Business Development - Blotting out the bloopers

Whether you're negotiating a deal, building a relationship with new prospects, or focusing closely on a loyal client, it's imperative that you stay on top of your own language bloopers.

Most of us have them and it's annoying to be on the receiving end of them.

Example 1:

I attended a session delivered by a well renowned trainer and coach. As expected, her content was great, but it seemed that every other word in her vocabulary was 'fantastic'. So I started to wonder:

- Can everything in her world really be that 'fantastic'? If not, why is she saying it is?

- Is anyone else picking up on the fact that the word 'fantastic' appears to be in every sentence and used in every context?

It took my attention away from what the coach was saying and it made me wonder how such a seasoned presenter, had formed such a bad verbal habit.

Example 2:

Last year I was approached by one of my participants after delivering a business development workshop and he asked me, "do you know how many times you said, does that make sense?" 

When I checked with my wife later that night, she admitted that whenever I explained something, I had got into the habit of asking, 'does that make sense'?

So what are your bad verbal habits? The fact is, that we all have them and they change over time.
Whatever they are, you're likely to be using them in all contexts, at home and at work and in order to make your language more engaging for your business colleagues and customers, friends and family, you'll need to identify and eradicate them.

Tips for developing better language:

1) Ask those closest to you to help you to identify your annoying verbal habits.

2) Ditch management cliches such as, 'can't see the wood for trees', 'blue-sky thinking', 'employee buy-in' and 'square pegs and round holes'. They're irritating to hear and can be misleading.

3) Speak clearly and opt for plain english rather than using jargon and trying to impress with long  words. When I develop the branding for my workshops, I work on the basis that if my 12 and 9 year old daughters can't understand what I'm trying to explain, it's too complex and needs to be simplified.

Thanks for reading

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