Can We Talk About Language?

Communication in the time of Covid has seen us all straining to hear on a faltering video call, looking at the camera (or ourselves) rather than looking people in the eye (and that’s assuming they even turn their camera on) and failing to pick up on the nuances that we’d normally rely on to inform our decision making. These new ways of working have had a profound influence on us in a number of different ways, both positively and negatively.

One of the big positives to have come out of home working during this pandemic has been that it’s forced us into having more straightforward business conversations. Since the novelty of video calls has worn off, we haven’t had the energy (or the inclination) to beat around the bush or dance articulately around a subject, we just want to know where we stand and get things done.

With partners, kids, pets and backgrounds telling us the life you’re really living, we’ve reciprocated with honesty - there’s no room for bullshit.  There’s no expensive car or designer handbag to hide behind, “Do you know who I am?” Yep, a parent holding down a full-time job, attempting to home school kids and trying not to have a meltdown as the broadband drops out again. Is this project proceeding or not? No, OK, let’s move on.

It’s hard to be anything but honest when the Marketing Director you’re presenting to has a dog on her lap and who can forget Professor Robert Kelly being video bombed by his kids and his wife on his live interview from home on the BBC, even if that was pre-Covid. As a result, he appeared much more credible and human. Honesty allows us to have quicker and more meaningful conversations and with greater honesty comes greater respect. It’s much easier to work with people you like and respect and better work and more meaningful partnerships are often created as a result.

Working from home has no doubt changed the way in which we communicate with each other and the kind of relationships we’ve fostered through language and tone. For most of us it’s been an invigorating experience and can only be a good thing, right?

As we begin to return to work, it would seem incongruous to go back to our previous ways of working.  Let’s continue to get to the point quicker, clearly and with brevity.  Won’t it be nice to avoid the guff and refreshing to steer well clear of the fluff? This legacy of Covid and working from home might also give us to the opportunity to think more deeply about the business relationships we nurture.  A chance to sort the creative wheat from the chaff.

On a recent industry webinar, Si Dixon from agency Dixon Baxi, said that he gets annoyed when agencies diss their clients.  His sentiment being that if the client agency relationship is hard work then you’re working with the wrong clients.  Fair but brave talk, especially in these uncertain times, but he has a point. We all know that clients are under massive pressure and often pass their stress on to their agency partner (some would argue that stress alleviation is our job as an agency), but if there’s no mutual respect, manifested in language or otherwise, then maybe it’s time to look elsewhere.

It’s also worth noting that it’s incredibly important to choose your language carefully. Momentary decisions can have long-term repercussions.

Gwyneth Paltrow has been in the news in the last few weeks admitting to Vogue that the language of her break-up statement was ‘a bit full of itself’ (a bit?) and that she was ‘trembling before giving the go-ahead to publish.’  You know, the ‘conscious uncoupling’ rhetoric for which she has become better known (and derided for) than her Oscar win or her appearances in the Marvel comic book films. Language choice is particularly pertinent in new business, do you want to be indexed in the filing cabinet of the brain under bullshit bingo or rather as the really useful person to go to when required. Don’t forget that bullshit sticks!

Finally, the ultimate language challenge – no language at all, which rather ironically speaks volumes!  We’ve all been there – radio silence, either on email or video conference.  What does it mean? Not relevant, wrong time, too busy, we’ve moved on or are we all just on mute? Many years ago, a colleague said to me, “It’s not a no, it’s just a not right now.”  That phrase has stuck with me and you know what? It has often proved to be true.

As we move on to wherever this crisis takes us next, wouldn’t it be great to maintain this new honest and straightforward way of talking to our peers, clients and suppliers and to cut out the jargon and the puffery. There has been a great deal of good that has come from working from home, perhaps bringing some home back into the office will work just as well.