![]() Will a 6th grader understand my description?ģ. These are the questions marketers must ask themselves when writing the “About” page for their website, deciding what copy goes above the fold, creating a boilerplate for press releases, making the headers for their website and, yes, when designing a trade show booth.Ģ. Here is a four-step formula to do this correctly. ![]() While it could simply say, “Google provides technology solutions,” it says, “Google LLC is an American multinational technology company that focuses on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.” This says exactly what the company does. Here’s an example that makes my point: The Wikipedia entry for Google does a great job of describing what the company does. Marketers need to start by saying what it is in very simple “baby language” that provides an instant mental picture. Will those descriptors sell weatherproof decking? But a platform can be a wooden deck, an evened-out piece of dirt, a speaking subject or a place online. To wit, your product may indeed be a platform. If you’re looking for a new customer to buy your product, tamping down its essence-the marrow of what it intrinsically does-is like shooting yourself in the foot. This is not a bad thing in parenting, but in the world of business, when you’re trying to find new customers, you need to say what you mean. As kids mature, they learn to tamp down and mentally edit communication in favor of being socially acceptable. Why does this happen? Here is my hypothesis: Every parent has winced when children blurted out what we consider to be unedited communication. When invited to a dinner party, why not ask your host questions related to the food you are eating: the recipe, the quality of the ingredients and the local producer or shops where she/he bought them, the chef who inspired the recipe is always highly appreciated.Over the last 30 years spent launching startups, I have noticed a proclivity to slick over the actual “thing” and the founding stories-both usually unique and interesting-in favor of genericizing everything to the point of cliché and making it plain unmemorable. They will be very pleased to answer your questions as something is sure: in France everyone has an opinion or a comment to make about politicians, bills, preparations etc.Ĭertain topics such as food are usually much more appreciated at a dinner with French people. Unlike other countries, French people like politics and love having passionate debates about politicians so why not bring up this topic if you are informed about the current affairs in France. If you don’t know the person well, stick to safer topics and start the conversation with more engaging issues such as travel, the local context, culture, or the weather. It seems like common sense however, this is slowly changing more and more people speak about wages and the money they earn and it is not as taboo as it used to be. Religion in general is not a topic to bring up with people unless you know them well.Īnother topic to avoid is money and wealth, particularly inquiring about the financial status or salary of a French person unless you are close friends. The public sphere and religion are supposed to be entirely separate, a concept called laïcité (or secularism). France is in majority a Catholic country, but there is a peculiar dichotomy between religious beliefs and society. My student was at first quite surprised, as he knew that the French don’t usually become so familiar so quickly, but he finally accepted, pleased with this spontaneous request.įaith and prayer are very private matters here. This neighbor asked him whether it was possible to visit my student’s flat, as he had heard that it had been recently beautifully refurbished. One of my students was pleasantly surprised when he was in Cannes and met a French person who lived in the same building as him on the staircase. This is of course a generality, as not all the French are unreluctant to unveil their private life to people they don’t know well. This is the opposite of other cultures like the US, who open up to all. According to psychologist Kurt Lewin this means that French people don’t like sharing their personal lives so freely with those not in their inner circle. Asking personal questions and oversharing your own personal stories in the wrong setting can make your French companion feel awkward at best, and at worst, they may think you are being rude by crossing the boundaries of intimacy.Īsking a French acquaintance how they met their partner, for example, might seem innocuous, but would be an awkward question for some French people.
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