Unclear or ambiguous communication can lead to very ugly problems. For example:

"a few"

"some"

"later"

"soon"

These types of relative and uncear terms can lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication and women are often the culprits of unspecific language.

You probably have your own "filler" or vague words you use to stay non-specific. These words are great in situations where being specific isn't necessary, such as when you tell a co-worker that you're just finishing a project and will meet her in the lunch room, "in a minute." Of course everyone knows that doesn't mean exactly 60 seconds. It means soon.

But what is "soon"? For some people that may mean 15 minutes. To others "soon" may mean only three minutes. Vague words often mean different things to different people because the word is relative to the listener's personal paradigms.

If you tell an experienced speaker to expect "a lot of people" in her audience, she may expect to see two thousand people sitting in an auditorium. An inexperienced speaker may only picture 35 people in the audience when told the same thing.

Tell a group of people to arrive "around five o'clock" and you will have people showing up anywhere from 4:30 to 7:30. (I have friends who believe they are on time if they arrive on the RIGHT DAY!)

A deadline is set to have a project finished "by the end of the week." Does that mean the project should be completed by 9 am on Friday morning or 5 pm Friday evening?

Be specific with what you want and what you are talking about and you will be more successful with your communication.

Kirstin Carey is a consultant, award winning speaker, and author of "PowHERful Communications for Women Who Want to be Heard." As a woman business owner, Kirstin fully understands what is necessary for women to be successful entrepreneurs. To find out how you too can love your business everyday and live the entrepreneurial life you want, visit http://www.powherful.com