Communications 101 and 102

Communications 101: What’s the Sweetest Sound in the English Language?

Answer: your name.

The word “free” comes in a close second, but to your ears, the sound of someone speaking your name (unless they’re yelling at you) is the sweetest sound.

Armed with that information, try sprinkling the name of the person you’re talking to throughout the conversation you’re having with them. (Using their name a couple times also helps you remember it.) But do not overdo it. We’ve all had the experience of listening to someone trying to sell us something and using our name every five seconds. Faux intimacy – and it tends to push me away.

So do it naturally.

Communications 2.0: It’s a Whole NEW Language…

Whoever knew “tweet” would become a verb – a verb that had nothing to do with birds (apart from the now-familiar blue logo).

I love all the verbiage that’s sprung up to describe the World Wide Web. In fact, the word “Web” itself is a perfect descriptor. You have worms and viruses, just as evil digitally as they can be in reality. (Worms are good in the garden. In your computer – not so much.) Spiders crawl the Web seeking out information. Platforms support you in the work you do.

Blog is another interesting word. It started out as Web log but was soon shortened. I don’t know about you, but blog always sounds like blehh, which well describes a lot of what’s out there on the Internet. I could go on…but I won’t. As a communications major in college and in my various jobs, I can wax a bit too enthusiastic.

–Segue into the commercial, or, because we’re a non-profit, the public service announcement:

We’re tweeting and blogging and Facebooking here at The Chamber, putting our various subject matter experts to work. (Count ‘em – three new verbs!) So far, Sr. VP Chris Lester wins the award for best and most frequent tweets. If you’ve missed his columns in The Kansas City Star, you can follow him (I’m sorry – that sounds like stalking) by clicking here. He’ll be blogging again on Friday. Our Sr. VP for Government Relations, Kristi Wyatt, will be sharing the latest in politics and government on Wednesday.