Archiv der Kategorie: Meaning design

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Storm in a teacup

The choice of words determines the first impression of the listener. The different terms that are available, vary around neutral meaning and go from very negative or repulsive, up to positive and attractive. Very quickly, you can make a mountain out of a molehill or the mentioned storm in the water glass can break out.

SturmImWasserglas

A good example is the term ‘problem’. Originally derived from Greek, it means ‘appointed task’. By choosing a certain word, the term receives additional attributes that present the facts in a neutral way and/or strengthen positively or negatively.

You want to charge the term negatively and frighten the listeners, then you should speak best of an annoyance, the critical impairments, insurmountable obstacles, critical hurdles, serious complication, long-term disadvantages, unnecessary hassle or unwanted incommodities. If you do not want to face a problem, load it with negative energy.
Example: The current predicament requires huge investments that will only pay off after a long period.

If the term should be formulated neutrally and, thus, do not deter, the following terms are recommended among others: Matter, case, condition, thing, circumstances, situation, facts, topic, procedure, and occurrence. You want to put something up for discussion without valuation.
Example: The current situation can be described as follows and we should consider how to deal with it.

In most cases, you want to put positive energy into the topic and motivate the listeners to commit themselves. For this purpose, you speak of diverse tasks, exciting questions, interesting subject matters, feasible homework, personal challenges, puzzling phenomena, tricky mysteries and unexplored area. Make the solution of the problem attractive for the listeners, by arousing their ambition.
Example: If we fill this blank area, we conquer together new markets.

Bottom line: As one calls into the canyon, so it echoes back. Do not wake unintentionally the resistance of your employees with an awkward wording. Use their ambitions, by using a positive representation of the problem.

Verbal Smoke Bombs

In times of the continuous production and distribution of news, the attention of the target group is the most important currency. Negative novelties damage in this context particularly people, who depend at most on the public opinion: Politicians and the stock market.

Ansprache

They need regularly formulations that let them appear in positive light. The following approaches are used, if the actual news is mediocre or even bad.

  • Proclaiming normality
    Sometimes things happen that do not correspond with expectations. Then, they simply make normality out of the current situation. „It is completely normal that… “
  • Focusing on positive results
    At the end of a project a positive impression evolves by describing the results and by concealing shortcomings.  They make successful partial results to the overall success of the project. “We achieved the following results.”
  • Demonstrating decisiveness
    They show resoluteness by deciding explicitly something banal and emphasizing it. The target group will mainly remember the decisiveness – „We decided unanimously to reflect about further steps“
  • Complaining about the lack of information
    They do not want to face a negative fact. In this case they doubt the existence of the problem due to the lack of information. “We are lacking the complete information.”
  • Planning pro-active action
    If the truth cannot be denied, they announce a plan that will provide new insights in a near future. „We installed a task force for… “

If you do not want to lose your credibility, be more specific and avoid these vague formulations.