Be TALKATIVE in business

Well, well … perhaps I am a bit of a talker. A popular fellow such as I am – my friends get round me – we chaff, we sparkle, we tell witty stories – and somehow my tongue gets wagging. I have the gift of conversation. I’ve been told I ought to have a salon, whatever that may be.

This is a passage from Wind in the Willows; Toad responds to Badger who has just accused Toad of not being able to hold his tongue. Being talkative is a failing according to Badger, but not to Toad. Surprisingly, a review of online dictionaries shows they tend to agree with Badger; they give talkative negative connotations such as garrulous or blabber-mouthed. The image is an illustration from the book by E.H. Shepard who is probably most famous for his illustrations for Winnie the Pooh.

I would have included communicative as a synonym for talkative – but not the online dictionaries. However, under communicative the dictionaries include talkative as a synonym along with extraverted, gregarious, or outgoing.

There is something amiss: it works one way but not the other. Perhaps the writers of dictionaries are all Badgers.

Being talkative or communicative are very good things for business – you need to constantly engage with your customers. If you are in business you should listen to Toad and not to Badger, particulary if you are running a salon.

Lets give Toad the last word:

The clever men at Oxford know all that there is to be knowed. But they none of them know one half as much as intelligent Mr. Toad!