All posts by Sebastian

Boldly go and break the law*

Content marketing, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees, Writing

No, I’m not suggesting you go out and rob the local bank, or even (and I’m talking to men here attending industry conferences or going to sporting events) wear red trousers – that really is unforgivable – I’m talking about many of the arcane laws of grammar and punctuation.

Who says for instance that you can’t start a sentence with a conjunction? “But we were taught never to do that,” I hear you scream. And, why shouldn’t you use one word sentences? Don’t believe everything. They. Tell. You.

 

image of 1 planeEnd with a preposition? That’s the stuff we want more of.

It can be fun to deliberately break the rules of grammar and punctuation to emphasise a point, add a bit of spice to your writing, or just to simply get a reaction. That said, you have to know you’re breaking the rules otherwise how do you know you’re breaking the rules? Where’s the fun in that?

So boldly go to split infinity, stick it to the punctuation pedants and grammar geeks and don’t be afraid to break those laws. Having said that, dangle your modifier and I’ll be coming for you…

*Any grammar and punctuation mistakes within this post are purely intentional (even the ones that aren’t).

Let’s all write like it’s 1984…

Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees, Writing

Good writing should, quite literally, be quite simple. So why, as we often see,  the temptation to over elaborate? Or, to put it another way, why do we succumb to verbosity as a means of conveying our meaning? (Can you see what I did there?)

George Orwell says a scrupulous writer should always ask ‘ could I put it more shortly’?

iStock_000000251967Medium
So here, courtesy of Orwell himself, are his five great writing tips:

 

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

 

How great leaders communicate

Communicating in a crisis, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees

There’s nothing like an ambitious title for a blog and this one feels right up there along with 300 odd words on ‘How to do nuclear fusion’. But, here goes.

When you think about great historical figures who communicate well people like Churchill come to mind. A nice turn of phrase, consistent messaging, positive reinforcement, presence, and no little preparation resulted in a reputation as a great orator – though, interestingly, no one remembers his alleged struggles to overcome a speech impediment. Historians are divided as to whether he had a lisp, stuttered or simply liked a ‘loaded pause’.

Today’s leaders have it harder than he did in many ways given the number of communications channels they can use there and the expectation of delivering more. Some leaders, for good or ill, thrive on the immediacy of Twitter for example – dear departed Trump – while others are probably blissfully unaware as to what goes out under their name.

once upon a time

I want to communicate
What never changes though are the leaders – and I’m moving on to include business leaders and managers here – who are really good at communicating do it naturally. They have a distinctive voice; take every opportunity to communicate; are authentic (you can believe that what they’re saying is from them and represents their values); use wit and humour when appropriate; and take advice and feedback from those around them to improve. Probably most important though is their desire to communicate; they genuinely want to do it. Try media training someone who has no desire to talk to the media. It can be very painful.

For those who aren’t natural communicators, communication is a tougher job but no one says they need to be great orators. If they follow the same rules that come more naturally to the good communicator then why shouldn’t a bad communicator become a good communicator? And surely it’s worth the effort. For CEOs or senior managers, I would have said it’s probably the most important part of their job.

Easy enough? Now about fusing together those pesky light nuclei…

Is your company ‘jumping the shark’?

Content marketing, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees, Writing

A bit late in the day, I’ve recently come across the phrase ‘jump the shark’ – so called after the episode in TV’s Happy Days (younger readers ask your older colleagues) when the Fonz literally jumps over a shark on water skis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ZGKI8vpcg

This was the sad point when Happy Days had passed its best and the script writers started to resort to the ludicrous to mask a general decline in script quality. My own personal ‘jump the shark’ favourite would probably be Bobby Ewing ‘resurfacing’ in the shower in Dallas. But there are numerous others to while away your next coffee break.

Is your business jumping the shark?
Businesses too go through their own ‘jump the shark’ moments when particular initiatives pop-up that should probably have been resigned to the cutting room floor. As communications professionals, we’re often called upon to communicate these initiatives or work on the best way to communicate corporate messages that have a distinctly ‘sharky’ whiff about them.

As painful as it can be, it’s our job to call out those ‘jump the shark’ moments that are often lost in the echo chamber of corporate life. Failure to do so can mean anything but a happy day.

And it’s goodbye from me…

Uncategorized

How do you sign-off your email? And, why does it matter?

I’ve noticed recently that my preferred ‘kind regards’ seems to have fallen out of favour – according to this post from Mashable, ‘regards’ or ‘best regards’ only work for Victorian ghosts –  and my use of ‘cheers’ (when I know the lucky recipient of my email a bit better and have loosened my metaphorical tie) should be consigned to the same box where I keep my old tartan lined Harrington jacket and Complete Madness tape.

It seems that ‘thanks’ has become a more common sign-off – even when the writer has nothing to be particularly thankful for.

Of course, it does matter how you sign off your email but it doesn’t hurt to be flexible. Like any communication, you should perhaps think about how you tailor it for your audience rather than rigidly sticking to your usual method. There’s a bit of ‘mirroring’ psychology of in all this and adapting to the intended recipient’s style rather than slavishly sticking to your usual sign-off. Try and experiment with a few different sign-offs and see if anyone notices.

So, farewell then, (too much?). Back at ya (worse!). All the best (better)