When your personal impact is laughable

I stumbled upon a website today that immediately resonated with me.

When I wrote the book How to be exceptional, one of the 'models' in the book was dedicated to the importance of your personal style vs. the outcome you are trying to get. In essence, you can aim to get a certain outcome but if you go about it in a way that lacks style, you undermine your personal impact.

"What marks out truly exceptional people is the style with which they reach their outcomes. Good people just reach outcomes; exceptional people reach outcomes with style."

I remember listing examples in the book and making the following tongue-in-cheek recommendation on how to lack style.

"Use MS Comic as your e-mail font; it’s called ‘comic’ for a reason."

So, when I saw the website www.bancomicsans.com - I clicked on the link excitedly. The site pokes fun at this popular font with an air of seriousness. Judging by the press coverage the site has had, many people find MS Comic as irksome as I do.

You see, MS Comic was designed for comics. It was designed for text on speech bubbles and to create party invitations. It was never designed to be used as a mechanism for serious business communication.

But many business people draw unnecessary negative attention to their words by using it as their trade mark. I'm sure most people who use it don't even realise that they are making a negative statement and devaluing their words. I'm also pretty sure that many recipients don't even notice what font an e-mail is written it.

However, I write as somebody who has interviewed hundreds of job applicants for well paid consulting jobs, and it does get to the point where one filters CVs based on the font used.

MS Comic CVs went straight on to my 'NO' pile.

Next time you write an e-mail, powerpoint presentation, or letter, look at the font you are using. Does it set the right tone for the message you want to convey?

It may sound petty to be so disparaging about the use of a font but ask yourself this....

Are the things you use on a day-to-day basis commanding the right sort of attention?

Or is your style detracting from the outcome you're trying to achieve?