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Welcome to The Spark! Get fresh ideas for staying cool in hot situations, giving power-packed presentations,
winning your next promotion, staying positive, getting to “yes,” and lots more on the skills you need for
breakthrough success.
In 1996, a business consultant named Jim Collins and his colleague, Stanford Professor Jerry Porras wrote a Harvard Business Review article in which they coined the term "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" or BHAGs. They needed a way to write about a company's huge, pole vaults to success, 10 to 30 years in the making. Before long, the term BHAG had seeped into every business planning meeting and discussion about the future.
Remember E.F. Hutton? This financial firm is long gone, but in the 1980s, they ran one of the most memorable ad campaigns of all time. In a noisy room full of people, someone would say, "Well, my broker is E.F. Hutton, and E.F. Hutton says---"
Well now, with a million words to choose from, it’s important you choose the right ones, especially when you’re trying to persuade someone. From the shortest note to the longest report, from a simple blog entry to a 40-page website, from an executive summary to a full presentation, the most effective business writing is reader first, results based, and motivating. It has a purpose, it connects with readers, and it convinces them to do something.