A couple days ago, I talked about the power words have....today I am going to share with you a secret. Some people may know this already, but I dare to say, most do not.
Do you know that Presidents, Prime Ministers and most business executives do NOT write their own speeches. I tried to tell this to some friends of mine and they laughed at me. Yes, most politician are great speakers, but they have teams of people - Communication Experts, Lawyers, and Statistical professionals to write what they say in public addresses. These teams are constantly looking at polls, monitoring the news, and it is their job to protect the politician or company's image. Many strategies are used: some can use simple, clear straight forward language while others use confusing, long winded, complicated language to avoid answering tough questions or create a message that sounds great, but is of little substance. They know the power of what they say and what they don't say moves, motivates and monetizes the economy.
I have friends that work in these fields. Most are wonderful, energetic, smart and very intelligent. It all boils down to - as much of life does - how you use your talent.
I'm going to pass on the political aspect today and concentrate on a couple business phrases. Phrases that I personally have heard before - phrases that I heard first hand...and continue to hear today on the news - this is what they actually mean: Just a word of caution - if you hear these your warning light should go off.
Phrase: "We need to be more competitive"
Translation: "We're making money, but we want more money, so we're going to cut jobs and make the remaining employees do more work for the same pay. If you complain - you too will be fired."
Phrase: "We have enlisted the expertise of a world class consulting company to study our processes in order to maximize growth."
Translation: "We want to close some plants, transfer the lines to another plant, hire new people at a lower wage and blame it on the "study" so we can wash our hands of responsibility.
Whenever you hear a news release from a company, or a political party - examine the wording...see what it says and doesn't say. There is always more to the story...
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