So, out of this latest book, 100 Words to Make You Sound Great, what is your favorite word?

It’s hard to pick one. It’s kind of like asking a carpenter what his favorite nail is. I like what we do with the word juggernaut, which is itself an interesting word. In 100 Words to Make You Sound Great, we give quotations from well-known speakers. With this word, in addition to quotations, we have a really interesting note explaining how the word juggernaut entered English through Hindi via Sanskrit, where it ultimately came from. So there’s a lot of information about juggernaut, which means an overwhelming or unstoppable force. It’s kind of cool.

100 Words to Make You Sound Great was my first introduction to the 100 Words series and I really like the layout. My favorite word out of the book was modus operandi. It was highlighted in a speech given by Benazir Bhutto at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University. It was exciting to see the word come alive instead of sitting idle on the page. Words are such powerful things. In fact, Rudyard Kipling once said that words are the most powerful drug used by mankind. What insight did Kipling have that escapes the casual word user?

More than anything else in our society, the power of communication is what allows people not only to convey how they feel, but to manipulate the world around them. Words are more powerful than a drug in that a drug’s effect is fleeting, temporary, and limited to the person who ingests it, whereas your words affect everyone around you, or anyone who can read or hear what you’re saying. I think that’s a very potent quote.

Speaking of the power of words, and looking at the current political landscape: Barack Obama has emerged as a man who is driven in part by his oratory. How do you think his use of words equates to his political strength?

There’s no doubt that he is a very powerful, dynamic speaker. In fact, we used a quotation from one of his speeches in 100 Words to Make You Sound Great. This book was compiled last summer, when he was one of perhaps fifteen or sixteen candidates running at the time. We have other politicians in this book from across the political spectrum, from Reagan and Eisenhower to Bella Azbug and Barack Obama. One of the reasons we chose one of Obama’s speeches is... even then, he was known for his oratory, much like Reagan was known for his skills as a communicator. I think the ability to coherently convey your message and, at the same time, to get people excited about what you’re saying and motivated to act on it is a very strong gift. It’s one that’s very powerful in politics and one that Obama knows how to use very well. I think the fact that he’s a powerful speaker can only help him.