Here’s my second grab bag post of 2018, capturing vignettes that caught my attention, but don’t lend themselves to stand-alone posts. Broken Links, an Opportunity Most companies treat broken links as a functional challenge. The person has clicked to a wrong place (page doesn’t exist), bringing a 404 page to navigate the person back …more
I interviewed author Ella Frances Sanders in 2015 after her book “Lost in Translation” had caused quite a sensation and landed on the NY Times bestselling list for four months. I remember thinking how improbable that a single blog post, “11 Untranslatable Words from Other Cultures” could morph into a bestseller. Thanks to over 2 …more
If you’re Don Quixote, you can control Sancho Panza. You tell him not to tweet. He doesn’t tweet. He’s one dude on a donkey. This technique doesn’t work as well in organizations with thousands or even hundreds of employees. The millennials and Gen Xers dominating the workforce believe the Bill of Rights guarantees life, liberty …more
This headline serves as our mantra for 2019. Every company, even those who fancy “math is fun” buttons, has something interesting to share with the outside world. But these stories rarely sit on a desk with a label that reads “good story with killer anecdote inside.” Instead, it’s up to us as communicators to poke …more
Apple’s recent product introductions generated the expected media hoopla. I think the only publication that did not write about Apple’s announcement was “Miniature Donkey Talk Magazine” (yes, it exists). Apple under Steve Jobs essentially invented the show-biz event for introducing tech products. They know how to do this better than any company on the planet. …more
I wrote a couple weeks ago about how word choice can lift a narrative. Forget the classic story arc for a moment. Even one word or phrase can warm up the copy or jar the reader with a bolt of incongruence. But nothing tests the ability to harmonize words in tight quarters like …more
Nothing says storytelling like the “F” word. Point to a movie or book or TV show that captivates, and I’ll show you failure. I’m currently watching “Better Call Saul.” The man goes from untangling drug lords from their legal difficulties to shaping dough at Cinnabon, the classic story arc with the requisite failure. . …more
As explained on Monday, I’m behind schedule in publishing the best posts of H1 this year. Here’s the second half of the list, and two posts related to President Trump made the cut. I believe the word you’re looking for is “restraint.” . 1. Will the Communications Industry Change Because of President Trump? Since …more
The Hill, the beltway publication on politics and other sundry occurrences in D.C., was one of the first to report on then-candidate Trump’s comparison to Ernest Hemingway. Covering a Trump rally in South Carolina on Nov. 20, 2015, the publication captured this soundbite from Mr. Trump: “Somebody said I’m the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters.” One …more
