How do you become an internet phenomenon like Seth Godin? To what extent can you improve how your write by studying him as role model?

Fascinated with business writing and speaking skills, his recent post: ‘Um and Like and Being Heard’ caught my eye.

Now the art or analysis of using role models effectively in any context, is to work out what they do. Not how they are or the effect they create, but what they do, that is, their actions, described as verbs. When you use this sort of behavioral analysis, you give yourself scope to use these actions yourself, if so inclined..

So what is it Seth does to be brilliant?

Well he is ace at asserting and warning, opening this post with the lines :’You can fix your “um” and you probably should’.

He goes on to do a neat job of contextualizing his subject matter:’For a million years, people have been judging each other based on voice. Not just on what we say, but on how we say it.’

Then Seth goes on to help us:’Talk as slowly as you need to. Every time you want to insert a podium-holding stall-for-time word, say nothing instead. Merely pause.’

Followed by a final masterstroke:

‘The best part: Our default assumption is that people who choose their words carefully are quite smart. Like you’.

This is a masterstroke, because he compliments and rewards us, so we’re left with a warm fluffy memory of this post, in our parting neurons.

So Seth makes this particular sauce when he warns, asserts, contextualizes, helps and rewards us.

But I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t add a bit of contextualizing, too. Seth is wizard at headlines ‘Um and Like and Being Heard’ is one that stops you in your browsing tracks. And of course he’s written some bold and brassy books. His own branding, of wise wizard of creativity in marketing, is impeccable.

Pardon me if you’ve been smart enough to work this recipe out for yourself – and by the way, where do you think Seth gets his eyeglasses, please?

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