The Hidden Edge

At the end of a rather wet and windy Weymouth bank holiday weekend, the sun has come out just in time to put fingers to keyboard to type set this week’s Blog. 

As usual, I got diverted when I started reading this newsletter article in World Wide Words, to which I subscribe:  http://www.worldwidewords.org/nl/kfty.htm#N5

The content in this article took me back to Lynne Trusses book that I had been reading over the last May bank holiday Eats, Shoots and Leaves.  She eloquently describes punctuation as being the art of separating the parts of written composition so that the meaning can be readily understood. 

The value of sharp punctuation, in sales copy, cannot be over estimated.  It does not necessarily have to follow the grammatical rules.  Indeed, in advertising copy, quite often the position or exclusion of punctuation accentuates wit.

“A woman, without her man, is nothing. 

A woman: without her, man is nothing.” 

Another of the quotes I love from Lynne Trusses book; “punctuation points up – rather in the manner of musical notation – such literary qualities as rhythm, direction, pitch, tone and flow.”   

If you want your copy to be read in the way that you wish, then you must punctuate accordingly to let your sentences contain a pleasant rhythm. 

This is superbly illustrated by Dean Martin and Victor Borge? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7L02tCNi0I Enjoy!

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According to Tori Amos; “You’ll never gain weight from a doughnut hole!  

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlycQ8N3lEE&mode=related&search= 

I think this is something that Charles Handy would not only smile at but probably concur. 

In his book, The Empty Raincoat (chapter 4 for those of you who don’t want to read the whole book) Handy suggests our lives can be likened to a doughnut.   

The circumference of your (ring) doughnut is only so big.  The more you stretch the doughnut hole with the duties you have (to be successful in business) the less doughnut there is left.  These may be self imposed duties or they maybe duties that have been mapped out for you by over zealous E-Myth http://www.e-myth.com/converts. 

Whichever the scenario the remaining outer rim of your doughnut is all the time you have for creativity in your business and other important but fun stuff in your life.   

This leads to a paradox and Handy is fond of those.  Your friends and family like you better when you are less successful; as you have more time to listen to them, appreciate them, and have fun with them.  The chances are that you, too, like your friends better, when they are not quite so successful, for the same reason. 

Interesting questions for the professional business start up.  What is success for you and does it impinge on your doughnut time or are you doing something you love so much that the your doughnut is just full of jam?

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Last year I read a rather battered version of John Gray’s “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”.

It landed in my lap at a time that couldn’t have been more significant. My husband and I had had a lengthy and somewhat heated argument over maps and the directions on how to get to the lovely Ligurian Coast in Italy, from Milan.   The actual argument lasted three days and the ongoing repercussions; three – six months, roughly!

The significant learning point is that we (men and women) do speak very different languages. What I say, and my husband hears, can be often miles apart. A bit like where we ended up and where we should have been!

On this occasion I thought I was asking him to stop and look at the map with me, to determine where we were, and to work out how to programme the Satellite Navigation System (the technophobe that I am).

What he heard was he had taken the wrong route and added an hour to our journey; that I didn’t trust him to take the right route later on. He heard that I was unhappy with him and therefore no longer loved him.

His subsequent response was that we were going in the right direction now and that there was no need to stop and check the map.  Of course what I heard was; what are you so upset for?  You are being irrational.   I know I am right and you are wrong so stop causing these arguments as I no longer love you.

I have, over the last six months, put some things that I learnt from this book into practice, with some reasonable results. However, there is no way I would ever be able to get my husband to read it, let alone adopt any of the communication tips that might motivate or encourage me, a woman.

Thankfully, it would appear that if only one person makes a change to the words that they use, there is still a knock on effect. If one person feels acknowledged and appreciated it makes them more likely to acknowledge and appreciate the other.

My questions for today are:

• Are there any men that have read this book? If you did; what positive (or negative) affirmations have you had?

• How many women have read this book without passing it on to their man, like me and if so why?

• How many of either sex can’t be bothered either way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueUOTImKp0k

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Published in 1990, this book is advertised as a completely different look on how to be successful.  Whilst Michael Beer’s The Joy of Winning is not exactly that different, he does write in English rather than American AND there are numerous references to, us, commoners.   

Anyone who started work in the 80s and basked in the ‘open wallet’ boom era will also recognise the subsequent bust era, within which this book was written.  There are some brilliant learning points and whilst others will, I am sure, get something else from it; these are my own. 

1. Know more about your business than most.  Then be unsatisfied (not dissatisfied) with that!
2. Do something with ideas that come to you or others.  Most will do nothing – what a waste of a good idea!
3. Expect to win and hate to lose; but recognise when you do lose; why that is and learn from it!
4. Know what your average is.  If you aim to beat the average you bring up your mean score!
5. You will do what you want to do; only when you want it badly enough.  Aim for that which you want badly!
6. Trust no one to help you when the chips are down, blame no one or no thing.  It is down to you to make things happen and you alone!
7. Walk tall always; and be recognised!
8. Agree with - don’t argue with others; you can’t win an argument! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS5TsJEbS7w  

Some of these points you may need to think about how they might work for you.  If you would like to explore or argue the points, please do.  I am happy to give you my personal take on them.

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One of the  most common mistakes I find when I am proof reading is the use of the plural verb in relation to a business entity.

A singual subject must have a singular verb and likewise in the plural.

For example “Business Solutions provide bespoke training for corporate organisations on excellent customer experiences”,  should read Business Solutions provides … Why?  Because there is only one Business Solutions - regardless of how many solutions and how many people work for this company.

This leads to the other common gramatical problem.  A significant number of companies describe what they do!  Of course, a company is a single entity and the reference should therefore be what it (the company) does. 

Indeed when referring to what the staff do, the words should actually refer to what the staff does as staff is singular! 

Website copy is always the worst!  Do check yours and let me know if you have fallen foul of any of these common gramatical mistakes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3vHN1Aadck