New Word Order

When you're talking to Frank Luntz, choose your words carefully. Under the famed--and infamous--Republican wordsmith and pollster's tutelage, his party dubbed oil drilling "energy exploration," and the estate tax became the ominous-sounding "death tax."

Luntz has worked with major corporations on their messages, too, and has distilled his advice into Words That Work--It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear.

Entrepreneur: What are your ethical guidelines for rewording a concept?
Frank Luntz: If it's accurate, there's nothing wrong with it. The fact is, oil drilling is not what it once was. Things have changed, and corporate America [doesn't] reflect those changes. Entrepreneurship is not just about creating new products and services--it's about explaining them in innovative ways.

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Entrepreneur: In your book, you list 21 effective words and phrases for the 21st century, including imagine, results, hassle-free and independent. What advertising phrases are now out of style or overused?
Luntz: When someone says "trust me," you shouldn't. [And] anything that's "new and improved" probably isn't.

I've found that retro ads may make people smile, but [they don't] get people to make a purchase. [But] some companies should have stayed with their tag lines--Coke would have done better staying with "It's the real thing." People are resentful of things that are artificial now.