I was mildly amused last week by an office supplies company which offered a solution for 'unkindly designed offices' that are not conductive to gossip.

The answer to tittle-tattle which gets 'jammed by the coffee machine or abandoned in the ladies loo' is apparently a 'ring-for-a-gossip bell', free with orders over £69.

There's a wise saying that 'the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.'

In other words, what we say has the power to build people up or bring them down and the speaker (and recipients) will reap the consequences for good or ill.

The words we choose - spoken and written - and their delivery, have a profound effect on the people around us, and ultimately, influence the results we get.

There are broadly two leanings of communication style called the 'radiator' and the 'drain' tendency.

Radiator style will choose language and subjects that will build people up and encourage them to give of their best.

The drain tendency tends to run down and discourage. 

One of my early 'radiator' moments was with the global CEO of an advertising company I worked for briefly before embarking on my PR career.

Passing me in the corridor while on a visit to the Glasgow office he remarked, "You look like a guy that knows what he's doing!"

It's the kind of unsolicited comment that's worth a thousand appraisal interviews.