5 tips for writing good quotes that don’t stink

Welcome to the first Ragan Consulting Group, “Quotes That Don’t Suck Contest,” in which contestants vie for fabulous prizes (OK, gift cards) based on their ability to wrangle, through intrepid reporting and wily interviewing skills, a captivating quote for one of their stories.

Every day, organizational communicators go to their leaders, subject matter experts and other colleagues hoping to find an authentic human voice that enlivens their storytelling. Far too often, the quotes are, well, crap.  In fact, they are often the worst assemblage of words in the entire article.

Why are the quotes so bad? They don’t say anything. They don’t enliven the story. In the worst of cases, they’re incomprehensible. The quotes in your stories should be engaging, lively and opinionated. Instead, they are often boring and robotic, drowning in cliches and corporate speak, as in:

“This implementation will allow us to achieve a multi-modal synergy in which we integrate our systems in an asynchronous way.”

So, here’s your challenge: Send us a story, internal or external, that contains at least one quotable quote. Your entry will be judged by our expert panel of prickly editors who believe every quote should fight its way into your story.