Women and Wisdom is a demonstration of Silver’s communication mastery. She names, defines, describes, delves into, warns against or celebrates, a significant list of crucial words.

Silver’s work is more than assertiveness training, more than communication skills, and more than confidence building. It’s about growing into the magnificent potential of being a woman. Words, Women and Wisdom can help you:

• rediscover your inner confidence and take a stand in life and business by using powerful language — in modern ways.
• have more powerful conversations and elevate your confidence at home and in business.
• be heard and seen.
• excel in your career.
• discover the influence of using the right word.
• to feel empowered to use your voice.

Key Concepts of Words, Women and Wisdom

1. By improving our use of the spoken word, women can become confident, effective, and successful.
2. Carefully choosing our words and how we use them can create personal power and help us avoid the opposite, dis-empowerment.
3.  In a time of rising human rights and feminism, women are wise to clearly articulate and leverage their position with carefully chosen words.
4.  When we awaken to the power of a word or words we are empowered to choose new ways that result in confidence.
5. To reach a certain level of wisdom requires developing awareness, asserting personal power, influencing others, demonstrating resilience, building relationships, and growing inside out as a leader. Yes, we are all leaders to someone who admires, depends upon, or is guided by us.

Sample Words for Wise Women

The words Silver explores include:

no, yes, why, but, please, can’t, believe, gratitude, ask, intention, support, courage, trust, perspective, should, wrong, fear, strive, enough, self-talk, doubt, just, prioritize, focus, delegate, and confident. 

Quotes by Yvonne E.L. Silver

1.     “I define conscious leadership as an awareness of one’s self, the world, and one’s purpose within it.”

2.   “By using I’m curious at the beginning of my question, the energy of positivity and possibility permeates the room.”

3.    “To build trust as a female leader, research shows we need to show three important characteristics: caring, consistency, and competence.”

4.     “If you feel you are not being heard, feel your input is being ignored, try adding this sentence, Hmm, what I am saying is X, which is important to me as it connects with my value of Y.”

5.     “When you say, My intention is . . . you are sharing your preferred outcome, coming from a place of positive energy, with hope and strength of spirit, with a sense of opportunity.”

6.     “When you own the problem and step into solving it, you diffuse any power of shame it may hold over you.”

7.     “Confidence is like a muscle, it takes practice to build up your strength.”

8.     “Decide today that you can trust yourself first—go ahead—put your feet firmly on the ground, sit still and close your eyes, take several deep cleansing breaths. Breathe in the words, I trust myself, and on your out-breath say completely!”

9.    ” Based on thousands of interviews and hundreds of conversations with coaching clients, I know that most women give more than they receive.”

10. “You are already enough—strong enough, smart enough, aware enough, open enough, loved enough.”

Conclusion

Yvonne E.L. Silver is all about women! She has written her book for women to truly step-up in a world swirling for us to do so! Let me know if you have a similar reaction to mine after reading Words, Women & Wisdom: The Modern Art of Confident Conversation.

PS: For every purchased copy, Silver donates one copy of her book to a women’s shelter, non-for-profit or foundation. You can’t beat that for an added feel good!

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