The US military spent decades working out how to write emails that can't be misunderstood under pressure. They landed on three rules. Subject lines that say what the email actually wants. Bottom Line Up Front. Active voice and economy of words. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox takes Kabir Sehgal's brilliant Harvard Business Review piece on military email writing and shows why those three rules are accidentally a masterclass in not sounding like someone hiding something. The military got there by trying to be efficient. The same rules also make you sound trustworthy. Break them, and you start to sound like every weak statement Jack has ever pulled apart. By the end of this episode you'll write shorter, clearer, more authoritative emails, and you'll know exactly why the long ones never landed the way you hoped.

Kabir Sehgal's original article: https://kabir.cc/how-to-write-email-with-military-precision/

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When OJ Simpson stood up at his arraignment in 1994 he didn't say "not guilty". He said "absolutely, 100 percent not guilty". Three extra words that mean nothing legally, because "not guilty" is a binary. You can't be more not guilty than not guilty. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox breaks down why people add convincing language to their own statements when nobody has asked them to, why that hype always lands as weakness, and the one place where convincing language is genuinely useful. From OJ at his arraignment to your colleague in a meeting to the dating profile that protests too much, you'll learn how to spot the hype, what it's protecting, and how to remove it from your own speech so your words finally carry their own weight.

How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.

📩 Jack's weekly newsletter Credible lands every week with one idea you can use straight away. Sign up here: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6

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In May 2024, CNN released hotel surveillance footage of Sean "Diddy" Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Within 24 hours, Diddy posted a 70-second apology video to Instagram. He never said her name. Not once. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox breaks down the four mechanical moves that turn an apology into a performance: erasing the victim, distancing the act, becoming the protagonist of your own redemption story, and piling on the convincing language. You'll hear exactly how Diddy did all four in less than 70 seconds, and you'll start to spot the same blueprint in workplace apologies, partner apologies, celebrity statements and crisis PR everywhere. By the end you'll know how to hear a real apology and how to give one.

How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.

📩 Jack's weekly newsletter Credible lands every week with one idea you can use straight away. Sign up here: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6

Content note: this episode discusses domestic violence.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.