Keep Calm and speak British

This is a socio-educational initiative by our VP of Sales & Marketing to familiarise us with English Idioms used in every-day British language.

He sends out bi-weekly blogs communicating us about things going on in Insurance Distribution world with respect to Sales and Marketing. 

Unlike other enterprise-template email newsletter, his blogs have personal touch to it.  He is a dynamic and a charismatic leader who hails from England. His name is Paul Jackson. His blogs have the ability to connect with everyone. His narration style is short and simple with ingredients of humilty, motivation and humour. 

An important brand lesson - you have to be genuine and let your readers have a taste of it. I have had the pleasure of meeting him once and talk about wide gamut of topics: fintech, 'lovable fool' vs 'competent jerk' , Analytics in Insurance. Paul the blogger and Paul the person -  were same ! Be genuine !

Lesson for me: Be genuine and please don't try to fake Brit accent even though I love it ! lol

Below are some of the Idioms I have extracted from his blog:

• Grasp the nettle – If you grasp the nettle, you deal bravely with a problem. "Our competitors turn around commercial quotes in an hour, so we grasped the nettle and matched them!"

• Belt & Braces - Someone who wears belt and braces is very cautious and takes no risks. "This project is super important and we can't mess it up, so belt & braces folks!"

• Do a Lord Lucan - If someone disappears without a trace they do a Lord Lucan (Lord Lucan mysteriously disappeared in 1974). "Where's Ian and why didn't he come to this meeting? Dunno, looks like he's done a Lord Lucan"

• Damp squib – If something is expected to have a great effect or impact but doesn't, it is a damp squib. "That project turned out to be a damp squib!" 

• Over Egg the Pudding – to spoil something by trying too hard to improve it. "We need to be careful with this project not to over egg the pudding".