(Newsletter #30) To persuade, to narrate, to mislead: words at work

As Kipling put it in 1923, words are "the most powerful drug used by mankind". Like any drug, they can heal, reassure or intoxicate, and everything depends on the dose and the intent.

The metaphor feels particularly relevant today. Humanity produces and amplifies an unprecedented volume of words, written and spoken, and organisations of all kinds are caught up in the race, each competing for attention in a constant flow of messages.

In this newsletter, our professors examine how and why words have become a core organisational medium. Firms rely on them to lead, persuade and build trust, while individuals use them to think, to learn and to make sense of their own path.

But the same words can also exaggerate and even distort reality. From leadership to banking crises, from branding to AI and healthcare, the words we choose shape both how we are understood and how people respond.

Type II greenwashing: when companies exaggerate the environmental impact of their actions

Can a company tell the truth about its environmental actions and still mislead the consumer? That is the view of Aurélien Feix (EDHEC) and his co-authors, having studied in great detail what they call ‘Type II greenwashing’. Whilst much hinges on the wording used in their communications, the researchers argue that companies also face a crucial question: is what is presented – and therefore judged – as sustainable merely a way of mitigating negative impacts...? Read the article (initially published in The Conversation France)

"Mastering the art of conversation is critical for lawyers and professionals in general"

For years, Antoine Henry de Frahan (EDHEC) has taught LL.M* students courses on legal risks, legal strategies and value creation by lawyers. Last year, he realised these young graduates also need practical skills to take their first steps into the working world. “The art of conversation” was born. Here, he explains his approach, the students’ reactions and the power behind a simple conversation... Read the interview

* Master "Law & Tax Management" proposed by EDHEC and the EDHEC Augmented Law Institute

When words move money

How quickly information travels is a question as old as the hills. For our distant ancestors it was a matter of survival, and today it is one for many corporate and institutional players, especially those whose activities rest almost entirely on trust. Juan F. Imbet (EDHEC) focuses on the banking sector. In this paper, he discusses his research into how social media conversations can accelerate crises in banking institutions... Read the article

Writing brings clarity: why and how to practise self-journaling

‘My dear diary...’ If you think these few words are reserved for the private sphere and epistolary novels, take a moment to consider this. Sylvie Deffayet (EDHEC) has taken a serious look at the issue of self-journaling as a professional practice. Why? Because, in her view - having trained thousands of executives with this specific practice of self journaling - writing for oneself is a powerful means of gaining clarity for action… Read the article

‘Bias’, ‘Companion’, ‘Hallucinations’: three examples to understand the significance of the terminology used in and around AI

AI platforms and tools are built around LLMs, or Large Language Models. It is precisely our language, both about AI and in our interactions with it, that EDHEC professors Arnaud Billion and Björn Fasterling invite us to examine. To understand their analysis, we asked them to reflect on three words bandied about ad nauseam: bias, companion and hallucinations. What they invite us to deconstruct is highly illuminating… Read the interview

Can influencers play a real role in helping patients follow their treatment?

Treatment non-adherence figures are alarming: six out of ten patients don’t follow their treatment properly. The individual cost is steep (deteriorating health, more hospital admissions, worsening chronic conditions), and the collective cost reaches 9.3 billon of euros / year in France (Leem). For Loick Menvielle (EDHEC) and his co-authors, social media offers an unexpected avenue: health influencers can be powerful drivers of adherence, but trust only emerges from the right mix of appeal, authenticity and perceived expertise... Read the article

‘When constructing narratives about and around brands, historians must remain impartial “third parties” and not simply be providers of storytelling’

“The role of science is to state what is, not what ought to be.” What Weber presents as self-evident remains a source of tension in management sciences when organisations open their doors to researchers. Ludovic Cailluet (EDHEC) and his co-authors examine the ethics of how organisations build their own narratives. Their most promising avenue is to jointly construct a “fair memory”, one that is neither suppressed nor fantasised… Read the interview

The craft of leadership: Mark Carney’s rhetoric on display

A great leader can move an audience (and the needle) with an inspiring speech. When Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, took to the stage at Davos in January 2026, his speech was replete with rhetorical devices: Tricolon, Metaphora, Climax, Anaphora, etc. Carney framed an era of great power rivalry, declared the end of the rules-based order, and called on middle powers to act together. In this article, Peter Daly (EDHEC) outlines 10 of these devices that you can be adopted in your next pitch, presentation or speech... Read the article

Credits - header Anne Moreau (2026)