“You’ve wasted two words.”

My Stanford University poetry professor,

W.S. Di Piero, glanced up at me.

The poem I’d submitted

included a line about how,

into the musician’s hat,

I tossed a “small, hard coin.”

Di Piero explained:

“A coin is small and it is hard,

so you’ve wasted two words.”

He was 100% right.

I changed it to “cool, moist coin.”

When I’m helping a client

craft their messaging,

or when I’m honing my own

(for keynotes, my book, or even these posts)

Di Piero’s teaching lives with me.

He challenged us not only to avoid

wasting words, but also to avoid

lazy or generalized writing.

Consider the difference between someone

“pushing back their chair”

vs. “scraping back their chair.”

How does this kind of specificity (or lack thereof)

show up in business communications?

You might hear a leader declare,

“Our team has done incredible things.”

What “things”?

“We’ve launched key initiatives.”

Which ones?

“We’re committed to excellence.”

“We’re taking it to the next level.”

“We’re creating impact at scale.”

“We’re unleashing potential.”

These are common, cliche and opaque.

What distinct wording

might they (and YOU) use instead?

For those of you who attended

Rock The Room^® LIVE workshops,

you might recall a segment I led on

“The Language Masters” with references

to Johnny Cash, Maya Angelou, or Jerry Seinfeld.

Songwriters, poets, and comedians

are highly attuned to the economy of words.

On Friday night last week,

my sister (Lisa Labalme Osterland)

and I went to see the comedian Louis C.K.

in NYC at the Beacon Theater.

(Pre-show pic above.)

Yes, Louis C.K. is controversial…and

yes, his acuity with language is exceptional.

There’s a direct correlation between

his specificity and the volume of laughter.

The precision electrifies the humor,

and the Beacon audience was buckling over.

Whether you’re crafting

a presentation or pitch,

a podcast or a post,

be discerning in your word choice.

People will take note.

Risk Forward & Rock On,