You won’t know my full title.
It’s not just Ms. Kim Arnold. Oh no.
My full title is Lady Arnold of Glencoe. Yes, really!
How did I get this honourable title? Do I come from a long line of landed gentry?
Did the Queen bestow this honour on me in exchange for my services to Netflix and pizza?
Sadly not.
This title was in fact a wedding gift. A friend gave my husband and me a square inch of land in Scotland which allows us to use the titles Lord and Lady Arnold.
And I do!
I love seeing my Amazon delivery of coat hangers and moth balls addressed to Lady Arnold. I especially love seeing the delivery man’s confusion when he sees Lady Arnold in her novelty slippers.
Stop Wasting Your Titles
Titles are so important because they set a tone for what comes next. And that’s especially true in business.
But all too often we waste them:
- we call our newsletter ‘May Newsletter’ (Yawn)
- we name our proposal ‘Proposal For Client X’ (Droopy eyelids)
- we put ‘Following Up’ in our email subject lines. (Snore)
- and we call our presentation ‘2018 Employee Roadmap’ (Deep, deep sleep)
What kind of tone does that set? A total snorefest. An expectation of dry, boring and unoriginal material that is going to make us fake a migraine and go home early.
Contrast this with:
- a newsletter called ‘5 simple tips for faster hiring’
- a proposal entitled ‘How to Become a £50m Business’
- an email headed ‘Quick Costa chat next week?’
- a presentation named ‘10 Great Things To Look Forward To This Year’
So much better, right? The right title creates anticipation, curiosity, excitement and buzz. It tempts and seduces, giving a glimpse of the wonders to come. And it hooks your audience from the get-go (instead of losing them before you’ve even started….)
So make sure YOU make the most of all your titles and set the right tone. And remember to curtsey next time we meet, ok?