Page 105 - How To Sell Yourself

104 How to Sell Yourself
CIA Director George Tenet negotiated a tricky cease-fire in
the Middle East in June, 2001.
One member of the negotiating team, General Eiland, attrib- uted the success of the mission this way: “Tenet said the clearest possible things and used simple clear words.”
Winston Churchill summed it up with, “Short words are the best, and short words when old are best of all.”
When we’re trying to figure out what you mean, we’re missing your next thought. Don’t try to tell us everything you know. We don’t want to know everything you know.
The Washington word game
This game pops up from time to time in newspapers and maga- zines and makes my point for me.
You’re to select one word from each of the three columns and put together a perfectly governmentese phrase. The more words you use, the less likely you are to say anything meaningful while still managing to sound important. Try any combination of one word from each column.
Column A
indigenous comprehensive fragmentary interplanetary internecine collective bureaucratic portentous didactic pedantic ultimate incorrigible corporeal
The Washington Word Game Column B
environmental neutral concomitant philosophical totalitarian demagogic proactive demonstrative hedonistic antediluvian gustatory retrogressive pragmatic
Column C
overkill pollution interface replication exacerbation dialectic evaluation resonance fallacy methodology phalanx dyslexia monasticism