Best quote of the month
‘He was sitting in the driver’s seat at Enron… It’s kind of like being on the Yankees and he’s Babe Ruth.’
– Chris Hoffman, former Lehman Brothers energy trader, commenting on former Enron star energy trader John Arnold, New York Times, July 9
Hoffman was delivering strong praise for his competitor at Enron. So what if Hoffman mixed his metaphors? His message came through loud and clear. Hoffman was quotable because one, he uses analogy and cliché (‘in the driver’s seat’); two, he references sports/pop culture: Yankees; three, he compares Hoffman to a sports icon – Babe Ruth; four, Hoffman’s praise is so strong that it take on an emotional quality.
Worst quote of the month
‘Particularly in today’s climate, if somebody says price fixing, that is a federal matter and they are going to look into it.’
– Donna Boland, a Mercedes spokeswoman, commenting on the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into accusations that Mercedes-Benz conspired to fix prices, New York Times, July 20
Boland’s quote works against her because it suggests an emotion of, ‘Holy @$#*, we know we are in deep trouble and there is no easy way out of this mess.’ She makes the classic mistake of repeating other people’s negative words (‘if somebody says price fixing’). She is quotable because one, ‘in today’s climate’ sets an emotional mood for the story; two, ‘price fixing’ is a highly charged, damning, bold action phrase; three, inherent to ‘price fixing’ is an attack, in this case, on her own company; four, ‘this is a federal matter’ is stated as an absolute – there is no room for reasonable people to disagree.
TJ Walker, a New York city-based media/speech trainer, coaches senior executives for media and speaking appearances. See www.tjwalker.com
