Don't make it so hard
Whenever I run off and give a presentation at (insert company name here)'s big annual shindig, I always get one questioner who starts off acknowledging the brilliance of our book (dubious, to say the least) and then comes up with some sort of reality check: you can't really be expecting all of us to be honest, witty and entertaining during the work week, can you?
Well, yes. And just as you don't have to be a raving genius to write a book about the bull that passes for business communication -- and you don't, as you've undoubtedly noticed even poking around this site -- there are ample opportunities to rise above the mediocre and soar with the not-too-wretchedly-dull people. This being a blog, you probably want a useful example, and likely you want it for free. Seeing as our programmer is still on holiday and we can't figure out how to assault you with pop-ups for the new Bullfighter VISA Titanium card for the ostensibly rich, I will provide one without a pitch.
I was asked some months ago to help with a recruiting book for a consultancy. Not just any book, but the one geared toward the twentysomethings fresh out of college. Having seen the usual stuff that passes as brochure content, I urged the writers to go to the 'summer associates' (e.g., interns) and get them to write their impressions after a year spent working for my client (the consulting firm). This they did, and we ended up with a stack of candid mini-essays of the sort corporate marketing people have forgotten how to write - essays about being a bit nervous on Day One on the new job, nearly missing flights, mistaking youthful senior managers for newbies, and so on. Real human stuff.
Then marketing and graphics caught hold of this recruiting book and decided to add sidebar quotes to make it look nicer. Stop right here and ask what sorts of quotes you'd expect. Got it? All right then. True to form, the sidebar quotes pulled were the most typical, expected things you could imagine, among them: "When we have a deadline, we all work together to meet it."
If that doesn't have 20 year olds rushing to get into your company, what would?
Turns out the summer associates had said more human and interesting things in the course of telling their stories: "Seltzer exploded out of the bottle and landed all over his suit." Wonder what that's about? Most readers would. And that's the point of it. Sometimes, steering clear of things like the anonymity trap isn't so hard. It can be a matter of thinking about what the normal corporate person would expect, and then veering a bit off the familiar path.
I drew a heavy line through the dull "deadline" quote and circled the "seltzer" one. I didn't have to write a word or exercise too many neurons. Much like young Luke Skywalker, the power can be within you all along.
Well, yes. And just as you don't have to be a raving genius to write a book about the bull that passes for business communication -- and you don't, as you've undoubtedly noticed even poking around this site -- there are ample opportunities to rise above the mediocre and soar with the not-too-wretchedly-dull people. This being a blog, you probably want a useful example, and likely you want it for free. Seeing as our programmer is still on holiday and we can't figure out how to assault you with pop-ups for the new Bullfighter VISA Titanium card for the ostensibly rich, I will provide one without a pitch.
I was asked some months ago to help with a recruiting book for a consultancy. Not just any book, but the one geared toward the twentysomethings fresh out of college. Having seen the usual stuff that passes as brochure content, I urged the writers to go to the 'summer associates' (e.g., interns) and get them to write their impressions after a year spent working for my client (the consulting firm). This they did, and we ended up with a stack of candid mini-essays of the sort corporate marketing people have forgotten how to write - essays about being a bit nervous on Day One on the new job, nearly missing flights, mistaking youthful senior managers for newbies, and so on. Real human stuff.
Then marketing and graphics caught hold of this recruiting book and decided to add sidebar quotes to make it look nicer. Stop right here and ask what sorts of quotes you'd expect. Got it? All right then. True to form, the sidebar quotes pulled were the most typical, expected things you could imagine, among them: "When we have a deadline, we all work together to meet it."
If that doesn't have 20 year olds rushing to get into your company, what would?
Turns out the summer associates had said more human and interesting things in the course of telling their stories: "Seltzer exploded out of the bottle and landed all over his suit." Wonder what that's about? Most readers would. And that's the point of it. Sometimes, steering clear of things like the anonymity trap isn't so hard. It can be a matter of thinking about what the normal corporate person would expect, and then veering a bit off the familiar path.
I drew a heavy line through the dull "deadline" quote and circled the "seltzer" one. I didn't have to write a word or exercise too many neurons. Much like young Luke Skywalker, the power can be within you all along.
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