Using Big , Fancy Words Doesn’t Always Make You Sound Smarter
Sometimes they make you sound like a jerk
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The oil and gas sector in Alberta has been in a destructive struggle, for the entire Province and Country. It has caused conflicts and cut backs, lay offs, and thousands of job losses over the past few years. It is beyond stressful, if your lifestyle and future depends on an oil and gas job.
Yesterday, I was privy to a very strongly worded email that was sent to my partner, Dave.
The Cole’s Notes version of the letter, was that he is being put back out into “the field” to do sales calls-cold calling. This is something that he hasn’t been doing for around 5 years. He has been in an office and building relationships with companies in our big city. And he has been doing this very effectively. In fact, he has stretched out of our country and found work in the US and other areas, when Alberta was suffering. He has made the company A LOT of revenue and found jobs where no one else in the company could.
He is a devoted, strong piece, of the backbone of the company he works for. He has been with them since they first opened.
Big Fancy Words
I noted in the email, that there were a few “big words” , used as a way to portray the manager as someone who is in a powerful position. I personally know the sender of the email, and am very aware that this is not how he typically speaks.
He used words like “Proponent” and “Ambiguous” multiple times, and it sent an unnecessarily harsh message. First of all, his words were used completely out of context, and secondly, they made the email read as if he was trying to be impressive.
This was far from an impressive form of communication.
The Follow Up Call
Once Dave received the email, he was taken aback, and vibrating with anger. The main reason…
