I start my mornings with the TV news on in the background, with the hope that subliminally I will retain the overnight activities of the world. On occasion, there is a useful nugget from a guest on a non-news topic that sticks in my mind, and today it was the topic of words.
The author of Words That Work, Frank Luntz, was on the tube stumping his new book. He is a political consultant and the example he gave was from the 2004 presidential campaign, comparing the words spoken by John Kerry, which tended to reflect his Yale education, and the words by George W. Bush, which… um… tended not to reflect his Yale education.
As this was swirling in my head, another good work on words came to mind. Dr. Peter Meyers of Tminus2 Consulting wrote a "geek guide" (a.k.a. white paper) on the topic of Speaking geek to customers which he makes available on his blog, debabblog. It offers good advice for technical folks in talking to clients or customers about technology without causing their eyes to roll to the back of their head.
Now the classic 80's song Cult of Personality by Living Colour is playing in my head, with its edited quote from Malcolm X, “[w]e want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand.” Though I can't recall what today's weather forecast is.
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
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Well, first of all, many thanks for the link-love. We’ve both worked with clients long enough to know how important choosing your words can be.
Although it’s also politically-oriented (and fairly left-leaning), I’d highly recommend George Lakoff’s Don’t Think of an Elephant. Lakoff is a well respected linguist/psychologist, but this is focused on how politicians use carefully-chosen language to frame debates. For example, just by hearing “welfare reform”, you automatically get the impression that welfare is something in need of reform. The issue’s been framed (and biased) without any debate at all. It’s a relatively short but absolutely fascinating read.
Comment by
Peter M.
on 01/12/07 at 02:38 PM
Link-love? Another new term. And thanks for the reco on that book, I will look into it as well.
Another term that has a negative connotation is “public transportation”, especially with its state in Chicago… mp/m
Comment by
Mike Maddaloni
on 01/12/07 at 04:58 PM
Sorry, I’m hanging out on too many SEO blogs and picking up their lingo. I suppose “link-love” sounds a little kinky, out of context.
Comment by
Peter M.
on 01/12/07 at 05:05 PM
No worries, I didn’t read between the lines on that! ;)
mp/m
Comment by
Mike Maddaloni
on 01/12/07 at 07:21 PM
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