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How Vampire Words Suck The Life Out Of Your Business Writing

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Imagine your boss issues the following email at the end of the day: “I’m bringing in bagels tomorrow morning.”

Yay, bagels! You make a mental note to skip breakfast tomorrow to make room for schmear.

Then your boss emails: “I’m going to prioritize bringing in bagels tomorrow morning.”

OK, a little less definite, but still a high probability of bagels. I mean, it’s a priority, right?

Then, a third email: “I’m going to focus on prioritizing bringing in bagels tomorrow morning.”

Bagels are starting to look iffy.

And, finally, she writes: “I’m beginning the process of focusing on prioritizing bringing in bagels tomorrow morning.”

Does that leave you with any hope of bagels? No, it does not. It’s just going to be you and your Cheerios tomorrow morning.

Your boss might be every bit as sincere in her last statement as in her first, but she won’t be able to convince anyone of that. Her original statement about bringing in bagels has been diluted by the addition of “beginning the process,” “prioritize” and “focus” — vampire words and phrases that drain the vitality out of writing and weaken our communications.

Business writing is a Transylvania full of vampire words that fasten themselves onto perfectly good sentences, suck them dry and leave them limp and bloodless on the page. What should have been a simple memo or email gets cluttered with unnecessary qualifying phrases until sentences collapse of their own ponderousness and lack of clarity.        

But this isn’t simply a matter of style. Vampire words also imply a lack of commitment and purpose, even a sense of self-doubt. Compare these two sentences:

Team A will analyze the results and deliver a recommendation.

Team B will focus on analyzing the results and leverage its assets to prioritize delivering a recommendation.  

Which team do you trust to deliver a recommendation? The action in Team B —analyzing results and delivering a recommendation — is besieged by vampire words and left sounding uncertain and indefinite.

But there’s good news. According to folklore, vampires can’t come into your house without an invitation. Likewise, vampire words can’t enter your writing without you allowing it.

Since that’s the case, why do we invite the bloodsuckers in?

A lot of it stems from an unmerited distrust of the simple declarative sentence. Remember those grade school sentences about Dick and Jane going out to play? Or the Hemingway you read in high school? That simple, straightforward style works in business writing, as well:

We will deliver the report by the end of the month.

We will conduct an A/B test on the competing headlines and report the results.

The test group liked the blue logo better than the red one.   

I know what you’re thinking: Those are short sentences composed of short words. What if people think I don’t know any big words or can’t write long sentences? What if people think I can’t twist incentive into a verb?   

Rest easy. Put yourself in the shoes of the recipient of a white paper or report composed of clear, direct language and free of vampire words. Wouldn’t that be refreshing? Wouldn’t it be nice to finish the text without any lingering doubt as to what parts of it meant or whether you peered hard enough between the lines?

Communicating clearly and simply with business associates and clients – with minimal jargon as my colleague Megan Moriarty would say – might astonish them at first, but they’ll come to appreciate it. And, who knows, they might even reciprocate. Think of the misunderstandings and confusion that could be avoided.

So review your business writing and drive stakes through those vampire words. If necessary, hang a string of garlic cloves over your laptop as a reminder.

The Key to Creating Successful Podcasts for Your Business

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Podcasting has entered the mainstream. More than one-third (37%) of Americans age 12 and over listen to podcasts at least every month and 24% listen weekly, according to Edison Research. Given that this data is from a report published last March, you can be assured the numbers today are higher.

My colleague Brandon Glenn wrote an excellent post in May 2018 offering tips to healthcare professionals who may be appearing as guests on a podcast. While that advice still stands, these days your company may be considering launching a podcast of its own.

That’s what one of Amendola’s clients recently did. And that client, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), has done an outstanding job! F4CP is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the benefits of chiropractic care.

Its podcast, Adjusted Reality, debuted in late December and had 1,000 downloads in the first five days. In a world where most podcasts don’t survive past seven episodes, that’s an extremely successful launch.

So what did F4CP do right? A bunch of things.

They have an engaging, upbeat host in Dr. Sherry McAllister. They settled on a format that works for them (interview). They snagged high-profile guests for their first three episodes, including Dr. Deepak Chopra.

And they have a clever name for the podcast. (Actually, Amendola VP Tara Stultz gets credit for coming up with the title Adjusted Reality, while an F4CP intern came through with the equally clever tagline, “Trusted by the Adjusted.”)

There are other things F4CP did well, including a smart launch strategy and effective promotion. But what I want to focus on in this post is the most important element of all in ensuring your podcast can attract and build an audience: quality content.

Podcasts are no different than any other medium of communication. If you have nothing to say, or don’t know what to say, you are doomed to failure.

The good news is that your business already should know what it wants to communicate, and it also should know its target audience. Both of those will help you devise a winning content formula for a podcast.

It’s also critical to tie your podcast content strategy to your business strategy. That should be easy.

You want to raise awareness of your brand in your target audience. You want to position your company as a thought leader and trusted source of information.

And you want to establish a relationship with your target audience. All of these eventually will pay off in revenue and business growth.

Podcasts are particularly effective in helping establish relationships and positioning yourself as a thought leader because they are a very human form of communication. The voice is a powerful instrument for connecting with other people.

We’ve all been drawn in by charismatic speakers, whether we heard them in person, on the radio, or television. Podcasts also leverage the power of the human voice.

But only if that voice has something to say that resonates with your intended audience! Which gets back to your content.

Your podcast can’t be a sales pitch. All that will accomplish is to drive away listeners.

Instead you want to address their needs and concerns in a way that is helpful to them. In other words, provide value. That’s the same strategy you would use in crafting a thought-leadership piece or an op-ed.

Podcasts are a dynamic way to reach your target audience. They can be a lot of work, but there’s a real payoff when you realize you’re making a connection with people and building a reputation as a trusted authority. But it all starts with your content strategy.

Don’t Let Emotions Rule “Crucial Conversations”

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There is no shortage of books on communication in the workplace to improve collaboration and maximize teamwork.  Harvard Business Review also provides wonderful, well-researched articles that can help one improve communication and leadership capabilities.

But one book that I’ve read and re-read over the years stands out: “Crucial Conversations.”  Perhaps the book stands out as much for improving communication and resolving differences in the workplace as for resolving issues in personal relationships.

Over the years, I’ve leaned on this book to help navigate difficult situations.  For example, how do you tell someone trying really hard to do a good job that he isn’t cutting it?  Or explaining to people that they have poor hygiene?  Or telling your client CEO on a media tour that half of the six interviews canceled while you’re on the tour with him?

The authors explain what happens to our brains when conversations go from casual to crucial that is, when emotions grow heated, the stakes are high, and people are entrenched in their opinions.  Let’s just say the blood flowing to the reasoning part of our brains gets detained.

An important element of a crucial conversation is making sure that those involved feel safe to share their opinions.  If they don’t feel safe, they will flee to silence (not sharing information crucial to a problem and toward a decision) or to violence (making personal attacks that exacerbate the situation).

The authors say average communicators make a Fool’s Choice.  They either choose to be brutally honest or silent.  Great communicators, on the other hand, avoid the Fool’s Choice; they share absolute candor but with deep respect.

In the healthcare field Amendola Communications serves, nurses and other care team members often fall silent during critical situations that affect patient safety for fear of doctors and other authority figures.  It’s situations like these, the authors assert, where none of us can remain silent.

While there is much to be gleaned from the book, here are some key recommendations:

  • Don’t “wing” crucial conversations.  “Perfect practice makes perfect”
  • Fill the “pool” of meaning in a dialogue by making sure information flows freely
  • Start with heart and stay focused on what you want for yourself, other people and your relationships (with emphasis on mutual purpose and mutual respect)
  • The best at dialogue look at themselves and ask how they can improve their communication skills; they don’t see others as the source of all that’s wrong with the world
  • Stay focused on achieving results and building relationships

The authors make an astute observation based on the hundreds of conversations they have studied or witnessed as communication consultants:  The problem often is not the message (or bad news) delivered to people, but whether people feel safe hearing that message.

In my next post, we’ll learn about several skills tested by the authors to build mutual purpose.

Let’s Bring the Human Connection Back to Communication

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We’ve all seen articles in the press about overuse of social media and technology by our kids and teens. It’s absolutely pervasive in school, during classes, and in many homes.

I’ve had numerous conversations with my high school sophomore about her generation’s overuse of technology as a communications tool and how it’s leading to shortfalls in interpersonal skills. These kids don’t really know how to interact with each other without their phones. In fact, they don’t even use their phones for actual phone calls. I could go on, but I won’t. If you have a teenager, I bet you can relate.

Technology can be a great thing for business. We use email universally and texts are even becoming more common. But perhaps like our kids we are overusing it a bit. Maybe we should take a step back and remember the importance of “conversations” either over the phone or ideally face-to-face.

Back in the day in high tech PR, we used to conduct press tours and analyst tours so our clients could have face-to-face meetings with key influencers. It was a great opportunity to educate them about new products or services. And more importantly, it was an opportunity to build or cultivate key relationships.

Through the use of technology, press tours are no longer needed not that the media have a ton of bandwidth for meetings these days. Nor are they concentrated in a few media hubs like they used to be.

We have learned to rely on email pitches, phone interviews and if it’s really something special, maybe a video conference call so we can screenshare and provide a product demo. Again, a great use of technology that saves time and travel budgets, but what about the relationship building?

In healthcare IT, we have conferences and tradeshows such as HIMSS, HLTH, AHIMA, and so on, where we try to schedule a few minutes with very busy journalists and analysts to get some “face time” for our clients and their customers. But these are rushed meetings where we hope to communicate the news ““ fingers crossed that the editor or analyst retains what we talked about along with their 20 other meetings that day. They don’t call it #HIMSSanity for nothing.

We are in public relations, but do we take time to actually build and nurture the relationships anymore?

I’m lucky that I have a local client here in Atlanta who I get to have face-to-face meetings with occasionally. We could certainly conduct our check-ins over the phone and quite often we do. However, when I get the chance to go meet with them and brainstorm in person, plan strategy, discuss new ways of talking about their solutions, and even talk about the weather and learn about their families, it builds bonds. And quite often we end our meetings with hugs not handshakes maybe that’s a Southern thing.

This is a topic that I have been thinking about a lot lately and I’ve tried to incorporate it into my daily work. When I’m planning to send a colleague a complicated, wordy email that would be better discussed live, I choose to pick-up the phone and have a conversation instead. There is no lost nuance that can often result in an email or text communication, and I leave the conversation knowing my colleague a little bit better. And we begin to develop a bond. And hopefully that bond, that communication, delivers a better outcome for our clients.

As entrepreneur Paul J. Meyer said, “Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.”

How can you spend more meaningful time communicating and building business relationships? Let’s not be like our kids.

[Your Business Name] Powered by Communication

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We’ve always heard that communication is key, but in today’s world it’s not only key it can make or break a business.

Nearly every minute of every workday we are communicating whether it’s internally with coworkers or trying to close the next big deal with a business prospect. We now have more communication vehicles than one could imagine. It’s becoming rare that people pick up a phone, much less engage in face-to-face meetings. Rather, most businesses rely on email, social media, media outlets, mobile apps, chat boxes, and texts.

Communication by the Numbers

According to one report, the costs of poor communication has hit $37 billion annually with large organizations (over 100,000 employees) reporting losses in productivity of $62.4 million per year. For a company with fewer than 100 employees, studies show a loss of $420,000 annually due to miscommunications.

Think what your company could achieve with $420,000 more a year.

While communication has always been a challenge for businesses, these astonishing statistics show just how much more an employee is overloaded in today’s workplace.

Every day, 205.6 billion emails are sent; only one-third are opened1
Americans spend 26 minutes a day texting and send 5.3 more texts than phone calls they make2
46% of employees leave a meeting not sure of what they are supposed to do next2
57% of projects fail due to breakdown in communications3
11 hours a week are wasted on poor email communications3

To make matters worse, studies have shown that different generations have different communication preferences. If you’re a millennial, you may be thinking IKR “send me a text, forget emails.” (That’s “I know, right?” for those of you who don’t speak text.) If you’re a baby boomer, you may just want to talk via phone or face-to-face.

So, how can you use the tools and methods available to you to better communication to co-workers and future partners or clients?

How to Succeed at Business Communications

Today everyone is bombarded with messages from social media, emails, and texts. To get the next deal or partnership for your company, it’s important to make every message count. How can you make sure your message is heard above the noise?

To succeed in today’s art of Business Communication, follow these simple steps:

Actively listen and pay attention. Ignore the next email that just came in or the text that just appeared on your phone.
Be empathetic and understanding. Everyone is managing multiple tasks and fires each day. Be aware that people aren’t starting their days from the same place every day.
Assume good intent. Clients and prospects are busy just like you. Most people are focused on getting work done and doing what’s best. A brief response or delayed response does not mean that person is angry or ignoring you they are likely buried in priorities.
Don’t make assumptions. You know what they say when you assume. With much communication happening in writing, it is easy to misread a comma or a text message gone bad.
Be self-aware. Know your own emotions and if you have a reaction that you feel strongly about, double check where you are mentally and what you have going on around you before you respond.
Ask questions. Work under the guidance that there are no dumb questions. If you don’t know what the person is communicating or you are confused, ask for clarification. Asking questions will ensure that you and the other person/s are on the same page.

In summary, communication takes practice. No one will ever get it right all the time. We leave you with these pearls of wisdom.

[1] https://www.bluesource.co.uk/knowledge-hub/20-astonishing-stats-business-communications/
[2] https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/280301
[3] http://blog.twoodo.com/1088/snackable-stats-about-company-communication-and-collaboration-today/

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work – and Delivers Results

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work and Delivers Results

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Everyone knows that success is not created in a vacuum. Teamwork permeates everything we do. In sports, we know the names of some standout players, but it is how they work together that delivers wins.

In public relations and marketing agencies, clients depend on team members to not only know their craft but serve as an extension of the marketing teams. How individual stars execute as part of a larger, cross-functional team is where you will really see results.

What do you need to build a great team? Some of the best groups share a few key elements.

Shared Goals

Being part of a team is entering into a relationship, so remember your parents advice find people with similar goals. Working toward the same objectives builds comradery as well as teamwork. Clearly stating those goals ensures everyone is on the same page.

Complementary Strengths

Having a group of people who are carbon copies of each other, for those of you that remember print forms, is not only boring. It stifles innovation. Remember what Winston Churchill said: “If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.”

You want people with different experiences and assets to round out your team and bring ideas that you may not have come up with on your own. Identify what characteristics are needed to succeed. Know your strengths and recruit people that have different ones. Then, offer enough autonomy to let each member’s expertise shine.

Communication

Proper communication is the backbone of every good collaboration, so it must take into account people’s personal preferences. Colleagues can each react differently to how information is presented, so it is important to understand the nuances of your team.

Proactive feedback is also important to keeping the team on track. Don’t wait until there is a problem keep responses consistent to prevent issues. The ability to brainstorm, strategize and work through challenges is the result of good team communication. There is also an added bonus created from this trust.

Transparency

This takes communication to the next level. For teamwork to thrive, each member needs to execute off of the same playbook. Ensure your PR and marketing teams are in the know about your organization functionality in development, your key drivers, business decisions motivators, and the skinny on your customers favorite features. This enables teams to proactively act in your best interest and deliver real results.

Individuals can certainly accomplish many tasks from the outside; however, it is like passing to the Patriots Rob Gronkowski the ball will be caught, but maybe not as gracefully. Expertise is not always enough. Transparency removes the handicap and creates synergies that deliver above and beyond your expectations, tapping into resources that will best guide your programs to reach your business goals.

Public relations and marketing are about building your brand in a way that supports overarching business goals creating thought leadership, increasing brand awareness, motivating behavior from select groups. Don’t get lost chasing tactics. Keep your objectives in sight and build the team that will get you there.