Writing Tip: The Horn and Hardart Rule

Jan 9, 2014 | Better Writing

Doug Shaw had a great post on HR Examiner back in November 2013. In, “Where is the Soul?” he contrasts a sample of gobbledygook in a marketing email with a note he got from his father. Then he says this:

“What a sharply gentle, wonderful contrast to the hyper convoluted management mumbo jumbo that had so recently hurt my eyes and soul. That folks is how you inspire, move and motivate people, not through buzzwords and other corporate flim flam, but through simple love and sincerity.”

You don’t overwhelm your loved ones with flowery language and mind-numbing jargon. Don’t do it to your readers.

Take as your motto the slogan penned for the old Horn and Hardart restaurants by advertising legend Ed McCabe.

“It may not be fancy, but it’s good.”