Even SEO Can't Find You When You Are Lost in the Twilight of the Gods
How would you feel if someone said Götterdämmerung to you? (It's German.)
Does it have a hint of damnation? Is the appropriate response to say "Thank you", or should you get ready to do battle?
Götterdämmerung means Twilight of the Gods—the title of one of four Robert Wagner music dramas that make up The Ring.
Twilight of the Gods sounds very poetic, doesn't it? Soothing almost.
You are deceived again. It is a German translation of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarök—events that lead to the death of gods, natural disasters and rising waters that drown the world.
Damnation after all. Not soothing at all.
We've been led on a merry-go-ring of meaning, ending up where we started.
Business communication is like this sometimes. We think a business is saying one thing, when in fact it's saying another.
That's good (attractive even) when that was the intention all along.
But it's unattractive when we say one thing and our audience hears something else.
Advice to avoid Ragnarök
1. Realise what you say isn't always what people hear
2. Inspect your message for other meanings—identify ambiguity
3. Nix confusion—give your message a single meaning
4. Give your clearest words to your audience
We hope our words are clear as crystal. But we won't know until you tell us.
Run Your Heart Out (and Look Twice)
(Work by others that we think is fabulously attractive)
Our [GAB*] Tip:
Show how your business supports your customer's life
The New Balance Way
Tick tock, tick tock
with every beat of the clock
your life nears its dock.
But the pitter patter of feet
keeps you lithe
and helps you cheat
Death's final scythe.
*Genuinely Attractive Business
Mushroom Clouds in the Dark Light
Photography by Show & Tell for Bord Bia's Mushroom Miles campaign. The brief was to make it look like the mushrooms were growing for the most part in the dark. (Contrary to popular belief, mushrooms are quite happy growing in the light.)
Attractive Podcasts Tell It Like It Is
"When you speak, people can hear the nuance in your voice—the sarcasm, the intention, the hidden meaning. When you write, people place their own mood on your words. What you think you wrote suddenly isn't what they think they are reading."
—Anoymous—
Podcasts are great for:
Clarity in your communication
[Do you want to be crystal clear with your customers and clients? If you like, Show & Tell will help you start a genuinely attractive podcast to do just that.]
What are words good for anyway? Try The Allusionist, a podcast about language by Helen Zaltzman.
Please listen to Paul and Roger struggling in the lost twilight
(Are we clear enough that we want you to listen to our own podcast?)
Our podcast ("Business Jazz") is one of the world's most misunderstood podcasts. It's confusing like cotton candy. We think it tells you how to be a genuinely attractive business. But perhaps that's not how it's understood. Please listen and tell us.
Please tune in here:
Read the Signs on Your Way In
A cartoon to fit with our latest episode of Business Jazz.
