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img-ng-1.gifVerbal Success® Vocabulary eCourse
LESSON 1 OF 7

Hello, and Welcome to the Verbal Success® eCourse!

I want to congratulate you for taking this important step toward improving your vocabulary. You are about to learn why improving your vocabulary is the single smartest investment you can make in your future.

Yes, it’s true! research has proven over and over again that having a superior vocabulary will help catapult you to success, but conversely, a poor vocabulary will hold you back in life.

That is why this first lesson is focused on getting you excited about improving your vocabulary. We want to motivate you to start taking steps in your life that will help you to amass a powerful and success-driven vocabulary. Did you know that if you improve your vocabulary you will…

  • Read Faster and Comprehend More Information
  • Increase your intelligence and your IQ
  • Earn better grades in school
  • Achieve greater success and earn more money in your career!

Yes, it’s true! Research has shown over and over that by improving your vocabulary you will receive all of the benefits above and many more. In today’s lesson, we want to motivate you and excite you about improving your vocabulary. We hope to do this by reviewing with you some of the studies that prove the importance of building a superior vocabulary.

 
“When you complete this
Verbal Success program
you will possess the tools
needed to quickly and
easily amass a powerful,
success-driven
vocabulary.”
Lets begin...

You can skim over these studies, as the main intent of today’s lesson is to get you excited about this Verbal Success course and to motivate you to complete the program.

IMPROVING YOUR VOCABULARY WILL HELP YOU TO
Read Faster and Comprehend More

Nearly 100 years ago, a leading educational Psychologist named Edward Thorndike performed a study that found students’ reading speed and comprehension test scores were directly linked to their vocabulary knowledge. This was first proven nearly 100 years ago, and many studies since have concluded the same thing: the more words you know, the faster you will read, and the more you will comprehend.

The fact that your vocabulary will affect your reading speed and comprehension is a pretty intuitive concept—it only makes sense that the more words you know the faster you will be able to read and recognize these words as well as comprehend the information you are reading.

By taking this Verbal Success course you will learn how to improve your vocabulary so that you can read faster and comprehend more information.

IMPROVING YOUR VOCABULARY WILL HELP YOU TO
Increase your Intelligence and Your IQ

If you speak with anyone involved with intelligence testing, you will quickly learn that verbal skills constitute an important part of standard intelligence tests. Vocabulary is a critical component of well known IQ tests such as the WAIS and the Stanford-Binet. And if you were to ask intelligence testing experts what ONE thing (or trait) they would use to best measure a person’s intelligence, you would find that almost all experts would select vocabulary.

VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE IS A STRONG INDICATOR OF IQ

 

Studies have shown the correlation between vocabulary test scores and IQ to be between 0.8-0.9, meaning a person’s vocabulary will predict with very high accuracy how well they score on an IQ test. In other words, if I were to give you a vocabulary test, your test score would predict with very high accuracy how well you would score on an IQ test.

By using the Verbal Success® program to improve your vocabulary, you will also increase your intelligence as well as your ability to score high on an IQ test.

   

“A person’s vocabulary will predict with very high accuracy how well they score on
an IQ test.”

 

IMPROVING YOUR VOCABULARY WILL HELP YOU TO
Improve Your Grades in School

There have been a number of studies that show a direct correlation between a student’s vocabulary knowledge and their success in school.

“Simple 29-Word Test Accurately Predicts Academic Success or Failure”

To begin, let’s take a look at a study performed by the University of Illinois. The University of Illinois created a simple, 29-word vocabulary test that, when given to freshmen, could accurately predict their future academic success or failure. Now that’s pretty amazing if you think about it: a simple 29-word vocabulary test could predict, with accuracy, how well a student would do in school! This study clearly proves the importance of vocabulary in learning and achieving academic success.

Closer Evaluation: If you are a skeptic like me, you may have noticed a paradox here. And that is, what came first? Is a person born intelligent and therefore is able to learn words easier, and from this, be more intelligent and perform better at school? Or can you work to improve your vocabulary, and by doing so, improve your ability to learn new information, express your ideas, and do well in school? Well, I’m happy to say that a study conducted by several Universities proved the latter. Let’s take a look at this study…

“Multiple Universities Conclude that by Improving Your Vocabulary
You Will Achieve Greater Academic Success”

Several Universities participated in a study whereby they enrolled a sample group of freshmen in a Vocabulary Course—a course designed to help a student improve his or her vocabulary. The universities then went on to track this sample group of freshmen against the rest of the students at the universities. What they found was that the sample group of freshmen, who successfully completed the vocabulary course, went on to outperform all of the other students at these universities.

Now, this study really gets me excited and it should get you excited as well! Because, what this study clearly proves, is that anyone, and I repeat, anyone, regardless of education or socio-economic background, can improve his or her ability to learn and succeed in school by simply improving his or her vocabulary.

By using the Verbal Success® program to improve your vocabulary, you too will be able to improve your ability to learn new information and be more successful in school.

IMPROVING YOUR VOCABULARY WILL HELP YOU TO
Achieve Greater Financial and Career Success

Vocabulary Test Accurately Predicts Your Future Income Bracket

Now that we have seen how vocabulary can impact your academic success, let’s look at how vocabulary can impact your professional and career success. Probably one of the best studies to highlight this is a 20 year study performed by renowned self-help expert Earl Nightingale. In this study, graduating seniors in college were tested on their vocabulary knowledge. Earl Nightingale then went on to track the study participants’ careers for 20 years.

Without a single exception, Earl Nightingale was able to conclusively prove that your vocabulary can either catapult you to the top income bracket or derail your career into the lowest income bracket. And the good news is, it’s never too late to improve your vocabulary and gain an edge in life and more success in your career.

“Vocabulary Test Scores Correlate with
Rank on the Corporate Ladder”

There have been dozens of other studies that prove the direct correlation between vocabulary knowledge and career success, but let’s just focus on a couple more. One study that is particularly interesting was performed by scientist Johnson O’Connor. This study found a direct correlation between vocabulary and rank on the corporate ladder. In the study, a vocabulary test was given to executive and supervisory personnel in 39 large manufacturing companies.

 
“What Earl Nightingale found in his study was
truly remarkable: in every single case, without a single exception, those who scored highest on the vocabulary test went on to be in the top income bracket, while those
who scored the lowest went on to be in
the lowest
income
bracket.”

Presidents and Vice presidents averaged

236 out of a possible 272 points

Managers averaged

168 out of a possible 272 points

Superintendents averaged

140 out of a possible 272 points

Foremen averaged

114 out of a possible 272 points

Floor Bosses averaged

86 out of a possible 272 points

In virtually every case, vocabulary correlated with executive level and rank on the corporate ladder.

Research Study Proves that Vocabulary is the Only Common
Characteristic Shared by Successful People

Another study performed by the Human Engineering Lab concluded that the only common characteristic of successful people in the United States was their vocabulary. This was a pretty remarkable finding, so I will repeat it: the only common characteristic shared by successful people was their superior vocabulary.

The Human Engineering Lab tested the vocabularies of people from every education level and socio-economic background. The test results found, once again, that people earning the highest incomes scored highest on the vocabulary test. In addition to testing vocabulary, the Human Engineering Lab performed numerous tests and found that the only common characteristic shared by successful people was, in fact, a superior vocabulary!

Now, when asked why vocabulary is linked with financial success, the President of the Human Engineering Lab had a very interesting answer. He made the following statement:

“Why do large vocabularies characterize executives and possibly outstanding men and women in other fields? The final answer seems to be that words are the instruments by means of which men and women grasp the thoughts of others and with which they do much of their own thinking; essentially, words are the tools of thought.”

Now that may sound a little pretentious to you, but the message should resonate. Words are our tools of thought. Words are how we learn and words are what we use to convey our knowledge. You may also want to think of words as your tools for success.

GET EXCITED!
You are on Your Way to Improving Your Vocabulary

The Verbal Success® Program is a step-by-step program designed to help you to improve your vocabulary with a focus on your success in life.

I hope these studies have helped motivate you to read through every lesson in the Verbal Success® program. By completing the Verbal Success® program you will improve your vocabulary so that you will...

Your first study lesson is next...we hope you are looking forward to getting started.

Sincerely,
Greg Ragland
Go to Index Page of Verbal Success® eCourse! Go to Lesson 2 of Verbal Success® eCourse!