100 Words to Make You Sound Great

What Do People Who Sound Great Have in Common?
A Great Vocabulary!

All great communicators know that the right word can make the difference between rousing and losing an audience, between sounding distinguished and sounding dull.


This book showcases 100 words that some of our most important and beloved communicators have used to great effect in their efforts to make the world a better place. Informative entries and insightful quotations from people of many areas of human endeavor, past and present, work to make this volume a fascinating way to improve and reinforce a varied and versatile vocabulary.


100 Words to Make You Sound Great, presents 100 words that have been put to effective use by presidential greats as well as famous scientists, economists, academics, figures of conscience, and even humorists. Tried and tested by movers and shakers such as Rachel Carson, Shirley Chisholm, Barry Goldwater, Al Gore, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Princess Diana, they work to get a point across with verve and effect. The quotations that bring these words to life—painstakingly culled from public speeches, widely read books and periodicals, and poignant private letters—are insightful, moving, and funny.


Tear through this book, and before you know it, you’ll feel an affinity for cosmopolitan communication, even if you’re a mere tyro when you start out. You’ll incorporate these words into everyday conversation without being dogmatic or pompous, and you’ll always have the right riposte if someone accuses you of being pusillanimous, amoral, or—heaven forbid—nefarious.

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100 Words to Make You Sound Great published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.