Donald L. Heymann & Co.

Don Heymann, Business Writer and adjunct instructor at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, discusses the metaphor challenge in his latest blog on using language effectively in business, politics, healthcare and other disciplines.

Marketers of processed food and beverages, as well as alcohol and tobacco, have understood the framing challenge very well. Minimizing the health threats of their products, they reframed the issue as a defense of the public’s “right” to smoke.

Each new year brings resolutions. But instead of the familiar ones (you know, more exercise, better eating), how about a commitment to lose clichés and unnecessary words, so your writing and speaking are as smooth and clear as a mountain stream?

In a music blog I stumbled on, the blogger commented on the tunes and vibes of a particular music festival, but he also noticed something else – a subtle word choice that turned out to be very profound for concertgoers.

According to common wisdom in neuroscience, about 98 percent of our thoughts are unconscious and automatic, carried out by the neural system. We believe we think freely, but we actually don’t very much.

Sometimes it takes time and perspective before the true impact of an idea or an action is fully realized, especially in our dizzying culture.

The sandwich legend illustrates a simple truth about writing – the best way to engage an audience is to find the story in your message and make it as compelling as possible.

Bandwidth. Leverage. Actionable. Business model. Deliverables. Ecosystems. Synergies. Best of breed. Granularity. Mission-critical. Competencies. Buy-in. Drill down. This is the kind of soul-stripping, management-speak often used in top-10 lists.

Most famous quotations are not full of poly-syllabic Latin or French words for a reason – they’ll mark the author as a pompous blowhard, not an effective communicator.

Behaviorist Jen Shang... has shown in recent studies that words – especially words of kindness – can be very persuasive. From her studies, she says that when some combination of nine adjectives...