In his still-frightening classic dystopian novel, 1984, George Orwell invented “NewSpeak”, the official language of Oceania used to control communication and thought.  

So, let me pay homage to Orwell by inventing “CuSpeak” in his honor, the official language we should always use when speaking to customers and prospects and not nearly as creepy as “NewSpeak.” While it’s much harder to learn than “SAE” (Standard American English), it’s much more effective in influencing how our audience understands and views us.

Here are five reasons why CuSpeak is superior to SAE when it comes to your business.

Reason No. 1: CuSpeak is reader-centric.

Too many small businesses still communicate with customers using a “writer-centric” dialect. It’s what they speak and are comfortable using. But few, if any, customers speak their dialect. So, the result is often miscommunication or annoying the very people they want to influence.

Because CuSpeak is totally reader-centric, it embraces Dr. Tony Alessandra’s “Platinum Rule” concept and communicates with customers the way customers want to be communicated with. That’s the total opposite of their archaic Golden Rule approach—communicating with customers the way they want customers to communicate back with them.

Using the Golden Rule requires little assessment and no adaptation. CuSpeak must be individualized, based on the specific customer’s industry background, organizational and educational level and preferred communication style. Mastering it demands time, effort and analysis—often in short supply with most small businesses.

• RELATED: Learn ways to perfect your communication over the phone.

Reason No. 2: CuSpeak is buzzword-free.

CuSpeak doesn’t use buzzwords because they may be too specific to the particular small business. Instead, it prefers a simple word or phrase that clearly, consistently and universally has the same meaning as the buzzword.

If the airlines bought into this concept, they wouldn’t use the buzzword “deplane” but the more universally understood “exit the plane” or “leave.” Companies wouldn’t “escalate” a problem, but “take it to the next level of (management or procedure).” Lawyers wouldn’t “execute” a contract, but simply “sign and date” it.   

Reason No. 3: CuSpeak is acronym free.

Acronyms are words created from the first letters of a name, like ABBA (Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, Annifrid) or group of words, like radar (radio detecting and ranging) that are pronounced as words. They’ve been around since the Roman Empire but came into popular use with the government or military, two institutions not known for effective customer communication. If you want to know for sure, look it up in the FAT (Federal Acronym and Terms) book. Really—I’m not making this up.

Your industry or business has lots of acronyms. So does your customer’s business, but they’re different. In CuSpeak, you minimize their use and always spell them out the first time. So, a marketing proposal may include BOGO (buy one get one) promotions, a pitch from an accountant might mention RITA (Regional Income Tax Administration) or a real estate development might mention NIMBY (not in my back yard). The parenthetical definitions take up minimal space and add subtle and convenient value.

• RELATED: Read more columns from Phil Stella by clicking here.

Some words look like acronyms but are spoken as a string of letters, like FYI, R&D, Q&A or FAQ. While most of these are generally understood, you should define unusual ones by going beyond simply putting words to letter. For example, B&HU (Best & Highest Use) means the best return on investment for your time or resource, PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is telecom talk for switchboard and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) refers to current operating profitability.

Reason No. 4: CuSpeak is vague-free.

CuSpeak is known for clarity. Simple, specific words rarely cause as much miscommunication for customers as vague references. So, opt for clarity wherever possible. Just so we’re clear, here are some examples.

• “By Friday at 5” is better than “in a few days” or “ASAP.”
• “Five complaints from three suppliers since Monday” is better than “a lot of complaints from some customers lately.”
• If the project will cost $5,950, then say “$5,950” instead of “about/around $5,900” unless you need to indicate a range, such as “$5,800 - $6,100.”
• Some vague references look like they’re hiding the truth. Isn’t “over plan by 27.6%” clearer and more honest than “more than a little bit over plan.”

Reason No. 5: CuSpeak is lame-free.

 I use “lame” here to refer to ineffective style—using big words, wordy phrases or passive voice. CuSpeak doesn’t allow any of that—and I’m so glad. Check out the examples below.

• “Telephone” becomes “phone,” “compensate” becomes “pay,” “finalize” becomes “finish,” and “modification” becomes “change”—all with no loss of clarity or meaning.
• Turn “fluctuation” into “change,” “commence” into “begin” and “utilize” into “use.”
• Instead of adding four words with “to the extent that,” only add one with “if.” Instead of “each and every one of you,” save three words with “each of you.”
• There is no need to say ‘a check in the amount of $2,300’ when ‘a check for $2,300’ works better. And ‘at this present point in time.’ Is no clearer than ‘now.’
• Avoid the redundant “consensus of opinion” when “consensus” means the same thing. Why ever say “red in color” when all we need is “red?”
• CuSpeak loves active voice—it’s shorter, simpler and more conversational than passive voice. So, “The deadline will be determined” becomes “I/We/Anne will determine the deadline, ‘I/We/Hector will share the results Monday” is better than “The results will be shared Monday” and “I/We/Sue appreciate(s) your help” is more conversational than ‘Your help is appreciated.’

By now, it should be obvious that resisting CuSpeak is futile and stupid. Embracing it is a great strategy for differentiating your business from the competitors who don’t get it yet. It’s well worth the time and effort to become fluent. So, try it and let me know how well it worked for you.

Phil Stella runs Effective Training & Communication, www.communicate-confidently.com,440-449-0356, and empowers business leaders to reduce the pain with workplace communication. A popular trainer and executive coach on writing, styles and sales presentations, he is also on the Cleveland faculty of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.  

Tom Lucas, CIO of Sherwin-Williams, George Mehok, CIO of Revol Wireless and Pete Regan, Director with IBM share their insight into getting the attention of, and selling to, CIOs.

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This is part 2 of our Selling to the CIO session featuring Tom Lucas (Sherwin-Williams), George Mehok (Revol) and Pete Reagan (IBM).

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Information roles in companies are constantly evolving; in fact the very existence of the CIO role evolved out of changes in business technologies many years ago. Rapidly advancing changes in information technology, particularly around digital connections to customers, partners, vendors and more has led to a new role: Chief Digital Officer. 

What are the strategic implications of the role of Chief Digital Officer and how does it affect your company and your strategies? Is this a role that needs to be developed at your company? 

Paul Stefanuk, partner with Paul-Lawrence, a national executive search firm, shares insight into this developing role. What industries are embracing this change? Where does it fit organizationally? How does the role drive enterprise performance and how does it interface with traditional information technology operations?

Listen here.

There are so many different views and perspectives on leadership—so many that I sometimes wonder how anyone is supposed to discern the essentials. At the same time, it’s important to have some leadership foundations that you can use to build your own leadership model, and the simpler the better. Enter the three “I’s” of leadership:

• Intention
• Influence
• Impact

With clarity around these three leadership “I’s” you will have a firm foundation for whatever leadership role you’re playing, no matter the arena where you’re serving as a leader.

Intention—Leaders are intentional. Leaders live and lead on purpose. They are thoughtful and discerning when it comes to who they are and what they’re seeking to achieve. History has shown us that leaders can influence people, but often their leadership is more about playing a role than purposefully creating outcomes and impacts. In other words, these leaders use their influence without thoughtful intentions. If you want to be an effective leader, being intentional in all aspects of your leadership will serve you (and those you serve) well.

Influence—Leadership is about influence, and the essence of influence is being a person that people want to follow. It means engaging people behind a cause, mission, vision, purpose or values. Influence is the outcome of being authentic as a leader, which allows you to build the deep levels of trust that draw people to you, engage people and commit them to being a part of your plan and vision.

Impact—Leadership is about impact, not actions. Leaders are acutely focused on their desired impact (beyond goals and objectives), and impact equates to creating something long-lasting. While some “leaders” are focused on their personal agendas and legacy, true leaders are focused on organizational, institutional, community and global legacy.

What about you?

Will you be intentional? Are you committed to being the kind of person and leader that people will trust and want to follow? What’s your “why” as a leader (personally and professionally), and is your “why” more about impact than outcomes?

These might seem like easy questions and they are, but only if you’re willing to be authentic, vulnerable and honest in assessing yourself. Many so-called leaders never even ask these questions, let alone honestly answer them. Many leaders claim to desire feedback from others (often the best source of honest perspectives and the best way for identifying blind spots), yet they never take action on the feedback—believing they already are the leader they want to be. We live in a world where leadership is often defined by effectiveness, rather than impact. Where leaders are judged more on their ability to be decisive than on their willingness to be vulnerable. Based upon the state of affairs in our world, it’s time for a change—time for a new type of leader. Authentic, vulnerable and courageous!

In the end, leadership is a choice, and the three “I’s” outlined above are individual choices that collectively represent that larger choice. Once that choice is made, you can commit to these three I’s in order to be the type of leader that makes a difference with people, in organizations, in businesses, in initiatives and in the community.  The time is now—time for a new type of leader who is focused on intention, influence and impact. Will you choose to embrace the “I’s” of leadership?

Join me on Tuesday, June 21^st at the COSE Business Boot Camp as we take a dive into what it means to be an authentic leader and the impact authentic leaders can unleash. No matter your title or role, this session will help you tap into a whole other level of personal and professional leadership.

What does it mean to be “goal-driven?” It seems obvious that someone who is driven by goals would be focused on achievement and have a strong sense of purpose.

So, is it a good thing to be goal driven? I suppose the answer to that question really depends on how effective we are at setting goals and implementing strategies to achieve them.  

Goals unite us; they orient individuals and teams toward a common sense of purpose. Goals provide the insight needed to shape the activities of our day; they shape our destiny. So, as a business owner, it is vital that we take time to reflect deeply upon our goals and to cascade and communicate them effectively inside our companies so that they are a positive and powerful force in our business.

Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals

Effective goal setting starts with an inspirational statement of vision—a long-term goal, perhaps 10 or more years into the future, that represents our ambitions, our dreams. They represent everything that we want to achieve in our business or in life. Jim Collins calls these long-term, dreamy goal statements of vision BHAGs—Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goals. BHAGs are moon shots; or in today’s vision, a manned trip to Mars. BHAGs are, by definition, the kind of goals that change the world represented by your dreams, however big they may be.

Setting SMART Business Objectives

Linked directly to the inspirational vision are business objectives—the quantifiable and time-bound measures of that which we want to achieve in the next one to three years. Business objectives set the stage for what the business will achieve during a specific time period. They set the stage for the foundation of business strategy.

Business objectives are achieved in steps, represented by short-term goals. These goals are often defined as needing to be SMART in nature—SMART meaning Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound. SMART goals are the most common and are the ones that we should remain most mindful of during the course of our day. They set the pace and focus of our day and are the primary motivators for getting things done.

• RELATED: An inspiring vision, an effective plan, and other secrets of successful small businesses.

How a Business Coach Can Help

Business coaches provide much-needed insight, experience and discipline to business owners. They help put these factors into play to bring about positive change in business practices in order to achieve more than is possible without the use of a coach. Consider contacting a business coach to help set inspirational and achievable goals that are well-communicated throughout your company.

1Direction certified ActionCOACH Brian Alquist has over 35 years of business experience. 1 Direction helps small business owners focus on the importance of goal setting, which is critical to the success and sustainability of their business. Contact 1 Direction by clicking here and secure a free coaching session for your business to begin understanding how to translate leadership into success.