How To Encourage Someone With Words: 8 Inspiring Ways

Last Updated on January 6, 2023

Don’t you hate it when everything is going right and suddenly find yourself doing the wrong thing the next moment? Of course, you do — and so does everyone else.

That’s why offering words of encouragement is so important. Uplifting words can set the world straight and get people back on the right path. Not only can you help prepare ordinary people for the inevitable setback, but mostly you also help them maintain a happy life.

Wondering how you can do it?

Here are a few tips on encouraging someone at any given moment.

Why Encourage Someone With Uplifting Words?

Are you familiar with the saying “In difficulty lies opportunity”?

Remember that a moment of defeat is just a stepping stone to better things. Whether it’s about a life spent making mistakes or someone’s bad day, offering encouragement can turn the saddest moments into happy ones.

It works because words of encouragement are like music to a person’s ear. Fear, anxiety, and self-doubt go away once you encourage people. It helps your family, colleagues, and friends keep moving forward.

Besides, giving words of encouragement won’t cost you anything.

So be ready to give them once you feel they’re necessary. In most cases, words of encouragement are essential when:

• Someone Had Just a Bad Day — If a person feels like a failure, they would appreciate hearing kind words.
• Someone Experienced a Loss — Losing someone leads to tough times. Significant words can help comfort them.
• Someone Had to Make a Tough Decision — Encouraging words can assure them they must be courageous to move forward.

How to Encourage Someone With Words

Giving away words of encouragement at random? It can make the recipient’s day.

But what you need to know are better ways to deliver encouraging quotes. If you want the recipient to feel unconditionally loved, you’ll have to learn how to address their concerns appropriately.

Here are a few ways to make your words of encouragement more effective.

1. The Most Important Thing: Use Simple Phrases

An upside is that people can understand them easily. If they can’t understand what you’re getting at, they might not pay attention to you.

Plus, what makes simple phrases encouraging is how familiar they can be. And sometimes, people prefer familiar words.

Here’s what you can do:

• Reassure them of their capability – “Keep up the wonderful work!” and “You can do it again!” are examples.
• Build confidence – Make them feel you believe in them for them to believe in themselves. “Go for it!” for one.
• Crush failure – Tell them something like “Never say die.” Remind them mistakes happen, and these blunders shouldn’t stand in the way of good.

2. Triumph Begins When You Share Foreign Sayings

Other people prefer the unknown. And so, you can win them over by encouraging foreign sayings.

Examples are:

• “Qui n’avance pas, recule” — This is French for “if you don’t move forward, you will falter”.
• “Nuevo rey, nueva ley” — This Spanish saying can assure a person it’s okay to get around to things differently.
• “Per aspera ad astra” — This is a Latin saying that reminds someone to reach for the stars. It assures a person to dream big regardless of difficulties.

3. Find Serious Courage From Timeless Proverbs

It’s not a mystery why these words of wisdom withstood the test of time. They’re thought-provoking and applicable to different points in a person’s life.

Take this proverb, for instance: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step.” A great time to use it is when someone feels overwhelmed to begin a task.

Here are inspiring and timeless sayings that you might want to use that can inspire so much courage in anyone:

• “Practice makes perfect” – To improve at a craft, do it more often.
• “Hope for the best; prepare for the worst” – Always be realistic and do not expect too much.
• “Fortune favors the bold” – Be brave and confident. Things will start going your way if so.

4. Share Facts and Statistics

They help support words of encouragement. Motivational words are powerful on their own. If you sprinkle facts and statistics, that power reaches another level.

Here’s an example of a standard line that encourages someone:

“Always look for the silver lining in a dark cloud.”

Now, here’s the same line coupled with statistics.

“Always look for the silver lining in a dark cloud. People are in control of 40% of their happiness“

5. Want Friends to Smile Today? Tell Them a Relatable Story.

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Relatable stories are interesting because they highlight someone’s similar experiences.

Say that a person is afraid to leave behind things and people that are holding them back in their career. So why not tell them a story that features those obstacles?

Here are pointers on how to make your story relatable:

• Structure its parts – Make your story easy to understand. Let there be a precise aim.
• Emphasize a single message – Don’t complicate what you’re saying with multiple angles. For example, talk about chasing someone’s goals — and that’s it.
• Part with a moral lesson – Assure them that there’s a point in their struggles. And let them apply the lesson their way.

Emphasize that everybody has exactly the same number of hours as everyone else’s. It’s all in how they spend their time doing something that inspires them. Through your story, they should be able to understand what it takes for them to get out of their funk.

6. Share the First-Rate Version of a Personal Story

Had your share of encouragement in the past?

Then talk about it. Assure the person on the receiving end that encouraging words worked for you — and can do the same for them.

Especially if you’re good friends with someone you want to encourage, that person has a better shot at taking inspiration from you.

Here are excellent ideas:

• Career-oriented tales – Discuss how you landed your first job or got promoted. They’re helpful for someone who’s trying to get ahead professionally.
• Financial setbacks – Struggled with bills and your daily budget? Then talk about problems with money.
• Happy results – Tell them about how words of encouragement helped get you what you want.

7. The Greatest Pains Come From Real-Life Situations. Talk About Them.

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Talking about historical events works, too. That’s because you can find hidden gems in significant situations in the past.

You can find valuable lessons in them. And people can apply them to different areas of their life.

Take The Fall of the Berlin Wall, for instance. Hard work and persistence work well together. And as long as you have them, you can achieve even what many consider impossible.

8. Use the Success Stories of Prominent People as Examples

Lori Greiner, for one, made it big despite challenges. Before establishing a respectable authority and earning millions as an entrepreneur, she didn’t have it easy.

In fact, when she first pitched an idea for a jewelry organizer, many people shut it down. People didn’t think much of it — and her.

However, words of encouragement from her husband helped her soar. That, and her unparalleled belief in herself.

Now, she:

• Has a net worth of $100 million
• Authored Invent It, Sell it, Bank it! — Make Your Million Dollar Idea into a Reality
• An acclaimed American TV personality who runs Clever & Unique Creations

Take a Deep Breath and Move on to the Next Chapter

Help those special people in your life to move on from that dark place. Get them to take a deep breath. Let them know that nothing is impossible. No matter how many defeats they encounter, they’ll eventually find comfort zones where they can find happiness.

Heard the saying about running water’s ability to wear away the hardest stone?

This classic quote and many other quotes about patience also have to do with the constant need for encouragement.

Think of encouragement as the fuel that energizes someone to look ahead. Without it, it won’t be easy for them to keep going.

So don’t allow the well of encouragement to run dry. If you’re around to come to the rescue at the right time, there’s a significant chance for a person not to lose patience.