Writing

🚨 The Email That Made 200 Employees Panic The subject line read: “We need to talk.” That was it. No context. No explanation. Within minutes, the office air felt heavier. You could hear chairs creak as people leaned toward each other, whispering: 👉 “Did you see the mail?” 👉 “Do you think layoffs are coming?” 👉 “Why would he say that without details?” The silence in the cafeteria was louder than usual that day. Coffee cups stayed untouched, half-filled. Some stared at their screens, pretending to work, but their fingers hesitated above the keyboard. One manager later told me it felt like “a ticking clock in the background you can’t turn off.” What was meant to be a simple one-on-one call turned into an organization-wide anxiety spiral. Productivity dipped. Trust cracked. By evening, HR’s inbox was full of panicked questions. ⸻ 💡 When I stepped in as a trainer, the leader admitted: “I just didn’t think one line could create so much fear.” And that’s the truth: Leaders often underestimate the power of their words. A vague message is like sending a flare into the sky—everyone sees it, no one knows what it means, but everyone assumes the worst. We worked together on Crisis Communication Frameworks: • Lead with clarity: “I’d like to connect regarding Project X progress this Friday.” • Add emotional context: “No concerns—just a quick alignment call.” • Close with certainty: “This will help us stay on track as a team.” The difference? Next time he wrote an email, instead of panic, his team replied with thumbs-up emojis. Calm replaced chaos. ⸻ 🎯 Learning: Leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about how you sound in the small moments. One vague sentence can break trust. One clear message can build it back. If your leaders are unintentionally creating chaos through unclear communication, let’s talk. Because the cost of poor communication isn’t just morale—it’s millions. ⸻ #LeadershipCommunication #CrisisCommunication #ExecutivePresence #LeadershipSkills #CommunicationMatters #Fortune500 #TopCompanies #CXOLeadership #FutureOfWork #OrganizationalExcellence #StorytellingForLeaders #LeadershipDevelopment #CorporateTraining #ProfessionalGrowth #PeopleFirstLeadership

🚨 LEGAL WRITING TIP: Why You Should Never Use "I Pause to Mention" in an Affidavit 🚨 Legal writing is an art—and precision is its lifeblood. Yet, time and again, we encounter overused, outdated phrases that dilute clarity and weaken the impact of our arguments. One such offender? "I pause to mention." Here’s why this phrase should be banished from your affidavits: 📌 It’s Redundant: By the time you write something in an affidavit, you’ve already "paused" to mention it. The act of including it does the job—there’s no need to narrate your thought process! 📌 It’s Filler, Not Substance: Judges and legal professionals value conciseness. Extraneous phrases like this clutter your argument and distract from the critical facts. 📌 It Weakens Your Authority: Strong legal writing exudes confidence. Phrases like “I pause to mention” feel hesitant and overly conversational, undermining the professionalism of your submission. 🔑 Pro Tip: If a fact is important, just state it clearly and directly. Trust the structure and flow of your affidavit to make its significance apparent. Example: ❌ "I pause to mention that the defendant failed to respond to my correspondence." ✅ "The defendant failed to respond to my correspondence." 👉 The difference? The second version gets straight to the point, leaving no room for unnecessary verbiage. In legal writing, every word should serve a purpose. Be deliberate. Be precise. Be impactful. Have you encountered other phrases like this that weaken legal writing? Share your thoughts below! Let’s elevate our craft, one affidavit at a time.

Want fewer meetings? Write better emails. Emails aren’t niceties, They’re decisions, delegations & deadlines. 1) Fluffy openers People: 3 lines of small talk before the ask. Instead: Front-load the purpose. First two lines = what you want and by when. 2) Vague subject lines People : “Touching base” / “Quick note” Instead: Subject = action + owner + deadline. Example: Approve Q3 budget, Finance, Tue EOD. 3) Burying the ask at the bottom People : 6 lines of context, ask in the last paragraph. Instead: Put the task first. Context after. 4) Multi-topic ramble People do: 5 asks in one mail, none with owners. Instead: One thread = one decision. If unavoidable, use numbered bullets with 1 owner + 1 deadline per item. 5) No owner, no deadline People : “Can someone look into this?” Instead: Name the person and the deadline. “@Asha- please confirm X by Thu 3pm.” 6) Attachments with no TL;DR People : “See attached” and leave it at that. Instead: Give a one-line summary and page refs. Make it easy to decide without opening 12 slides. Stop writing to sound polite. Start writing to get things done. Shorter emails = faster decisions = fewer meetings. #Communication #Leadership #BusinessStrategy #Growth

Reaching out has officially worn out its welcome ... what other phrases are in the same situation? Every now and then, a phrase permeates the office at such volume that it becomes like curdled milk – sour, stomach-turning and something you would rather avoid. One such offender is the notorious phrase “reach out”, which has been overused to the point of making us all a bit queasy. It joins a long list of workplace weasel words and phrases that are well past their expiration date. Think of “moving forward”, “flick me a message”, “touch base”, “my bad” and “it is what it is”. What began as a warm, almost personal way to express genuine connection, the phrase “reach out” has become tainted. It originally carried a sense of effort and sincerity. When someone said they would “reach out”, it felt deliberate and thoughtful – a way to bridge a gap and make a real connection, adding a touch of humanity to an often sterile business communication. But like with many good things, overuse has taken its toll. The phrase slipped into every email, meeting and conversation until it lost its charm. Today, “reach out” is tossed around so casually that it has become nothing more than office jargon and a filler phrase used without much thought. Think about how often the phrase finds its way into daily communications: “I’ll reach out about the project”, “feel free to reach out if you have any questions” or “let’s reach out to the client for feedback”. Even emails that should be straightforward are cluttered with this phrase, turning what could be clear and concise communications into something vague and unnecessarily softened. The problem with “reach out” is not just that it is annoying but it has diluted the quality of our communication. When a phrase is repeated too often, it loses its meaning and impact.  What was once a genuine gesture now feels hollow and robotic, like something we say out of habit rather than with intention. This kind of language makes our interactions feel less authentic and more mechanical, or the exact opposite of what effective communication should achieve. Often "reach out” is a way to avoid being direct when we want to soften our language or are unsure how to express ourselves clearly. For example, instead of saying “I’ll email you the report”, we say “I’ll reach out with the report”. Instead of “call me if you have any questions”, it becomes “feel free to reach out if you have any questions”. While these phrases might sound more polite, they are also more ambiguous.   It is time to retire this worn-out phrase and embrace clearer, more effective ways to connect.  Reach out if you remain unconvinced. #management #leadership #communication #humanresources #aimwa #workplace #job

Here’s the typical B2B corporate spiel you’ll find in whitepapers, pitch decks, or LinkedIn posts about service design and customer experience. “At [company name], we pride ourselves on delivering best-in-class service design solutions that enhance end-to-end customer experiences. By leveraging agile methodologies and cross-functional collaboration, we optimise customer journey touchpoints to ensure stakeholder alignment and drive measurable business outcomes. Our human-centric approach puts the user at the heart of our strategic framework, enabling scalable, future-ready experiences that foster brand loyalty and digital transformation.” Yawn! That kind of language says absolutely nothing. It’s the verbal equivalent of a beige carpet. I know, I've written dozens of these because, you know... brand guidelines. I've been asked to "humanise" a brand so I am chucking all this nonsense in-the-bin. This is what I want to know about your service design and customer service: Tell me what broke, show me what it felt like to be a customer stuck in that system. Walk me through the moment everything started to unravel. Then show me what changed, how the design made things easier, and why it mattered, and this is what I'll write for you: "We help fix the challenges that frustrate your customers and wear down your team. The dropped calls, the confusing forms, the twelve-step journeys that should’ve taken three. We get to know the people using your service (not just the ones designing it) and we listen. Then we redesign what’s not working, we make things clearer, faster, and more human so your customers don’t give up halfway through, and your team doesn’t have to keep apologising for things they didn’t build. That’s what good service design does. It makes everything feel less like hard work and more human." Don't mistake clarity with simplicity, and simplicity with lack of authority. The people reading it are not moved by “stakeholder alignment” or “agile transformation frameworks,” they’re moved by clarity and the feeling that someone actually understands the problem they’re trying to solve. Then make sure your visuals show a real person, not a desk, or a phone or a laptop.

Jargon Monoxide - oh, how I love this term. This is just one of the gems in this no-BS and entertaining conversation from Dominic Price, Bob Sutton and (Huggy) Hayagreeva Rao. I'm sure you'd recognise Jargon Monoxide. Say you join a meeting, and there are plenty of buzzwords and short-hand acronyms that, by the end of it, you're not any clearer about what it was all about. Bob describes it as "confusing, vague, unclear language". It creates ambiguity, not clarity. It makes it harder for people to work together and be accountable. He talks about the four flavours of Jargon Monoxide: 1. Meaningless BS - communication that means nothing to the sender or receiver. You probably need to read it a few times and still unsure. 2. Convoluted C*%p - when you make something so complicated that no one gets it. 3. In-group lingo - specialised or technical language known to the group that others have no idea what they're talking about. It helps the group communicate but excludes others. 4. Noise - the jargon mishmash when a term is commonly used but means so many different things to people that it's almost lost meaning. There's probably a glossary of the jargon used in the business that newcomers can refer to understand the lingo. Why does it exist? Probably self-preservation, convenience and habit. What to do about it? Communicate better – simplify the language, use present tense, use storytelling and graphics to help people visualise, check other's understanding, be present and listen to understand, and create a safe space for people to ask questions when they don't understand. That's just one snippet - they also covered the Addition Bias and Time Poverty (Dr Jen Frahm this aligns beautifully with your post yesterday) and Broken Silos and Coordination (one of the issues for execs is they have silos not flow). There is so much that shows up as misalignment symptoms, but that's another post. What a brilliant way to start the day. Thanks Dom, Bob and Huggy. If you want to dive deeper, check out Bob and Huggy's book, The Friction Project. #communication #leadership #alignment #effectiveness #accountability #culture

It's your fault if you get ghosted. Not every positive-sounding response from a buyer is actually a good sign. Some lines sound like momentum. But actually, they’re stall tactics, indirect rejections, or polite ways to ghost you. --- 🚨 15 Lines That Should Worry You 🚨 💭 “This looks interesting. Let me discuss it internally.” 💭 “We’re very keen, but we need to check with management first.” 💭 “Send me your proposal/deck, and we’ll review it.” 💭 “We’re still aligning budgets internally.” 💭 “We’re interested, but timing isn’t right.” 💭 “Can you give us trial access?" 💭 “Let’s touch base again in a few months.” 💭 “We’ll get back to you after discussing with the team.” 💭 “We’re currently prioritizing other initiatives, but this is on our radar.” 💭 “We’re open to exploring this further, but we need more internal buy-in.” 💭 “Let me get back to you after checking with my boss.” 💭 “We’re interested, but we need to align with other departments first.” 💭 “This sounds great, but we’re just doing research for now.” 💭 “Our leadership is currently reviewing multiple solutions.” 💭 “This is valuable, but we need to evaluate if it fits our long-term strategy.” --- Why These Phrases Are Red Flags 🚩 📌 They sound positive, but lack real commitment. 📌 They shift responsibility to “internal discussions” that may never happen. 📌 They create false hope while giving the buyer an easy escape. If you take these at face value, you’ll get ghosted. So how do you tell the difference? --- 1️⃣ Test Their Urgency Ask: 👉 "If internal approval takes longer than expected, what happens next?" 👉 "What’s the risk of delaying this? Is there a timeline for resolution?" ✅ If they give specific consequences, they have a real reason. 🚨 If they get vague or avoid answering, they’re stalling. --- 2️⃣ Identify Who’s Actually Involved Ask: 👉 "Besides your team, who else needs to be aligned before a decision is made?" 👉 "How do decisions like this usually get approved in your company?" ✅ If they name actual people and a process, it’s a real step. 🚨 If they just say “management” or “the team,” they’re brushing you off. --- 3️⃣ Get a Micro-Commitment Ask: 👉 "If we send the proposal, what would happen next?" 👉 "What’s the best way to ensure this doesn’t lose momentum?" ✅ If they agree to a next step with a deadline, there's hope. 🚨 If they just say “We’ll review it”, expect silence. --- 🚫 Stop getting excited over vague “positive” responses. 🚫 Stop assuming every “we’re interested” means a deal is coming. 🚫 Stop chasing prospects who won’t commit. If you’re hearing these lines and not qualifying them properly, you’re setting yourself up for a trip to Ghost Town. Want to learn how to minimize ghosting and sell smarter in Indonesia? --- I’ll be covering this in my Feb 26 webinar – "Reduce Ghosting Rates in Indonesia" Drop "I'm in" in the comments, and I’ll send you the invite. ✌🏻

A Hidden Tariff on Legal Writing: Throat-Clearing Expletives Are your readers irritated by "expletives" and "dummy subjects?" For many judges, these grammatical terms are apt. What do they mean? Think of the many lawyer sentences that start with an "It" or "There" that refers to nothing in particular, as in these culprits cribbed from my ABA Survey of judges: • "It should be noted that . . . ."  • "It is beyond doubt that . . . ." • "It is our position that . . . ." These warm-ups are all too tempting to write. After all, insist many lawyers, you need to let busy readers know that you're about to say something VERY important. That sounds good in theory, but in practice, throat-clearing just makes readers wait until they're far along into your sentence before they get to the good stuff. Think of it this way: If you need to tell readers that your point is important, try making it sound important on its own! Seven Deadly Throat-Clearing Sins At BriefCatch, we help our subscribers strengthen their sentences by flagging 252 types of throat-clearing in 7 major categories: • Hedging phrases ("There is a distinct possibility that...") • Empty emphasis markers ("It is important to note that...") • Confusing attributions ("It has been held that...") • Redundant certainty claims ("There can be no real doubt that...") • Excessive metadiscourse ("By way of explanation of the above...") • Clunky modal constructions ("It is necessary that you...") • Transitional fluff ("And it is further worthy of note that...") Each month, our BriefCatch subscribers accept edits to these constructions thousands and thousands of times. The payoff? • Trim word count by 10% or more • Improve readability • Enhance persuasiveness • Project more confidence What type of throat-clearing most annoys you in reading? And what type do you secretly enjoy writing no matter what anyone else thinks? #LegalWriting #Persuasion #BriefCatch #LegalTech #LawFirm #Litigation

Your emails might be killing your success. Small changes in how you write can 10x your results. Here's how to craft emails people actually want to respond to: 🎯 Make It Easy to Say "Yes" ↳ Drop vague requests like "when you have time" ↳ Instead, be specific: "Could you review this by tomorrow for next steps?" 💎 Lead with Value First ↳ Don't just dump requests on people ↳ Show how your message helps them make better decisions ⏰ Respect Their Time ↳ "Do you have a moment?" rarely works ↳ Try "Could we schedule a quick 10-minute call?" 🎯 Clarify Next Steps ↳ Never leave things hanging with "let me know your thoughts" ↳ Always propose a clear next action or meeting 💪 Project Confidence ↳ Avoid weak phrases like "I think we could try..." ↳ Use confident language: "I recommend we move forward with..." 🎯 Ask for Specific Feedback ↳ "Any feedback" is too vague ↳ Request input on key points that matter most 🤝 Frame It as Teamwork ↳ Move away from "Please let me know if you agree" ↳ Focus on collaboration: "What's the best way for us to work on this together?" ⚡ Make It Actionable ↳ Don't leave requests open-ended ↳ Set clear deadlines and expectations 🔍 Stay Solution-Focused ↳ Don't dwell on problems ↳ Always propose potential solutions The way you write emails shapes how others perceive you. Make these shifts today, and watch your results transform. What's an email writing tip you'd add? ♻️ Find this valuable? Repost to help other leaders. 💡 Craving more insights? Follow Chris Banks PS. Want a hi-res version of this and 15 other storygraphics? Comment "cheat sheet" below and I'll DM you a link.

🚨 𝟭𝟬 𝗣𝗵𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 – 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱!  𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀. Let’s be honest—we’ve all sent awkward emails before. Sometimes, it’s unintentional. Other times, we use phrases that sound polite but actually come off as passive-aggressive, vague, or unprofessional. So, here’s a list of 10 phrases you should NEVER use in an email—and what to say instead. 𝟭. "𝗣𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹" Sounds passive-aggressive and implies the recipient didn’t read your email. ✅ Better Alternative: "Just following up on my previous email to check if you had any thoughts on this." 𝟮. "𝗔𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲" (𝗔𝗦𝗔𝗣) Vague and subjective—what’s ASAP to you might not be ASAP to them. ✅ Better Alternative: "Would it be possible to have this by [specific deadline]?" 𝟯. "𝗜 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹" Overused and insincere, especially if you don’t actually care how the recipient is doing. ✅ Better Alternative: Start with something relevant: "I wanted to check in regarding…" 𝟰. "𝗡𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗡𝗼𝘁" Weakens your request and makes it easier to ignore. ✅ Better Alternative: "Please let me know if this works for you. If not, we can discuss an alternative." 𝟱. "𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻" Can sound nagging without adding value. ✅ Better Alternative: "I wanted to follow up on [specific topic] to see if there’s an update." 𝟲. "𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗠𝗲 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀" Sounds lazy—it shifts the burden onto the recipient instead of proactively offering help. ✅ Better Alternative: "Please feel free to reach out if you need any clarification on [specific point]." 𝟳. "𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆" Apologizing unnecessarily makes you seem inefficient or unconfident. ✅ Better Alternative: "Thank you for your patience. I wanted to take the time to respond properly." 𝟴. "𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁" (𝗧𝗕𝗛) Suggests that you weren’t honest before. ✅ Better Alternative: Just say what you mean directly: "I think it would be best if we…" 𝟵. "𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸" Vague and often used to avoid making a decision. ✅ Better Alternative: "Let’s schedule a time to discuss this further next week." 𝟭𝟬. "𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲" Lacks commitment—it gives an excuse if you don’t follow through. ✅ Better Alternative: "I will have this completed by [specific date/time]." #law #founder #SME #entrepreneur