Let’s give 110%... to avoid clichés

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald looked at the way some “buzz words” and motivational and/or leadership clichés can tend to have the opposite effect of their intentions. There was a list appearing in the hardcopy that had some priceless examples, but unfortunately is amiss in the online version of the article. Nevertheless, I’m sure all of us have heard some lines of pure “fluff” over the years in our professional pursuits and could imagine what types of things could appear on such a list.

One part that was interesting to read was the following:

A 2010 study conducted by the New York and Basel universities observed the effect linguistic influences had on judgments of truth. The research indicated that when a statement was made in concrete language, it rated as being more truthful and authentic than when expressed in abstract language.

Basically this implies that buzz word or clichés aside, people will tend to believe, or believe in, you more if language is used that has meaning but is clear and purposeful. It can be easy in the heat of the (motivational) moment, in a meeting or “thinking session”, for a cliché to be presented – often with the best of intentions. But maybe in the same way that we should be mindful about criticising someone, or at least how we go about doing so, we should do the same about that cringe worthy and meaningless cliché falling out onto the table.

Image source: http://querytracker.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/conquering-cliche.html

See the full news article at:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/one-from-the-ideas-shower-show-cliches-the-plughole-20120509-1ycxi.html#ixzz1uQE4XDnE