The Power of Verbal Intelligence

10 ways to tap into your verbal genius

Tony Buzan

• Publisher: Thorsons
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780007386055
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Simple techniques to help improve your recall

Fore-word! Your Journey to Verbal Power Begins

Chapter One

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‘“The pen is mightier than the sword” only if the brain behind it knows how to wield the word!’

Tony Buzan

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what is ‘verbal intelligence’?

Verbal Intelligence is the ability to ‘juggle’ with the alphabet of letters: to combine them into words and sentences. Your Verbal IQ tends to be measured by the size and range of your vocabulary, and by your ability to see relationships between words.

why does verbal intelligence matter?

At the beginning of the 20th century, psychologists observed that there was a direct correlation between vocabulary size and strength, and life-success. In other words, the bigger and better your vocabulary and your Verbal Intelligence, the more successful and confident you will be in your life in general – in your work, in your social and personal life, and in your studies.

Words have tremendous power. Those people who harness the strength of words give themselves the power to persuade, to inspire, to mesmerize, and to influence in all manner of ways the human brain. It is not surprising, then, that words and their power have become one of the most important currencies in the ‘Knowledge Revolution’ of the 21st century.

how will the power of verbal intelligence help me?

The really good news is that it is easy to improve and expand your verbal skills, and to increase immeasurably your Verbal IQ, and this book will show you how. Barry McGuigan, whom you can read about in Chapter 7, deliberately set about raising his Verbal IQ when he turned to TV commentating after his retirement from the boxing ring, and has since become as adept mentally as he was physically as a fighter.

The Power of Verbal Intelligence is about to take you on one of the most exciting journeys of your life. It is a journey on which you will:

• discover and explore new worlds
• feast your imagination on new concepts and ideas
• learn more about your amazing brain and how to use it
• learn the basic building blocks of word power, enabling you, at a stroke, to expand your current vocabulary by thousands of words
• learn how to use your body to communicate effectively
• rediscover the joy of playing around with words and their meanings
• learn the basic secrets of reading faster and comprehending more
• learn how to mesmerize and entrance others with the power and beauty of your conversation and most importantly, The Power of Verbal Intelligence has been designed to make sure that you have fun while you increase your Word Power.

Most importantly, The Power of Verbal Intelligence has been designed to make sure that you have fun while you increase your Word Power.

an overview of the power of verbal intelligence

The Power of Verbal Intelligence is divided into 10 chapters, each one of which guides you into new areas for improving and expanding your verbal powers.

In this opening chapter I introduce you to the overall structure of the book, so that you can get a clear ‘picture’ and ‘map’ of the exciting territory you are about to explore.

You will learn about the history of the development of IQ, and will discover why it is that so many people think they are far less intelligent than they really are. The rest of this chapter will be devoted to your first Verbal Workout, in which you will discover new words, play games, be given the first boosts to your Verbal Intelligence and, hopefully, have fun!

Chapter 2: Child’s Wordplay – Proof that You are a Natural Verbal Genius

In Chapter 2 I will introduce you to a master of Verbal Intelligence – a total genius in this field who, by example, will show you the secret formulas for improving on all levels your verbal powers.

Who is this paragon of Verbal Intelligence?

The human baby! I will introduce you to the special tools a baby uses to master any language and all verbal situations. A baby learns thousands of new words and hundreds of new verbal skills every year. Using the same approach, you can do the same.

And, if you think about it, you used to be a baby.

You have already done it once!

With the right help, you can do it again!

Chapter 3: Word Power I – Roots: How to Improve Your Vocabulary, Creativity, Memory and IQ!

Words, like all other structures, are made up of their basic parts. When you know the parts, it is easier to construct the whole. For example, realizing that there are only 26 letters that make up all the words in the English language, makes spelling and word recognition considerably easier than if you had thousands of different letters to learn!

It is exactly the same with word parts – their ‘Roots’, ‘Prefixes’ and ‘Suffixes’.

In this chapter I will introduce you to 25 key Roots.

As there are only 25 to learn and remember, the task will be a very easy one. It will also be immensely rewarding, for each Root is like a magic key, which will open up meaning to many tens and often hundreds of new words.

With these keys in your possession, you will be well on your way to the mastery of the English language.

Chapter 4: Word Power II – Prefixes and Suffixes

Chapter 4 is very similar to Chapter 3, concentrating on those common basic building blocks to words, the beginnings and ends: Prefixes and Suffixes.

Using the same approach as you used for Roots, you will once again massively multiply the number of words at your command.

Chapter 5: Brain Word – Using Your Brain Power to Develop Your Word Power

How do the following vitally important aspects of your own brain and its functioning relate to the development of your Verbal Intelligence:

• Your memory while it is taking in information?
• Your memory after it has taken in information?
• The right and left brain?
• Study techniques?
• Mind Maps?
• The multi-ordinate meaning of words?

Read this chapter and find out!

Chapter 6: Body Talk – Body Language and How to Improve It

Your Verbal Intelligence has a giant servant – a ‘silent helper’ – who has phenomenal powers to increase the already phenomenal power of your words.

Your body!

In this chapter I will int...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Mind Maps®
• Chapter 1: Fore-word! Your Journey to Verbal Power Begins
• Chapter 2: Child’s Wordplay – Proof that You are a Natural Verbal Genius
• Chapter 3: Word Power I – Roots: How to Improve Your Vocabulary, Creativity, Memory and IQ!
• Chapter 4: Word Power II – Prefixes and Suffixes
• Chapter 5: Brain Word – Using your Brain Power to Develop your Word Power
• Chapter 6: Body Talk – Body Language and How to Improve It
• Chapter 7: Present Yourself – How to Become a Successful Speaker
• Chapter 8: Read On! How to Improve Your Speed, Comprehension and Recall
• Chapter 9: Communication Power – Using Your Verbal Intelligence to Gain Control of Your Life
• Chapter 10: Last Words – Using Your Verbal Intelligence to Increase Your Other Multiple Intelligences
• The Last, Last Word
• Recommended Reading – Tony Buzan’s ‘Top 10’
• Answers
• Summary Mind Maps®
• Acknowledgements
• Other Books By
• Keep Reading
• About the Publisher