I sat down at a café table a month ago and watched my daughter’s eyes brim with tears at the implications of the US President Donald Trump coming to power. The hate, the division and the stupidity floored her. I feel the same.

At that moment, I decided to make sure every blog I wrote this year included a reference to the stupidity of President Trump. My blog is not a political one – it’s about the positioning power of writing business books and blogs – but weaving a reference to President Idiot into all my blogs makes my task more fun.

We are drawn to do what is fun. What is fun, is easier to do. For thought leaders, writing a regular blog is a vital step in building your authority and position, so finding ways to make the job easier and more fun equals a smart move.

Choose your target

Admittedly, Trump is an easy target. I could write a whole blog about checking your facts, following President Trump’s reference to a terrorist attack in Sweden that never happened. The Pres said: “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden.

“Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden.”

Well, no, Monsieur Le President. We wouldn’t believe it. It’s not true. And even though your position as President gives you incredible authority, you are undermining it every day with your lazy attitude to speaking the truth.

It’s black humour to be sure. I find Donald Trump funny in a sad and painful way. And of course, I won’t be writing about him most of the time – just slipping in a reference that inspires me to sit down to write my blog.

Rude words – our silly game

At Fairfax, I played a little game with my journo colleagues to see how many rude words we could legitimately include in a story. The challenge was to get these words past the editor and the sub-editors, who would take out anything gratuitous. It wasn’t easy. Here’s a list of what we managed to publish within our serious business stories (with appropriate asterisks so this blog doesn’t go into your junk mail):

Bullsh*t; Wankers; Bum; Dunnies; Bra; Loo; Lubricant; S*x toys; Sh*t; Vibrator; Dildo; Bloody; S*xy; Hump; Dirty little secrets; Raspberry (f*rt); Tampon; Beavers; Periods; Cock up; F*ck; and Pen*s.

Fun Questions

No doubt, dear thought leaders, your sense of humour is more sophisticated than mine. (But did you notice how I got the entire bunch of rude words into a single blog?)

Rather than follow my lead, here are a bunch of questions to speed you on your way to having more fun when you sit down to blog or write your business book.

And see you next time, Pres Trump – imagine the excitement if he sued me!

1. Would you like writing your blog or book to be more fun?

2. What makes you laugh: satirical, slapstick, black, dry, or highbrow humour?

3. What makes you angry? Anger is a great fuel for writing and is behind many a witty word.

4. Have you Googled funny blogs for inspiration?

5. What is a simple little challenge you can set to make writing your blog or book more fun?

a. Never use the word ‘it’ – most writing would be better without this word.

b. Skip one letter of the alphabet in each blog.

c. Mention a funny or tragic event from your life in every blog.

d. Make your business book into a fairy tale; it’s been done, but so what.

e. Mention every famous person you would love to meet in person into your blog this year or into your book.