There’s a trend in coaching and other types of entrepreneurial endeavors to title workshops, seminars, classes etc. using mild profanity. I suspect this is meant to convey a saucy dis-regard for convention. Instead of calling my workshop “Signature Talks to Grow Your Business” why not flash my sass and call it “Kick-Ass Keynotes to Bring Them to Their @#$ Knees?”
I’ll tell you why not-first, it sounds juvenile- as if I’m 13 years old and trying out the naughty words to see what kind of effect it has on the grown ups. It’s playing at mild shock value. As my close friends can attest, I love to swear on occasion, using curses far more blue than “kick-ass.” It’s fun to mix it up. But it’s organic and appropriate to the moment, not contrived to be clever in business.
Second, anytime I spot a trend in communicating that everyone is employing, that’s reason enough for me not to do it. Our speech should express our genuine thinking, not copy the vanilla choices that everyone is making.
Which is why the naughty girl talk looks all the sillier-it’s not even original. That’s the real problem right there. If you’re a coach, or business owner, you’d better be able to think and speak for yourself. Until you can, give careful thought to the bandwagon you’re climbing on. It might not be headed where you want to go.
