Small Talk Phrases

Matt Abrahams promotes his new book in an attention-grabbing CNBC headline: “The No. 1 phrase people who are good at small talk always use, says Stanford public speaking expert.” Of course, I was curious about the phrase, and it is . . . “Tell me more.”

Although the headline is hyperbolic (“No. 1” and “always”), Abrahams is encouraging what any business communication faculty member would encourage: use open-ended questions and phrases. He also recommends, “What excited you about that?” or “Wow, what happened next?” or “How did you feel when that happened?” Abrahams’ point is to avoid “shifting” the conversation to yourself. However, sometimes it’s useful to relate to a speaker by sharing your own experience. Also, these phrases are useful when, at times, you’re not sure what to say in response.

Students might choose phrases that feel more natural to them, for example, “I’d like to hear more about __,” “Say more about that,” or, simply, “Really?” I recently heard, “Can you take that thinking further along the track for me?” I liked that approach given the situation (a complex political idea). In similar situations, I’ve heard others offer a noncommittal “Interesting,” which felt like a polite, “Please stop talking now.”

In addition to “small talk” situations, students could practice these phrases during presentation Q&As.

Image source.

New Euphemism for "Feedback"

A WSJ article reports that “feedback” causes anxiety, so companies are using “feedforward” instead. The latest in corporate euphemisms, feedforward could soften comments on students’ writing and presentations, but I’m skeptical.

Attempts for gentler language for “negative” feedback are nothing new. Managers (and business communication faculty) typically use “areas for improvement,” “development areas,” or “constructive feedback.” Now, apparently, “feedback” is itself causing problems.

Other terms are emerging. Microsoft is using “perspectives” instead of “feedback,” “performance development” is replacing “performance management,” and “connect” session is replacing a “review.” How long before the patina of these terms wears off and they, too, become anxiety producing?

What’s the problem companies are trying to solve with new terms? On the surface, ”feedforward” is more accurate, emphasizing changes for the future, so I get it. But I have to question whether the term is the issue. Aren’t the real issues that people have difficulty facing what needs to change and that managers continue to struggle with delivering feedback? I’m a fan of Kim Scott’s work and book, Radical Candor, which encourages a supportive environment that makes difficult feedback easier to swallow.

For now, I think our student “tutorials” or “coaching sessions” are safe.

Image source

The Art of the Business Leader Interview

David Rubenstein’s Peer to Peer show on Bloomberg TV is a window into business and political leaders’ lives—and how to approach such an interview. The website, also a YouTube channel, has dozens of interviews. I wish the representation were better, but students can watch someone who interests them and analyze the questions and answers.

In one recent clip, Galaxy Digital Founder and CEO Mike Novogratz refers to Sam Bankman-Fried as a “sociopath.” This segment illustrates how a leader admits his own failings: although he didn’t invest with with SBF, Novogratz acknowledges doing business with him and losing money. Then again, he says, “I just never assumed I’m dealing with a sociopath. It’s hard to risk-manage against that.”

Instructors might ask students to identify ways in which leaders demonstrates character dimensions, for example, authenticity, humility, integrity, and vulnerability.

Troublesome Article Headline About Women's Communication

A New York Times opinion piece by Adam Grant titled “Women Know Exactly What They’re Doing When They Use ‘Weak Language’” has been gnawing at me. What troubles me is not the advice but the headline, which sounds like women are purposely manipulating the situation—perhaps more so than any person would in a similar situation. I may be overly sensitive (disclaimer! weak language!), but “women know what they're doing" reminds me of a sexist throwback. Google the phrase and you’ll find references to leaning over a table for tips and other examples of how women dress and behave around men (for example, see this ESPN story).

Otherwise, Grant’s points are worth sharing with students. He summarizes:

Disclaimers (I might be wrong, but …), hedges (maybe, sort of), and tag questions (don’t you think?) can be a strategic advantage. So-called weak language is an unappreciated source of strength. Understanding why can explain a lot about the way women acquire power and influence — and how men do, too.

Grant offers good advice and cites several studies about hiring and promotion decisions:

By using a disclaimer (“I don’t know …”) and a hedge “(I hope …”), the women reinforced the supervisor’s authority and avoided the impression of arrogance. For the men who asked for a raise, however, weak language neither helped nor hurt. No one was fazed if they just came out and demanded more money.

I’m guessing that the headline-writer’s intention (not Adam Grant’s doing) was to capture attention—and perhaps the phrasing was harmless, complimenting women on using a strategy, whether purposeful or not, that works. But the phrase has a history, which is why I saved the article in a browser tab for more than a week.

One person who commented on the article pointed out inherent problems with the word “weak”:

I recommend we find an alternative to the phrase “weak language.” Weak language according to whom? A patriarchal world view? Let’s give it more dignity, the dignity it deserves. How about calling it “sensitivity to relationship” or “sensitivity to connection.” Something we need so much more of in our world today. (Anne Yeomans)

Others suggested “respectful” language. Some women lament being “between a rock and a hard place”—too weak or too assertive, nothing gets their voice heard.

Students will need to navigate these contradictions. Perhaps the best advice is to adapt to the industry, situation, and person—the same advice business communication faculty give to all students: to tailor to the context and audience as best they can.

Image source.

Comms Related to the Supreme Court Decision

Business communication faculty brave enough to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to restrict affirmative action in college admissions will find many communication examples for students to analyze. Here are a few to consider, and each requires careful facilitation. The first two are probably the easiest to manage and the most relevant to our courses.

• Corporate responses: This article provides a few examples for students to analyze, considering the industry, customer base, mission, and other factors driving the response.

• University responses: Cornell University’s president published a statement, and I imagine other university leaders have done the same. Students can analyze and compare messages.

• Full text of the decision: This 237-page document is a bit overwhelming, but the document, in its entirety, illustrates one persuasive genre for a professional group.

• Dissenting opinions: For more manageable reads, these two dissenting opinions serve as good examples of persuasive arguments.

• Opinion letters: The WSJ and NY Times editorial board opinions offer useful contrasts. Students might find their own opinion articles to analyze.

Image source.

Chronicle Recommendation for Full Disclosure Raises Character Questions

A Chronicle of Higher Education article suggests that academic leaders practice full disclosure when applying for jobs. The recommendation is to avoid issues later in the hiring process, and the decision tests candidates’ character, particularly integrity, courage, and authenticity. Our students face similar decisions.

Here’s the search consultants’ advice:

Be forthcoming and candid about any sensitive or confidential information that may affect your candidacy. Search committees and hiring managers—and I can’t stress this enough—hate surprises. So it’s critical to disclose a potential roadblock as soon as possible once you’ve decided to become a candidate.

Hiring managers “hate surprises” for a few reasons. First, no one wants to waste time. If a candidate, even at an entry-level, will be ruled out, HR wants to know early on. Students with a criminal record of theft should not bother applying for an auditing position. Second, employers want to hire people with integrity, which includes being honest up front. This takes courage, a worthy topic of discussion with our students. Yes, students risk missing out on a job offer, but better to remove themselves from the process early than wait until the third interview or, worse, after they’re hired. When I worked in HR, terminating hired employees after a discovery was a painful process, and this only makes it harder for someone to find another job.

In their list of disclosures, the search professionals include legal issues, negative publicity, barriers to relocating, and leaving previous employers on bad terms. Students might want to discuss gaps in employment, negative social media posts, family obligations, and job terminations—not all at once, of course. Depending on the situation, job market, industry, and so many other factors, students have difficult decisions to make about whether, how, how much, and when to disclose issues that might negatively affect their candidacy. Some of the advice in Business Communication and Character is rooted in Chalice Randazzo’s work: "A Framework for Resume Decisions: Comparing Applicants’ and Employers’ Reasons” (BPCQ, 2020).

Here’s an inspiring story about a researcher at Intel who decided to talk about his history of addiction during his job interview. In the end, what students choose to reveal reflects on their character. They might find this discussion and handout about the Character, Audience, Message (CAM) Model useful.

Image source.

New Twitter CEO's First Email

With much-needed advertising experience, Linda Yaccarino joined Twitter and wrote her first email to staff, a good one for students to analyze. In addition to the email, below, Yaccarino posted her message in a Twitter thread.

Here are a few notes about the email:

• Twitter employees are the primary audience. Secondary audiences might be Twitter users, the media, investors, and the public. As you’ll see, Elon Musk is significant too.

• Yaccarino started on June 5, so it took a while for her first email. One meme shows a skeleton waiting for her second email.

• She starts with a question designed to engage her readers. Then she compliments Elon Musk, her boss and a quite a force. For her first message, acknowledging him is probably important, although I found myself skimming this part. The next paragraph gushes on—in italics. Clearly, Yaccarino is speaking to Musk fans and free speech advocates with that last bit.

• I’m wanting to know more about her: who is Linda Vaccarino? After her opening question, I expected something more personal, maybe about her background or her experience as a Twitter user.

• The “global town square” refers to Musk’s goal for Twitter. After a quick mention, Yaccarino defines it after “Enter Twitter 2.0,” which, I guess, is a heading along with “The success . . .” That section loosely shifts to employees.

• Her tone is enthusiastic, as we would expect. Morale has been low, with mass layoffs, harsh communication, and falling ad revenue.

• As we see too often, her use of “literally” is colloquial and not quite right.

• She uses a couple of rhetorical devices that I find: “wrapping your arms” and “heels” (the latter, a defined metaphor) and an attempt at alliteration: “person, partner, and creator on the planet.” We could call the “global town square” an allusion.

• I’m not a fan of what I call random font enhancements: bold and italics in the middle of paragraphs or at the ends of sentences. Could she use better organization to emphasize key points?

• I wonder how employees responded. Are they motivated? I’m not sure what anyone would do differently after reading the email? What was the purpose?

---

Building Twitter 2.0 Together

Hello Twitter!

People keep asking me: Why Twitter? So, I’ll tell you.

From space exploration to electric vehicles, Elon knew these industries needed transformation, so he did it. More recently it has become increasingly clear that the global town square needs transformation—to drive civilization forward through the unfiltered exchange of information and open dialogue about the things that matter most to us.

Have you ever been talking with someone particularly insightful and thought, You’re brilliant—everybody should get the chance to hear this. Or, I’m learning so much from you—can we do this again? Or maybe it’s as simple as, You should have the freedom to speak your mind. We all should.

Enter Twitter 2.0.

Twitter is on a mission to become the world’s most accurate real-time information source and a global town square for communication. We’re on the precipice of making history—and that’s not an empty promise. That’s OUR reality. 

When you start by wrapping your arms around this powerful vision, literally everything is possible. You have to genuinely believe—and work hard for that belief. And in this moment of complete reinvention, we have the opportunity to reach across aisles, create new partnerships, celebrate new voices, and build something together that can change the world. And from what I can tell so far, you’re built for this. 

The success of Twitter 2.0 is all of our responsibility. 

We need to think big.

We need to transform.

We need to do it all together.

And we can do it all by starting from first principles – questioning our assumptions and building something new from the ground up. It’s rare to have the chance to put a new future into the hands of every person, partner, and creator on the planet.

That’s exactly why I’m here – with all of YOU.

So, let’s dig our heels in (4 inches or flat!) and build Twitter 2.0 together.

Linda

Another "I Wish You Well" Moment

Gwyneth Paltrow ended her headline-grabbing lawsuit with a whisper: “I wish you well.” Paltrow was sued by a retired optometrist for crashing into him on a ski slope. She defended herself, saying, “I felt that acquiescing to a false claim compromised my integrity.”

After the quick verdict in her favor, Paltrow leaned in and said quietly to her accuser: “I wish you well.” He responded, “Thank you, dear.”

I’ve been curious about this expression, which former President Trump said of Jeffrey Epstein’s partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump defended his statement: “I'm not looking for anything bad for her. . . . I wish a lot of people well.” In other words, it’s just a nice thing to say.

But a Guardian article refers to Paltrow’s words as a “memorable kiss-off.” Urban Dictionary explains, “This is what privileged people say when they want you to forget you knew them. ‘I am sorry I have not responded. I have been very busy. I wish you well.’” A Quora user writes, “I use it only with people I never want to communicate with again. It's a hope they change, but I'm not going to stick around for it. It's a nice way of saying, ‘F#%# off.’”

Of course, tone and context matter. We don’t hear Paltrow’s voice, and the exchange is so short. Regardless, her accuser took it positively, as he described the exchange to reporters: “She said, ‘I wish you well.’” Then he said, “Very kind of her.”

We may never know whether she meant it a sincere wish for well-being. We do know that Paltrow was an actress before she started making Goop.

If you have nothing better to do today, you can read “The 9 Most Bizarre Moments” of the trial from The Hollywood Reporter.

What Label Redesigns Teach Us About Typeface and More

After 50 years, the Campbell’s soup can label got a makeover. The new design illustrates evolving typography and marketing strategies.

In a Wall Street Journal video, a brand strategist describes the importance of not straying too far from the iconic design (made famous by Andy Warhol), with the goal of looking like something that “feels at home in your pantry versus one that you remember seeing in grandma or grandad’s pantry.” Fun fact: the red and white label was “inspired by the Cornell football team’s uniforms.”

The new design updates the typeface. The company nixed the dated drop shadows with text that looks “simpler, more modern,” as the narrator says. This is a good lesson for students tempted to add text shadows to their PowerPoint decks and other heading text. The “SOUP” text is changed from serif to sans serif without outlining, another more modern look, and it’s smaller—maybe because it’s obvious. The name of the soup (for example, tomato) is smaller too.

Major additions include a picture and descriptions of the ingredients. Slimmer text allowed more space for a tomato to attract younger customers who value healthy ingredients. For chicken noodle soups, the brand expert says the picture makes Campbell’s stand out among others that show a bowl of soup, but I find the chicken and noodle weird looking and unintuitive.

Recently, my soy milk brand was redesigned with similar principles. Note the emphasis on ingredients on the right-side image: the soy bean, green leaf, and subtle leaf shapes in the dot over the “i” and the “k.” We also see finer lettering and more sentence case than all caps. Health benefits are more prominent: 0 sugar and vitamin D. The protein grams are moved left, reflecting a shift from the protein-obsessed heath craze to other customer preferences.

“Milk” appears only at the bottom in fine lettering, maybe pending the lawsuit trying to prevent plant-based products from using the description. The FDA only recently proposed guidelines to allow them to do so.

Students might find these and other product redesign changes interesting and will see ways to incorporate principles into their own page, web, and visual design.

Do Better than “CFBR” for Social Support

A WSJ article describes the increased use of “CFBR,” meaning commenting for better reach, a way to elevate a social media post. A popular way of giving laid-off employees more visibility during their job search, the approach raises questions of authenticity and true compassion.

Hootsuite’s definition makes it sound careless:

CFBR, or Commenting For Better Reach, is a popular comment used on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.

Since most social media algorithms favor content with high engagement, “commenting for better reach” is a way to offer an organic boost to a post you think should have more exposure. When you comment on someone else’s post, that post is more likely to show up in your followers’ feeds.

This tactic may be effective, but it’s a little spammy. If you want to take a more thoughtful approach, we recommend leaving an authentic comment that engages with the post’s content—or even resharing that post with your followers.

Typing CFBR may be the “Good luck!” of social media posts despite heartache shared in the original post. I wonder how students view and use the comment. Maybe they can find better ways to support their peers.

Image source.

Fetterman Admits Depression

Newly elected Senator John Fetterman went public about his depression, and his wife is contributing to the messaging. Months after his stroke and a tight run-off election, Fetterman’s health may be a more prominent news topic than he would like. His decision illustrates character dimensions of vulnerability and courage—and offers opportunities for compassion. According to news reports, reactions are favorable, overall.

John Fetterman’s wife, Gisele, tweeted this note and the official statement from the senator’s office. The message is short and, despite the unfortunate line spacing error, says what it needs to say.

Gisele Fetterman also tweeted, “Thank you for sharing your personal challenges and being so vulnerable with us over the past couple of days. This one felt really important to pass on.” She posted the anonymous note:

I just wanted to say this: today I went to therapy for the first time in my life. It’s been over a decade since I was diagnosed with depression, but I never wanted to ask anyone for help with it. But seeing that one of the toughest people I’ve ever talked to did the same thing today reassured me that I was making the right choice.

Students might see positive results from being vulnerable despite the risks. In a pinned tweet, Giselle Fetterman wrote, “Pennsylvania, the spouse of your new senator is a formerly undocumented immigrant. Thank you.”

Florida Sheriff's Office Has Fun with Spring Break News

Thanks to Bambi Van Horn at University of Nebraska at Kearney for sending this example of fun communication. Imagine living in sunny Walton County, Florida, anticipating mobs of students on spring break. The sheriff’s office wrote a press release and a funny Facebook post to prepare the locals.

The post starts with background and a few similes and metaphors:

• Like Voldemort in Harry Potter where everyone just whispers "you know who.”

• Spring break. It even tastes like vinegar to type it.

• One thing is certain, the green will be seen.

• Now that we've skipped over the denial part of the grieving stage, the next is acceptance. "You know what" is coming. But, when?

• They want to prepare. Like some sort of zombie apocalypse

The writing style is engaging:

We are also heavily interacting with high school-aged kids whose parents bring them while on break and let them wander around and make poor choices in the moments they look up from scrolling Tiktok and Snapchat. Which they do. Don't we all at some point in our lives?

Of course, the information has to be useful for the writer to achieve the communication objectives, which students can identify. At the end of the post is a list of dates when people might expect crowds to appear from schools.

Humor is difficult to convey in writing, particularly for a public audience and, as the writer says, an oddly political issue. The post is a good example for students to analyze.

"Latinx" Is Out

One downside of writing a textbook is how quickly things change between editions. In Business Communication and Character, 11th edition, I followed the American Psychological Association (APA)’s advice and other sources to describe Latinx as a gender-neutral term. That may have been a blip in time.

In a poignant opinion on the topic, a journalist and author wrote:

“As a Los Angeles-born son of Mexican immigrants, I prefer Latino to Hispanic, a federal bureaucratic invention. Folks can call themselves any damned fool thing they want, but the people who coin terms like Latinx don’t get how language naturally develops and evolves. It spontaneously bubbles up from the street over time and is seldom handed down from the ivory tower or the tony streets of Santa Monica.”

I regret the decision and stand guilty of following primarily academic sources.

Image source.

Student Handout: Tips for Using ChatGPT

This handout guides students through using ChatGPT responsibly. I take a realistic approach, assuming that students will use the program regardless of our insistence not to.

Revise and use as you wish; you can also download this Word document. I would appreciate knowing what changes you make, so I can consider revisions.

Tips for Using ChatGPT for Your
Business Communication Assignments

Ask ChatGPT for help generating ideas.

If you’re having trouble coming up with or honing an idea for a writing assignment or presentation, ask ChatGPT. The program can help you move past writer’s block, clarify your thinking, and narrow down a topic. Practice asking follow-up questions until you get better responses.

Think of ChatGPT as a writing partner.

Imagine that the program is a tutor or writing center consultant, who would ask you questions and give you ideas and feedback—not write for you. Use ChatGPT as part of an iterative thinking process.  

Use your natural, authentic voice.

ChatGPT is a robot and sounds like one. You’re taking this class to find your own personal writing and speaking style. If ChatGPT writes for you, you’re missing the opportunity to convey your personality. What differentiates you at work is your character—who you are as a person. No AI technology can ever match your sense of humor or style. 

Adapt writing to your audience.

Every assignment in this class has a defined audience. ChatGPT can’t build a relationship; only you can do that. You’re more likely to inspire or persuade someone when you use your emotional intelligence to understand what moves and motivates someone, and then tailor your writing to that person.   

Beware of misinformation.

ChatGPT tends to “hallucinate”—invent information that doesn’t exist, particularly sources like books and journal articles. If you ask the program to provide evidence to support claims, check everything and add sources after 2021, which ChatGPT can’t access. For your own credibility, do your own research.

Learn from ChatGPT’s corrections.

If you ask ChatGPT to correct your grammar, ask it to explain the mistakes it corrected and the grammar rules, so you can learn for the future.

Plan ahead and expect change.

As of now, ChatGPT is often overloaded, so you’ll need to plan ahead if you rely on it. Also, these suggestions are based on ChatGPT as of January 2023. The program will evolve.

---

Developed by Amy Newman, February 2, 2023. Revise and use as you wish.

Inspired by Lance Cummings, @LanceElyot, “Student Contract for AI Creativity (draft),” Twitter, January 10, 2023.

New Zealand PM Resignation

Jacinda Ardern’s announcement of her resignation as the prime minister of New Zealand is a good example for students to analyze. In addition to the obvious discussion about delivery skills and script writing, Ardern demonstrates several character dimensions, for example, humility, vulnerability, authenticity, and integrity. Her decision also raises issues of gender roles, as this opinion article explains.

Netflix Messages About Leadership Change

Netflix published two messages about new CEOs. One is written by Reed Hastings, who founded Netflix and reigned as CEO for the company’s first 25 years. He leaves on a high note, which a letter to shareholders acknowledges: “2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish.” Subscribers were lagging but increased recently as Netflix implemented a new ad subscription model and launched a few popular shows.

Students could compare the Hastings blog message to that of the company in the letter to shareholders. The former focuses on the leaders (and compares Hastings’ trajectory to that of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos into board chair positions). The latter includes typical quotes from the new co-CEOs.

I expected a bit more heart from a founder, but his goal may be to downplay the move. Both messages emphasize the planned succession—as though the news is not significant at all. And maybe it’s not. The real story Netflix wants to tell is about the recent turnaround.

Image source.

Emails to "Boost Your Career"

Wall Street Journal writers suggest sending emails to someone in your inner circle, an influencer, a VIP, a long-lost contact, and someone leaving the organization. They offer good advice for students to maintain and build relationships; even as interns, thinking about reaching out regularly is a good way to develop this habit in the future. I know someone who starts his day by sending a recognition or complimentary email to someone. It’s a kind of daily gratitude.

Of course, the trouble with these emails is being genuine, offering something without expecting anything in return. The article authors suggest avoiding tired phrases, for example, “Can I pick your bring?” As we teach in our classes, they recommend getting to the main point quickly, being brief, and making a response easy, for example, asking for a 10-minute call.

Underpinning these emails is authenticity: being yourself and sounding conversational to make a genuine connection. Although the authors don’t mention it, many of these contacts can be made on social sites as well.

---

Related: I asked ChatGPT, “How should I write an email?” and got this response—not bad for the basics!

There are a few key things to keep in mind when writing an email:

1. Start with a clear subject line: The subject line should clearly and concisely convey the purpose of the email.

2. Use a professional greeting: Begin your email with a formal greeting, such as "Dear [Name]," or "Hello [Name]," followed by a comma or colon.

3. Keep it concise: Keep your email brief and to the point. Use bullet points or numbered lists to make it easy to read.

4. Use a clear and concise writing style: Use simple, straightforward language and avoid using jargon or technical terms that may not be familiar to the reader.

5. Use proper formatting: Use paragraphs to break up your text and make it easier to read. Use bold or italic text to highlight important points.

6. Use a professional closing: End your email with a formal closing, such as "Sincerely," followed by your name and contact information.

7. Proofread your email: Make sure to carefully proofread your email for spelling and grammar errors before sending it.

By following these tips, you can write a clear, professional email that effectively conveys your message.

Image source.

Worries About ChatGPT

ChatGPT is getting a lot of attention, including a Chronicle article about the effect on student writing. (See a writing prompt I submitted and ChatGPT’s response—and why I’m not worried about business communication classes.)

The biggest worry about this AI tool is exactly what the developers promise:

We’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. ChatGPT is a sibling model to InstructGPT, which is trained to follow an instruction in a prompt and provide a detailed response.

What’s to become of our assignments if students can simply paste in a prompt and get a computer-generated response? How will students learn to write? The Chronicle article challenges us to reevaluate our assignments: “Assignments and assessments are so formulaic that nobody could tell if a computer completed them.”

Ideas from the article to prevent cheating (which seems to be a primary concern) include showing students why writing is important and, “Flip your teaching so that seminal pieces of work are done in class. Focus more on multimedia assignments or oral presentations. Double down on feedback and revision. Ask students to write about topics of genuine interest to them, in which their voices come through and their opinions are valued.” The author cites problems with adjuncts and large class sizes and suggests that instructors need more time to create meaningful work for students.

I feel optimistic about our business writing courses. How well does AI write to a defined audience, with emotional nuance and appropriate jargon? We don’t teach five-paragraph essays. We teach audience analysis, critical thinking, data integrity, and emotional intelligence, and these topics need more attention. Maybe we use ChatGPT to start arguments, but students verify and build on them. Business communication faculty have always excelled at valuing our students, as a sociologist suggests:

The way forward is not to just lament supplanted skills, as Plato did, but also to recognize that as more complex skills become essential, our society must equitably educate people to develop them. And then it always goes back to the basics. Value people as people, not just as bundles of skills.

One tech writer believes ChatGPT “can be excessively verbose and overuse certain phrases.” That is certainly something our students can fix.

Image source.

Interview Advice from a CTO

Deloitte CTO Leo Alexandru offered interview advice in a Twitter thread. Most of it is common sense, but the examples could inspire a good class discussion, including why tech has trouble attracting more women. Here are his (non-parallel) main points in bold, with some commentary:

1. Honesty. Of course, but he recommended admitting concepts that you “never heard of, haven't used in a while, and want to learn more about.” Students would do well to prepare for the last two.

2. The right attitude, which Alexandru describes as “positive, trustworthy, and solution-oriented.”

3. Don't talk s**t about their previous job. This is a good one, and students should prepare for questions about their internships. Even if they were disappointed, how can they describe the experience in a balanced way?

4. Chemistry. This one worries me and reminds me of other assessments about “fit.” Sometimes, this is a veil for “just like me” and leads to a homogenous team.

5. Communication skills. Alexandru writes, “So I am very interested in how well you express a point of view. Without being aggressive.” His perspective could be a difficult balance for women, who, in one study of performance reviews, were far more likely than men to be criticized for being “too aggressive.”

6. Don’t be a “yes man.” See above!

7. Preparation. This is always a good reminder for students: know the job description and research the company ahead of time. The bigger challenge might be integrating what they know into the conversation.

8. Asking questions. Alexandru suggests asking about challenges in the job, what success looks like, and why a previous person left. A colleague told me that she starts an interview by asking what questions the candidate has. Other hiring managers prefer most of the interview to be led by the candidate. An interactive discussion is usually best, and students need to be on their toes.

9. Passion. This is a good reminder for students to show enthusiasm and prepare reasons for wanting the job other than, “Apple is the best company in the world.”

10. Proven track record. Alexandru wants candidates to “show” not just “tell” results. An ePortfolio or other documented work will help.

FTX Founder Plays the Innocent

Sam Bankman-Fried’s interview about the collapse of FTX tells us a lot about him, about investors, and about regulation. Bankman-Fried chose to tell his story to New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin via video from the Bahamas. (See transcript.) Starting with a discussion of the many people were “hurt” by the business failing, Sorkin tried to hold Bankman-Fried responsible for billions of losses. He offers two divergent views of what happened to the company: that Bankman-Fried is a “young man who made series of terrible, terrible, very bad decisions,” or that he “committed a massive fraud—that this is a ponzi scheme, a manipulation of the system.”

Business communication students might see this as a false dichotomy. Bankman-Fried claimed that his goal was to “do right” by people and that he made mistakes. He said, “Look, I screwed up. I was C.E.O. I was the C.E.O. of FTX. And I say this again and again that it means I had a responsibility, and I was responsible ultimately for us doing the right things and didn’t. We messed up big.” But he denied setting out to commit fraud. Ross read a letter from someone who says he lost $2 million—his life savings—and that Bankman-Fried used his money to fund his hedge fund. Maybe both narratives are true, and Bankman-Fried isn’t seeing or admitting it.

Students might benefit from a class discussion or assignment about the investor perspective. Not to the blame the victim, but what accountability do investors have in this situation? What were they hoping to achieve compared to other investors—or compared to the general public who do not have $2 million to invest? Depending on how far you want to take this story, a discussion about regulation is certainly relevant, and students, particularly if they or they families have benefitted from crypto investments, might have a lot to say about it.

Otherwise, the video serves as a good example to analyze for delivery, persuasion, character, and interview skills. How is Bankman-Fried as a presenter? How does he balance logical arguments, emotional appeals, and credibility? What character dimensions are at play? Was it the best decision, going against his lawyers’ advice, to do this interview—and from his penthouse in the Bahamas? How well did he respond to questions? Overall, are students more—or less—favorable about Bankman-Fried after watching the interview?