Tired of the same ol’ business speak? So is everyone else in your office. A Yahoo.com article recently highlighted the top 10 phrases/words that should be stricken from your business vocab. Thanks to Mix1051.com for posting, because I was about to reach out in order to circle back on something you might have been able to leverage … but never mind.

According to staffing firm Accountemps’ survey of executives, here are the most over-used office clichés:

1. Leverage. Deployment of an insufficient amount of something to do that which was previously done with much more. Example: “After the layoffs, we can leverage our staff of three to cover the entire Eastern seaboard.”
2. Reach out. Deliver the bad news. Example: “Reach out to the customers with a letter announcing that their interest rate just doubled.”
3. It is what it is. Get used to it. Example: “Your administrative assistant doesn’t know how to answer the phone. It is what it is.”
4. Viral. So prevalent that you want to be sick when you hear about it. Example: “Twitter has gone viral.”
5. Game changer. A catalyst that will transform a frog into a prince or vice-versa. Example: “Getting indicted for fraud was a game changer for Bernie Madoff.”
6. Disconnect. A situation in which you wanted jelly, but someone gave you peanut butter. Example: “There is a disconnect between what the consumer wants and what we intend to provide.”
7. Value-add. A gain, usually financial. Example: “She refuses to donate to charity unless she sees some value-add, say, eternal salvation.”
8. Circle back. See you again and again and again whether or not you want to be seen. Example: “I’m having cocktails with Mervin, but I will circle back around midnight to see if you’ve finished the report” or “The stalker abided by the court’s restraining order but then circled back to hang out by my garbage can.”
9. Socialize. Jam the idea down their throats. Example: “We need to socialize to our patients our practice of closing the doctor’s office every day for two hours at lunch.” In other words, “Call 911.”
10. Cutting edge. So modern, it’s to die for. Example: “Sleeperama’s cutting-edge mattress will take the country by storm.’”

Summer Walker gave us a friendly reminder of tired phrases in June. Have those stuck with you? Do you think these will?

Some of the Costa DeVault team recently participated in the Camaraderie Foundation’s first Ruck Sack March at UCF. The event was designed to have civilians “walk a mile in the boots” of service members  and offered participants a 3-, 6-, and 12-mile challenge. In order to compete for prizes, a 35-poud ruck sack and boots had to be worn. Our team completed the 6-mile course and did plenty of cheering for those who were carrying the huge packs. The proceeds from the event benefited the Camaraderie Foundation, a nonprofit that provides private counseling and other support services to military veterans and their families.

Amy and John at Fox 35 got a preview of the ruck sack on Good Day.  Start training for next year!

Today I had the opportunity to participate in a “Teach-In” at my alma mater, Maynard Evans High School. I can think of nothing more rewarding than going back to my old stomping grounds and engaging with the students. Not only did I have the opportunity to share my experiences, I got to do so with a former teacher! Here’s a quick overview of what I shared:

“How Can I Become Successful?”

1. Pursue an education
2. Go after your passion … and never stop
3. Develop an optimistic view on life
4. Remain professional at all times
5. Leave the excuses at the door

Since 1991, Teach-In has brought thousands of volunteer speakers into classrooms across the country each year. Held in November, the annual program is part of schools’ celebration of American Education Week.

It’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month – time to consider the variety of accessibility issues many American workers tackle each day, as well as the contributions they offer our economy and communities.

It’s a topic I’ve been forced to ponder in the past three months, as I’ve recovered from surgery to repair a broken foot bone. I spent two months rolling around on this trusty “knee walker” and over a month in a walking boot. My new limitations made the simple things I’d always taken for granted — getting my kids to school, grocery shopping and driving to work — difficult, or in some cases, downright impossible.

Fortunately for me, being a writer doesn’t require two working feet. And my kind, considerate colleagues helped me get in and out of the office … even holding an umbrella for me on stormy days.

Fortunately for them, I mustered enough strength to avoid acting like Michael Scott after he accidentally burned his foot on a George Foreman grill in this legendary episode of “The Office.”

But as I “scootered” and hobbled around the office, I learned that nearly every aspect of my day — at home and at work — was affected by my disability. Of course, my temporary experience in no way compares to the struggles braved by those with enduring physical disabilities at work, home and public places.

Fortunately for those who do confront significant accessibility challenges, Costa DeVault client The Center for Independent Living (CIL) offers a wide range of training and resources in pursuit of its mission to promote inclusion and eliminate barriers to independence. And with events such as this weekend’s “Stroll ‘n’ Roll,” CIL gives folks the chance to test their aptitude at navigating the world in a wheelchair.

What better way to deepen your understanding of others’ mobility challenges than facing your own?

Staff writer Erin Heston is grateful to be walking again. And that the nickname “Scooter,” bestowed by her kind, considerate colleagues, did not seem to stick.

Media strategist, Ryan Holiday recently released his new book, Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media  Manipulator.   Holiday wields an impressive résumé working for big-name clients such as “fratire” author Tucker Max, Linkin Park and high-profile clothing brand American Apparel. He coins himself as a “media manipulator” and is infamously quoted as saying:

“If you were being kind, you would say my job is in marketing and public relations, or online strategy and advertising. But that’s a polite veneer to hide the harsh truth. I am, to put it bluntly, a media manipulator. I’m paid to deceive. My job is to lie to the media so they can lie to you. I cheat, bribe, and connive for bestselling authors and billion dollar brands and abuse my understanding of the Internet to do it.”

When I began to whittle down the gist of Holiday’s (unethical) book, it discusses publicity strategies to create buzz in the blogosphere. A particular dark-art promotion strategy he used for Tucker Max’s film, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, was to place anti-Tucker Max stickers on billboards and around the community. Holiday then proceeded to e-mail pictures of his sneaky-sticker-bandit deed to feminist blogs while posing under a pseudonym. Consequently, his wily “stickering” strategies eventually went viral and then snowballed into this, this, and this.

Holiday’s sticker-phantom maneuver represents how easily it is to exploit new media. Unfortunately, it means that traditional news sources can be easily swayed by these manipulation tactics as well. Trust Me I’m Lying definitely highlights how inside sources and facts for news stories might not be fully accurate nowadays — especially if they originate from bloggers.

Holiday’s confessions regarding how easy it was to dupe online media reflects urgency for the public to understand that when there’s a lack of fact-checking and an “old-school” editor in place (as in the case in most blogs), information can easily be manipulated for “infotainment” purposes. And ultimately, liars like Holiday can evade media’s accountability.

Stephanie Mishler is a recent Rollins College graduate and served as assistant account executive at Costa DeVault. She is an avid blog reader and feels crushed that Gawker might be half-accurate … or a quarter at least.

My name is Ashley and I’m a list-maker. For me, there is nothing better than checking something off of a list. No matter how small the task, I account for it, so that once it’s complete I can bask in the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment found in one swoop of my pen to cross it off. But there’s always that item that lingers … you know what I’m talking about. Whether it’s from day-to-day or hour-to-hour, there’s something that continues to roll-over because you are not looking forward to diving into it.

Mark Twain once wrote, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

Columnist Jerry Osteryoung recently published an article offering this advice: “Don’t postpone the difficult tasks in your workday.” Instead, “eat your frog first” … or conquer unpleasant tasks early in the day so they aren’t hanging over your head. I love this philosophy and plan to implement it in my daily work life … tomorrow.

What about you? Do you enjoy eating frogs for breakfast?

As public relations professionals, we help our clients distill large numbers down to easy-to-understand, digestible nuggets for the general public — and it’s imperative those numbers are based in fact. If not, all the passion for the cause is trumped by loss of credibility.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Nicholas Kristof asserts that advocates should never undermine the trustworthiness of their cause by cherry-picking evidence … or exaggerating numbers to make a more compelling case.

Throughout history, effective social change is made by acquiring evidence and meticulously showcasing facts. Once that’s accomplished, you harness your passion to tell the story in a tone and style that works best for your key audiences. (That’s where public relations can help.)

For example, look how Great Britain abolished slavery in 1833 (32 years before the U.S. ended it). Abolitionist Thomas Clarkson diagrammed a slave ship, the Brookes, and made posters detailing how it loaded 482 slaves. He painstakingly detailed how the vessel packed human beings into terribly inhumane confined spaces. The ship actually had carried 600 slaves, but Clarkson erred on the conservative side to ensure credibility. He also went to great measures to clearly explain to everyday people what the conditions were like on slave ships and plantations.

Says Kristof about this campaign:

“It’s a useful lesson that what ultimately mattered wasn’t just the abolitionists’ passion and moral conviction but also the meticulously amassed evidence of barbarity.”

Ultimately, in order to implement social change you must be relentless in standing by your numbers. Combining facts and research with passion for the cause and clear language is the key to making this happen.

Co-author of Half the Sky Nicholas Kristof is speaking at a free public lecture at Rollins College this Thursday, Sept. 6 at the Winter Park Institute.