Seth explains the importance of “tone” in your print materials. His comments are a perfect fit for the Human Talk series, so they will be added to the pile.

Here ’s a small snippet:

If it’s in print, it matters even more. Things in print have a tone and a finality that add an impact that you need to care about.

So, after the lawyers are done, let the marketers make sure it sounds like you. Your signs, your contacts, your fine print… your words don’t just sit there, they shout. 

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This post is part of the Human Talk series. 

If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due.

The Brand Chef, Andrew B. Clark sent in his take on the Human Talk series that he jotted down while watching The Terminal. As usual, Andrew looks beyond surface matter to come up with a pure gem of insight.

Victor, the Tom Hanks character, epitomizes the truth in speaking humanly and breathing a fresh breath of reality into a standardized and surreal environment.  His character comes in as a completely square peg, and through empathy, compassion and understanding (as well as some diligent self-education), changes the lives and perspectives of everyone involved.

Through business and personal events, I find that if you listen; if you identify; if you (at least) empathize, then the “Human Talk” can take its course with natural and unfettered distraction.  But as the Stanly Tucci character finds, if you only “follow the rules,” the conversation will die from lack of oxygen.

Andrew is spot on when he talks of empathy. If you are truly empathetic to your audience, whether you are writing a blog post, an email, a tag line, or even just a simple notice for your customers, the question of whether or not you sound like a human, doesn’t even need considering.

This is something that’s often much easier to say, than it is to do.

Finding true empathy is a subject that I’ve discussed before on The Fresh Peel. It’s a deep subject, but there lots of ways that you can learn to become more empathetic. Dig in and explore the subject of empathy!

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This post is part of the Human Talk series. 

If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due. 

It looks like I may have to revise my previous plan to limit the Human Talk series to one post a week.

Just in the last day and a half, I’ve seen an overwhelming number of examples of companies speaking like normal human beings, and just as many that flat out don’t get it.

Here are a two notable Human Talk examples that I noticed around the blogosphere:

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Jackie Huba tells all about her love affair with Whole Foods, but it was this photo that really got my gears turning.

What would be viewed as a negative anywhere else, becomes something to brag about when it is backed with strong company values and commitment.

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Seth points to “flowers with a sense of humor.”

Being serious about commitments to customers doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.

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This post is part of the Human Talk series.

If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due.

Why do companies have such a hard time talking like real people? I mean what are companies but groups of people with the same values working together towards a common purpose?

Slow Loss of Power

The use of electricity as a power source has always fascinated me. The fact that electricity can be generated in a vast number processes and that it is an extremely versatile form of energy, has led to it becoming the backbone form of energy for modern society.

That’s not to say that electricity doesn’t have it’s problems. One of the biggest problems energy companies face with electricity is transferring it. They have found that as electricity travels, it slowly loses its power. So the farther electricity has to travel, the more power it loses.

That’s why windmill farms haven’t created the infinite supply of electricity that many thought they would. Because the areas with the most wind, in the US anyways, are many miles from major cities. So a large majority of the power generated by these windmills is lost in transition.

The Slide Through Company Pipes

Our challenges with electricity and the challenges that companies face in regards to communication are much the same.

Most forms of communication start out with the best of intentions, but as they are passed through the company pipes they start to lose something. As communication is filtered through the corporate bureaucracy, company standards and compliance slowly chip away at the humanistic traits. By the time communication finally makes it out the door and reaches the major city, it often resembles something written by a computer as opposed to a real person.

This is how we end up with credit card documents that are 4 pages long, and return policy printouts on the back of 2-foot long receipts.

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Human Talk

This is the point in the post where a good blogger would change the pace and start to offer solutions for humanizing company communications.

But I’m not your average blogger and I don’t think this is a topic that can be tackled in one concise post. So I’m not even going to try. Instead, I’m going to turn this idea into an ongoing log, and what I hope will become an ongoing discussion.

Consider this the flagship post for a new series I’m calling Human Talk, and a point of topical reference for all posts yet to come. There are endless examples of the good and bad of company communications, and I am going to bring you a new one each week!