Amid the sound and fury of the recent American elections, an eloquent acceptance speech by Joe Biden was missed by many. Unlike the bombastic ‘us versus them’ utterances of Donald Trump, Biden’s speech was a uniting ‘we’ – paraphrased from a term he used in it talking about the ‘Soul of America’. It contained a … Continue reading Some little lessons in rhetorical oratory
Category Archives: million dollar message
Finland has a National Day of Failure. Yes, seriously…and as a country we often compare ourselves to, is it an idea we should embrace? For the past 10 years, October 13 is celebrated for failure, because (not unlike New Zealand?), screwing up is frowned upon by Finnish society. It was started by university students who … Continue reading Should we have a National Day of Failure?
…like requesting a picture framer to paint your portrait? There’s a reason we contract specialists to carry out specific jobs. We know they know their stuff. We back their expertise within their domain of knowledge. We’re confident their proficiency will deliver the best result the quickest. For example a General Practitioner doctor can help correct … Continue reading Is asking a designer to uncover your story…
Perhaps our election selection should be based on a slogan that is “least likely to offend”. Or how about the slogan generating the biggest yawn should get our vote. Then of course, we might blame language blandness on Covid. Because, and this might be a reflection of an older mindset with an increasingly more cynical … Continue reading All this wonderful language at their disposal…oh how our political parties disappoint
Exactly how business changes and morphs as we come out of Covid lockdown is a very murky crystal ball. There is no playbook for the situation the world’s in, and we don’t know the ending…for individuals, for communities and for companies. One aspect which will evolve are the stories businesses tell of themselves and to … Continue reading Coronavirus will force a reset of our business stories (as well as everything else)
Messaging and stories are going to be a key element of snuffing out Coronavirus over what will be a tricky target. Somewhere, but most likely spread, a bevy of government communications people are creating messages. You can’t envy their job. It’s no easy thing to nail important ideas so that all of us understand and … Continue reading ‘Stay home, save lives’ misses an opportunity to increase its impact – ‘Omne trium perfectum’
We should avoid using the term self-isolating. Instead we should use self-containing. Why? Because the language we use provides a feedback loop in our brain which can either be positive or negative. And negative or positive – our reactions are also contagious…much like Coronavirus. So isolate means alone. Isolate implies looking inwards continuously. Isolate suggests … Continue reading Andrà tutto bene – everything will be all right
Ernest Hemingway was once apparently challenged (now believed to not be true) to write a story in six words. His supposed answer was: “For sale, baby shoes, never worn”. We fill in the dots, we figure out what must’ve happened, we feel a surge of sorry as we empathise with the parents. My partner brought … Continue reading A perfect story in four words – a true Million Dollar Message
One of the roles in Toastmasters (I’m in Wellington’s Collider group) is Grammarian. I had that function recently and was asked to introduce the word ‘lexophile’, an expression I’d never heard of before. A lexophile is a lover of words, finding enjoyment in word play, anagrams, palindromes and the like. While researching the term, not … Continue reading A lexophile…probably many worse afflictions to suffer from!
Two words, two meanings and a demonstration of the power of the right question to…stop…and…make…you…think. You can’t help but flip between ‘over’s’ interpretation. It’s telling. Am I drinking too much? Am I sick of what drinking is doing to me? There’s no judgment, no high moral ground, no finger-wagging. There’s simply a little self-imposed jab … Continue reading A very telling two word question