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One Man's Fluff Is Another's Treasure

By: Mistie Thompson | 08/28/2008

If you're a regular "Where Do You Stand?" reader, you may have noticed that I'm a rather, shall we say, conversational writer. Some would attribute that to my country hick Southern heritage, while others might accuse call it unprofessional unconventional. On a number of occasions, I've been asked to "fluff up" a document or "give it some of that emotional stuff you're good at."

Now I could take this personally and consider it a knock to my professionalism (and a massive ego blow), but since the sky in my world is a lovely shade of chartreuse, I'll take it as a compliment. And here's why.

In the communications arena, we've been given incredible power - the power of using just the right words to start or add something valuable to a conversation. If our words achieve superpower status, they evoke the response we're hoping for: choosing a certain school or hospital, supporting a company's employee program, learning the facts about a controversial issue and overcoming a bias, or contributing to a worthy charitable cause.

The problem with this power is that so very many people have the chance to try their hand at it, especially today. We're practically conversing in our sleep these days (and I'm sure some dream-sucking brain wave iMind device is just around the corner), so it's more difficult than ever to bring the power of words to life. To have an impact, our words need to do much more than appeal to logic (sorry, Dr. Spock) and be grammatically correct; they need to make people care.

Our words need to have passion and feeling and conviction to rise above the chaff. To achieve superpower status, though, they also need truth. While the former makes for good reading/listening, the latter separates the hucksters (and let's face it, most politicians) from those whose words can make life better, healthier, easier, more exciting, more meaningful and more fun. The challenge of taking my writing to higher levels and mastering that superpower is why I love my job - and why I'm trying to come up with a great "X-Men" mutant name for myself. ("Thesaurus" has kind of a nice ring, huh?)

So the next time you want something "fluffed," bring it on. I'm not ashamed to say that if you give me the facts and some good reasons why people should care, chances are I'll write something that will make the people you care about laugh, cry, get motivated, get healthier or just generally get better.

And chances are, I'm the only writer you know who'll work while in a superhero suit. Or at least a mask - I need a couple more months at the gym before I break out the full suit. Anyone know the number for Halle Berry's trainer?

Posted in Reputation Management, Reputation Management