Positive Conspiracy

Language: regional, business & lifestyle June 24, 2008

The languages we speak define how others see us. The way we articulate our point of view is a major component of the persona that others understand to be you & me. By language I mean not only our regional language (English, Chinese, French, Spanish, etc.) but also the business and lifestyle languages we speak.

I am a woman who grew up in the last half of the 20th century on the East Coast in New Jersey and worked in the theatre until I moved west. Thru these experiences I speak Jersey, Broadway, NYC, feminism & cycling. Since moving to Seattle, I’ve worked with technology and returned to crafting and my language set has grown to include computer, Seattle, MicroSpeak, knitting, marketing, Web 2.0, Facebook, fly-fishing, quilting and motherhood.

The more languages we let others hear, the better, more informed picture they have of who we are. Becoming “dimensional” to others allows them to better articulate their point of view by giving them tools to create bridges to our understanding. The other day I met an engineer at the office. Knowing very little about each other it was more difficult to understand each other and no real connection was made. I’m not a deeply technical person and he is not a marketer, yet when I mentioned going fly fishing, we discovered a common language and then several others (rafting, dog). We can now use these lifestyle languages to have a better conversation and understand each other’s point of view.