9 secrets you’ll never hear communicators admit to management

To technical experts and top executives, we’re just comma pushers; well, the disdain is mutual

A friend and colleague e-mailed me with what she called a “blog-worthy” idea. While in the dentist’s chair, she asked the hygienist to share her biggest pet peeve. The hygienist said it’s when people text while getting their teeth cleaned.

This got me thinking about communicators. What “secrets” would we never tell our clients about the work we do or about their own communication practices?

Here’s a start. Please help me build a longer list in the comments section.

1. We don’t look forward to being asked to write a column, a letter or a speech for you in senior management, because we know our words will never be used anyway. It’s amazing that you even ask for communicators’ help with writing, since you change most of it. Maybe you ask us just so you can tear our work apart. Maybe it makes you feel virile or something.

2. If you really wanted that column, letter or speech to sound great, you would spend a few minutes letting us interview you. This is probably No. 1 thing that would improve how your communications come across, but you and your peers rarely take advantage of it.