Velcro, singing lawyers, genericide, and what you need to know about trademarks in writing
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Velcro, singing lawyers, genericide, and what you need to know about trademarks in writing

Let’s talk about trademarks in writing, genericide, and and why this video about Velcro exists: When a company’s product and marketing take off, it dominates its category. As a natural result, its name becomes synonymous with the category — a process called genericide. When the public can’t tell the difference, the trademark becomes generic, and…

Public speaking: navigation, humor, insight, information, advice, and stories

Public speaking: navigation, humor, insight, information, advice, and stories

As an author, I get called on to do speeches from time to time. My Writing Without Bullshit speech is now connecting pretty well, based on how audiences are reacting to it. The reason is that, like my writing, it’s tight: every slide has a purpose, and most of those purposes have a payload. It…

Gary Vaynerchuk, the paradox of hindsight, and the corruption of the self-help industry

Gary Vaynerchuk, the paradox of hindsight, and the corruption of the self-help industry

Somebody like Gary Vaynerchuk succeeds. They look back. They tell you how they did it and how you should do the same. This corrupt reasoning pervades all motivational writing, and nobody even notices. Starting now, I will. The energetic and provocative Gary Vaynerchuk wrote a Medium piece in June called “The Day I Decided to…

The Martin Merzer note about hurricane reporting shows how to write in a crisis
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The Martin Merzer note about hurricane reporting shows how to write in a crisis

Martin Merzer spent over 40 years reporting from places like Jerusalem, Iraq, and Afghanistan — and hurricanes in Miami. As I read the note he shared with reporters preparing to report on hurricanes, I was struck by how relevant it is for anyone writing in a crisis — and these days, it seems we’re always…

Proof that the pronouns “I,” “we,” and “you” improve not just your writing, but your stock price
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Proof that the pronouns “I,” “we,” and “you” improve not just your writing, but your stock price

One of my simplest and most powerful tips is to use “I,” “we,” and “you” in your business writing. Now researchers at the A. B. Freeman school of Business at Tulane have proven my point. As described in the Wall Street Journal, Zhenhua Chen and Serena Loftus of Tulane conducted pairs of simulated earnings calls. One…

The golden rule of rhetoric and 10 morally bankrupt ways we’re violating it

The golden rule of rhetoric and 10 morally bankrupt ways we’re violating it

Despite what you hear on cable news and see on your Facebook feed, shouting is not a reasonable substitute for logic. Once we forget how to think and communicate clearly, everything else is lost. Time to bone up on your rhetorical hygiene. Let’s start with what I’ll call “The Golden Rule of Rhetoric”: Don’t use…