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Kim Lewis's avatar

This was great, Jody. Since reading your post, I have seen "impact" and other iterations a number of times on LinkedIn! I'm imagining Batman in all of these workplaces. I think I may work KAPOW into my LinkedIn banner and resume just for kicks!

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Joseph Stitt's avatar

Thanks so much, Kim. LinkedIn is an extremely high-impact(fulness) environment, and you can never have too many KAPOWs at your disposal should you need them on your end!

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Kim Lewis's avatar

Dang it! I'm ruined now. I was reading a white page on a student information system's website. Here's how it ended: "At the end of the day, a degree audit project is no trivial task for your office or your institution. However, it may just be the most impactful investment you can make to enable many of your diverse priorities and needs. " I wouldn't look forward to sitting in front of my computer screen with that SIS in front of me! KAPOW!

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Joseph Stitt's avatar

"Impactful" follows me around everywhere now. I like that the SIS also tossed in an "At the end of the day"!

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Brenda Stitt's avatar

That's a very inpactful article. KABOOM

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Joseph Stitt's avatar

Hearts! I tried to be as explosive as possible.

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Ashe, Fred Laughlin's avatar

You mentioned this to me recently and I heard the word three times in the next 24 hours. I like your implicit call to change this word to "impactfulicious." That really packs a punch. Especially for a snob/sonneteer like myself. Fun stuff!

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Joseph Stitt's avatar

Thanks! "Impactfulicious Marketing" sounds like a world-beater to me.

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Dominika's avatar

This post made my day, and it's made me excited to go back through all your posts! I have always wondered if anyone hates the word "impactful" quite as much as I do. It showed up with alarming frequency in student papers when I taught high school, which makes sense as there is a general "KABOOM!" quality to adolescent writing.

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Joseph Stitt's avatar

Thank you so much! I started hearing the word in meetings from time to time, and then it seemed to be everywhere. I know some of it was about my own awareness, but the frequency truly has shot up. I've now seen and heard it in ads for writing tutorials and writing software: "Deliver impactful writing, whether working alone or as a team. Install ProseBot today!"

Fortunately, though, there are still writers looking for things to deliver other than collisions. I am so glad they're out there.

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