Say it Better

Label Yourself Before Someone Else Does

 Here’s a fresh reminder of the sticky power of making a vividly specific comparison in describing someone.  (Do it for yourself before someone else does to you.)

John F. Harris describes how Jay Leno is the “safe choice” to bring back as MC at this year's glammed-up White House Correspondents' Association dinner which the president attends.  The MC is expected to respectfully roast the president who is in attendance. That role sunk to an all-time low humor when Don Imus presided and broke wind. 

Harris used this comparison to stick a label on Leno: “Popular, profitable, predictable: Leno is the McDonald's of humor.”

 This Leno choice stands in sharp contrast to Stephen Colbert. He smilingly-presented, in character, smart, sharp commentary as President George Bush sat smiling less than twenty feet from him. Video of that roast went viral.
 

Want to be boring?

 It’s easy.  In fact you just have to do what you usually do when you put on your thinking cap to craft a description that’s important for you – like what you do in your work or why we should support your cause.  That’s when one turn’s to generalities.

Here’s how to make this common mistake. First strive first for accuracy - and then offer an example. 

Forest Stewardship Council of Canada, for example, explains that "FSC is an international certification and labeling system that guarantees that the forest products you purchase come from responsibly managed forests and verified recycled sources.”  

 Instead, writing pro Daphne Gray-Grant, suggests starting with this: “Ever gone to the lumberyard and purchased a 2x4 for your deck, wondering if it was ethically produced? 

Or, perhaps you've bought a stack of paper for your printer or a new desk for your office or a box for moving and worried about exactly the same thing. This is where the FSC can help...” Then add that accurate description.

Now it is always easier to edit someone’s improved description so I would hone the message further into everyday language and fewer words, “Ever been at a lumberyard, about to buy planks for your deck, and wondered, “Is this wood taken in a way that damaged a forest?” Or, when you’re buying printer paper, would you like to be able to choose the brand that was better for the environment?

As an avid evangelist for saying it better I turn to friends for help in honing my message.  I am too close to my subject - and know too much about it (the Curse of Knowledge) – to pick the starting point that will pull other in.

Even better, I try to listen to what people say about what I do to get insights about what resonates. Inevitably my self-descriptions are accurate yet blandly general. The vivid and thus compelling specifics come tumbling out when I ask myself (as I ask my clients) “Give me an example.”

Conclusion: You can be accurate in describing what you do or compellingly accurate so they actually get interested - and may even remember, ask questions, buy and tell others. 

See also:

• Become Quotable by Comparison

• Create a Tag Line to be Top of Mind in Your “Market”

• Six Off-Beat Ways to Get Along Better

• How to Help Your Critic’s Argument Sway Others