Workplace "Myths"

Guest: Jacob Rawlins, PhD, Assistant Professor, Linguistics and English Language, Brigham Young University Does it seem a bit silly when you go to a restaurant or retail store where the staff are insistent on calling you a guest, rather than a customer? Or they have some special name for their coworkers – teammates, associates. Or they add some little rhetorical flourish when they answer the phone, like the receptionist at my dentist’s office who always says, “This is so-and-so. I can help you.” Not, “How can I help you?” Just the confident “I CAN help you.” These touches might seem like gimmicks, but BYU linguistics professor Jacob Rawlins says they come from the stories companies weave about themselves and they really do matter. These stories are powerful tools.