Author:
Andrew Moore
Mar
25
I just found a great essay written in 1948 by George Orwell. The essay,
Politics and the English Language, is pretty dry but there are great items in it. The bottom line is that in 1948 Orwell believed the English language was heading down a path of over indulgence and poor thought.
Poor thought breeds poor words.
People were not getting their point across. This was (and still is) very true of politicians. Without the ability to clearly reach their audience, politicians and writers were failing in their primary goal- to articulate their ideas and produce action or emotion.
With the advent of social media, I thought it was important to realize that there are over a million bloggers and many do not understand how to write. Not that I am an expert- I have good blogs and bad ones. Truth is- I typically know when I have a bad one before I post it.
I thought it would be nice to share Orwell’s 6 tips for all you bloggers, writers and politicians. His information is as fresh today as it was 60 years ago.
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never us a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Author:
Andrew Moore
Feb
22
I have been trying really hard to provide entertaining content on what is a pretty dry subject for most people. I LOVE leadership and management. I believe that there are opportunities for the subject to be engaging and entertaining because the subject is dynamic and deals directly with…. Wait for it…..
Direct Personal Interaction. Can’t be any more compelling than that. RIGHT?!?!?!
Evidently- I am not right. I am finding some real boring crap online. I mean really boring. How can a subject about interacting with people be less compelling than say this article title I found on Reddit.com: ”UK parliament science and technology committee says Homeopathy has no evidence beyond placebo effect and spending NHS money on homeopathy can not be justified.” I clicked on the link- and there was no porn or free online money or anything that would lead 420 people to comment on the link! :o (<-sarcasm and disbelief face)
Should not have gone shopping when I was hungry.
I have determined that the reason the general subject matter is not good is because the contributors (about 1% of all online users according to Seth Godin) are stuffy, starch shirted managers who do not really understand the actual JOY that a person should get from creating a leader or managing something with skill and focus.
My cry to leadership bloggers:
- Be Personal- Even if it hurts and might be difficult for your bosses
- Be Witty- I do NOT want to hear a dissertation or case study
- Be Effective- I have too much actual management to do. If I use my time to read your blog I better laugh or have a light bulb go off
- Focus on People- That is the core of leadership and management- SERIOUSLY!
Focus on these topics and you will find response- interaction and readership. I will not purport to be all of these things in every blog I write- but I am trying. I will get better and I will LEAD the rest of the bloggers in my field to do the same.
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