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Motivate Yourself (and Editors) with Try-Angles
Inspire, influence, impress & be brief
By Marlene Caroselli
Need a theme for an article or book? Want to inspire those in your writing group with a rallying phrase? Looking for a principle to guide your everyday creative actions? Want your proposal to be easily remembered? Try creating a
try-angle: a new, writing-related angle or perspective that's easy to remember and easy to follow, one that encourages you to try, to stretch, to reach, to succeed. Here's how to create
try-angles: three magical words among the million that constitute our language.
* Limit the number of words. "Try-angles" encourage people to "try." But there's another meaning: the prefix "tri," meaning "three."
It dictates the length of the angle. Keep your motivational message down to three or four words.
* Choose short words. It was Winston Churchill who noted that "big [wo]men use little words. If you've any doubt at all about the big pull of little words, consider these:
Martin Luther King, Jr., "I have a dream."
Mother Teresa: "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."
Sam Walton: "Eliminate the dumb."
John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you."
Black Elk, Oglala Sioux holy man: "The life of man is a circle."
Twyla Tharp: "Art is the only way to run away without leaving home."
By contrast, consider the non-pull of big words. "It is neither ameliorative of one's current reality nor advantageous for reification of the future to garner the totality of one's gallinaceous assemblage into a singular receptacle fabricated from the smaller extrusions of a large perennial plant that possesses a primary stem from which multiple outgrowths occur." This statement doesn't motivate at all.
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" does. Simplicity wins over "sesquipedalian" every single time.
* Heighten awareness of what works. As you develop your try-angle, attune yourself to other messages that have withstood the test of time-- primarily because they have a limited number of words and those words are monosyllabic in nature. See what we mean by taking the following test. Identify the try-angle described by each of the following ten clues.
1. A backfiring presidential promise not to raise taxes ____________________
2. An exhortation befitting Emily Post, Letitia Baldrige, or your mom ________________
3. A pronoun-vague recommendation from a sportswear firm _________________
4. An alliterative architectural axiom ____________________________
5. Caesar's explanation for how to rule a defeated nation __________________
6. W. Edwards Deming's advice for improving workplace morale _________________
7. Hope-driven message from Britain's leader during World War II _________________
8. Message for youth from a star-connected First Lady ________________
9. First part of LeRoy Satchel's Paige message that ends with
"Something may be gaining on you." ______________
10. Military-inspired statement that today means "Win unconditionally" _____________
* Create several. Use them as situations warrant. Once you begin to think about try-angles, you'll find numerous applications for their use. For example, Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric and widely regarded as the "Manager of the
Century," seldom gives an interview without mentioning his personal credo, an alliterative try-angle: "speed, simplicity, self-confidence." While you probably don't give as many media interviews as he does, you can use your try-angles in your e-mail signature, on your stationery, when you apply for freelance job, et cetera.
Additionally, the thought-process that leads to the creation of these simple-but-powerful messages will help you keep your writing style cohesive and
concise.
Dr. Marlene Caroselli is a keynoter, trainer, and author. Her 50+ books on business/ communications can be seen at
www.caroselli.biz or Amazon.com. She directs the Center for Professional Development, located in Rochester, NY: (585) 227-6512. You can also reach her at
mccpd@aol.com.
Answers: 1. Read my lips. 2. Mind your manners. 3. Just do it. 4. Form follows function. 5. Divide and conquer. 6. Drive out fear. 7. Never give up. 8. Just say no. 9. Don't look back. 10. Take no prisoners.
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