The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
–George Orwell
The JT International News Wire sent me a link to A Little Tough Talk Can Carry the Day in the WSJ. Here’s what writer George Anders says about weak and mealy-mouthed executive communication:
This is an especially bad time to be timid. The rise of blogs and YouTube videos means that any gabber with a funny story or provocative point of view can gain world-wide attention within days or even hours. If bosses can’t define the agenda with words that delight and startle, someone else will.
Want to be a real communicator? Speak the truth. Use plain language. Get real. Get tough. Talk straight.
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