Sometimes clarifying metaphors or terms just add more confusion.

I remember the first time that I heard the term full court press in a business context.  I’m not a basketball fan, so I hadn’t heard it used before.  In the context of the E-Mail in which I discovered the term, I deduced that this was a metaphor for sustained effort to achieve a business objective.

Obviously somewhere in my education I had forgotten to brush up on  (let alone play) sports as a means of business communication.  Every industry or even business function develops its own shorthand and constructs acronyms at a speed that multiplying rabbits would envy.  Businesses model themselves after the military or competitive sports teams, so it’s natural that terminology carries over from one realm to another.

One sport that I do (or did, haven’t followed it for awhile) know something about is baseball.  (Aside:  I don’t know much about hockey, though.  I worry that the government will revoke my passport and transfer my citizenship to some other country, but so far they haven’t.  After all, Canadians have the hockey gene, right?)  I know a bunch of terms about plays, statistics, tactics, and so on.

When I started to see the term inside baseball being used a lot by some people on Twitter (largely used by PR, communications, marketing and social media folks), it took me a little longer to pick up on what they meant by that.  I eventually did figure that out.  Inside baseball originally meant a kind of baseball strategy which focused on keeping the baseball in the infield (if the three bases and home plate of a baseball field form the shape of a diamond, then the infield is the area within that diamond shape) so that various players who had positions in the infield could collectively work together to prevent the other team from scoring runs.

But look at this:

Inside baseball – a description of this metaphor from Wikipedia:

The expression “inside baseball” is sometimes used as a metaphor for details or minutia of a subject so detailed that they generally are not well known by outsiders.

You would conclude, then, that inside baseball is used when people catch themselves speaking in the jargon of their industries and need to use more generally known language to make their point to outsiders.  As in:

“Talking about conversions, PPC, whuffie are too inside baseball – we need to speak to the general public.”

I find this amusing, though, because a number of people will just use the term inside baseball and then not explain it.  Therefore, outsiders like me have to figure out what they really mean.

In an ironic twist of fate, the term inside baseball becomes, in fact, inside baseball.

Next up (someday) on Broadcasting Brain:  moving the needle.  Is this a term used by:

• dentists
• race car drivers
• social media marketers
• heroin addicts
• audio engineers
• or accupuncturists?

Don’t touch that dial!

 VS

Images by choking sun and psd

Hello class. Today’s lesson is about how to communicate poorly while trying to give a humorous speech.  Pay close attention, this could be good for you.

As I’ve mentioned before I’m a member of Toastmasters.  Today was meeting day.  I’m working on one of  my Advanced Communicator designations and I’m finally trying to complete all of the requirements.  It’s been dragging on for far too long. 

I had an idea for a humorous speech where you’re supposed to tell a couple of funny stories while trying to make a serious point.  So, naturally, after procrastinating unduly, I came up with the idea of working in two of my travel stores (I used to travel a lot).  Both of my stories involved my misplacing (OK, losing) something at an inopportune moment.  I quickly put together an outline in my head and mentally rehearsed it a bit.  I needed a speech title with an opening line.

The speech title was “I’m A Loser”.

I tried to inject some humor and surprise into the speech.  I decided to start the speech in a seemingly self-denigrating way, just like Beck’s first hit, “Loser”.  However, I wanted to convey the idea that I’m actually a loser (i.e. I lose things, possessions, etc.) not that I’m, um, not a winner.

After I gave the speech and got my evaluation (you always get an evaluation of your speech at a Toastmasters meeting), I reflected a bit and came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, no one got the joke that I was trying to make.  You know, that I’m a loser, not a loser.  A misplacer, not a non-winner.

Hindsight’s 20/20, as they say.  In retrospect, I either should have prepared much better for the speech or, even better, tried a much less ambiguous joke.  I think I try to be too sly in my humor, sometimes.  I also feel like I try to be a bit too sly in my writing, but for some reason I think that my readers can pick up on it.

So, clarity is the key.  Repeat.

How about you?  Do you have any funny miscommunication stories?

You know you’ve made it when you are forced to communicate simply and broadly or else risk tarnishing your reputation and other interests. This appears to be the situation that New Marketing Labs president Chris Brogan finds himself in at this moment.  I think this sucks and I’m going to explain why. Continue reading ‘Why do media force dumbed down communication?’ »

Words are powerful; if you are reading this sentence, you realize that this is true. Words start wars, break hearts, spread joy, educate and inform, and thousands of other things. Many of our societies advocate free speech. I’m generally in favor of unrestricted communication. However, my family has chosen to avoid using a particular word and I’d like to explain why.

The word is hate.

Early in our relationship my wife and I were talking about something and I believe that I said “I hate that.” She took offense to my use of the word “hate”. We talked it over for awhile and we both came to the conclusion that we didn’t want to encourage the concept of hate within our family. Therefore, we made a conscious decision to stop using that word. And, with only a few minor exceptions, we haven’t spoken that word aloud in over ten years.

Is this a kooky thing to do? Good question. We don’t hear the word hate in our house, again except for a couple of exceptions. Does this have any affect on our thoughts or behavior? I’ve only heard the kids use the word once or twice each. Does that mean they don’t get angry? Heck no, they’ve both got tempers, just like their parents! But I’d like to think that maybe it’s having a positive effect on their thinking.

Generally speaking I don’t use the word hate when I write. Probably it’s because I don’t write a lot of emotional posts and I generally don’t go on tirades, either. I guess I’ve modified my own behavior to the point that I won’t willingly use the word hate (this post excepted, I guess). Do I still feel the emotion? Generally not, but I can’t say that it’s completely banished, either.

I’m not writing this to say that by eliminating a word that you banish the subject that it represents.

Maybe, just maybe, though, you can set a positive example that could have a positive impact on other people.

So, I’m curious. What do you think?

There’s a line between repeating a message to get through noise vs. spamming.

Marketers must master that distinction, I think.

In an attempt to lower a potential barrier to communication, I’ve done away with the Contact form on my Contact page.

If you ever want to get in touch with me by E-Mail, just drop me a line at contact@broadcasting-brain.com.

As well, I frequently check out my Twitter account.

It’s the 21st century, why not make it a bit easier to get in touch?

I can even give you some blog ideas.