On Words and Business

Storytelling For Business 101

1. Be human. You’re talking to individuals, not soulless corporate entities.
2. Use examples. People like to know what happens to other people.
3. Include emotion. Be sensible but don’t be afraid.
4. Take a position. You can’t say everything, so have a point of view.
5. Be a champion for your readers. They’re depending on you to be genuine, trustworthy, and to make it worth their time to read your words.

One of my biggest bugbears in business communications is the use of the word solution to explain a product or service.

Whenever I read that on a website or in marketing collateral, I feel like I have no idea what that company does. Usually, I also get the feeling that the company doesn’t really have a clear idea what they do either. Not surprising, that doesn’t give me a lot of confidence about the company.

Here’s a link to a great post on eight business buzzwords to avoid–including the word solution.

Check out this year’s List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.

Those I truly hope will never be used again:

• Tweet
• Stimulus
• Bromance
• Chillaxin’

Movable type - 1040

Printing press - 1454

Dot matrix printer - 1970

A format in which words do not have to be printed to be read - The present

A format currently only imagined? - The future

If you haven’t heard about Scott Ginsberg, you should find out about him. He’s the nametag guy (he wears it 24/7), and has great ideas and suggestions for networking and helping people get to know the real you. Plus, he’s interesting.

As an example, here are two blog posts on things you should never apologize for–part 1 (1-37) and part 2 (38-79).

My favorites:

• 5. Never apologize for asking questions.
• 18. Never apologize for disagreeing.
• 23. Never apologize for giving it your best shot.
• 27. Never apologize for lack of information.
• 30. Never apologize for looking out for yourself.
• 54. Never apologize for thinking something was possible.
• 71. Never apologize for your happines.
• 76. Never apologize for your pricing.

From the post Marketing Tip of the Day: Never Say “Very” by Dave Kellogg

• It makes your writing seem like puffery
• It transfers the meaning away from the very thing you are trying to highlight
• It may lead to unsupported or illogical claims
• It can overposition your product or service

That’s all very, very true, n’est-ce pas?