The Phrasebook

For: directors, team leaders and marketers. Anyone who has said something reasonable and watched it land badly.

Leaders and marketing teams use the same words and hear different things. Both sides get it wrong sometimes. These are the phrases that cause the most trouble, what the other side actually hears, and what to try instead.

Search both sides

Heard one that should be in here? Send it to hello@charliejacks.uk. The best ones go into the next edition.

Where next?

Keen or cautious

I set the direction or the budget

Owners, directors, partners and senior leaders, whether you've backed AI or not.

Not decided yet

We haven't decided about AI

A safe way to start, and how to find out what's already happening.

Translating both ways

I'm in the middle

Managers and team leaders, with someone above and a team below.

Doing the work

I do the work

Checking the AI, fixing what slipped through, and keeping it all moving. Marketers especially.

Smaller firms

I run a small firm

The marketing, the admin and the AI are you and one or two others.

People and learning

I look after people

HR, people and L&D: policy, workload, fairness and the team days.

Facilitators

I run training or team days

Fresh, ready-to-run material on the subject every client is asking about.

Networks

I run a networking group

Free discussion cards for breakfasts, chambers and peer groups.

Getting in

I'm new to work or to marketing

Students and career changers who want to know what the job looks like now.

No reading required

Just show me the tools

Free tools. Nothing to sign up to.