In Praise of Negative Space

If a writer knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one ninth of it being above water.
–Ernest Hemingway

Note to those who edit HR communications: Negative space is as important as material space. Leaving things out is much better writing than throwing in the kitchen sink.

That is all.

Happy Grammar Day…Kinda

This is the kind of tedious [sometimes "pedantic"] nonsense up with which I will not put!
–Winston Churchill (on ending sentences with a preposition)

Happy National Grammar Day. But remember, there’s a chasm between the properly constructed sentence and employee communication. (Side note: It’s why it’s the rare English major who is a whizzbang communicator. Great sentences and great communication are not necessarily the same thing.)

Who’s Doing Your Editing?

Seth Godin on editing.

UPDATE: Seth’s post is short. It’s edited. And it’s great. I want to preserve that. So, here it is in its entirety:

Turns out that for the last seventeen twenty-seven years, every single movie that managed to win the Oscar for best picture was also nominated for best editing.

Great products, amazing services and stories worth talking about get edited along the way. Most of the time, the editing makes them pallid, mediocre and boring. Sometimes, a great editor will push the remarkable stuff. That’s his job.

The easy thing for an editor to do is make things safe. You avoid trouble that way. Alas, it also means you avoid success.

Who’s doing your editing?

Please click over to Seth’s site to read this. Subscribe to his blog. It’s be one really good thing you do today that will enrich your life.

Want a 3-Minute Master’s Degree in Communication?

Hook, by Blues Traveler, is one of my favorite songs all time. I like the tune, but the hook…brings me back. It’s a 3-minute master’s degree in communication.

In HR communication, getting the hook right makes the difference between mediocre communication and great communication. And as I’ve mentioned a few times lately, it’s not about the single words, it’s about the essence, or the “hook.”

Check out these lyrics:

It doesn’t matter what I say
So long as I sing with inflection
That makes you feel I’ll convey
Some inner truth or vast reflection
But I’ve said nothing so far
And I can keep it up for as long as it takes
And it don’t matter who you are
If I’m doing my job then it’s your resolve that breaks

Because the hook brings you back
I ain’t tellin’ you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely

There is something amiss
I am being insincere
In fact I don’t mean any of this
Still my confession draws you near
To confuse the issue I refer
To familiar heroes from long ago
No matter how much Peter loved her
What made the Pan refuse to grow

Was that the hook brings you back
I ain’t tellin’ you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely

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Some Spelling Errors Are Worse Than Others

Chi-town

Spelling errors in HR communications can feel like a tragedy. But that can be redone. What if you got a tattoo with a misspelling?

This guy got a tattoo that was supposed to say Chi-town. (I’m a native Chicagoan, and that’s what we always called it — like “shy town”.) But the tattoo artist transposed two letters, so he got a tattoo on his neck that says Chi-tonw. Brutal.

So what’s a bad tattoo have to do with HR communication? It’s a matter of perspective. Sometimes people think that every single word gets read and re-read, like the latest Harry Potter novel. But that’s not how it is at all. When you communicate with employees, it’s often a one time event. It’s the essence of the communication that matters, not the individual words. It’s the totality, not the little things.

I’m not saying that spelling mistakes are right or advocating for People for the Ethical Treatment of Flubs. Get it right. But there’s a big difference between right and satisfying every single person. After all, everyone with a pen thinks he’s a communicator. Hopefully they’ll stay away from the tattoo ink.

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