5 ‘Old Money’ Communication Rules that Make You Sound More Senior
FX’s hit ‘Love Story’ about JFK Jr., dramatizing the intense romance, high-profile marriage, and tragic lives of JFK Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon), has reignited the internet’s obsession with ‘old money’, but this time, it’s not about clothes. It’s about something much harder to fake: behaviour.
Here are 5 communication hacks you can easily implement in your speech and digital etiquette to exude a truly aristocratic ambiance:
1. Cultivate a rich vocabulary
Binge-watch ‘Downton Abbey’, study the classics such as ‘The Great Gatsby’, and read up on the life of John D. Rockefeller — who better to learn from than the richest of examples?
To truly blend in amongst the top 0.1%, you should learn their language and make the blue blood dictionary your own. Your home is now your ‘estate’, your family are your ‘lineage’, and that get-together you attended last weekend was a ‘soiree’.
2. Banish slang from your speech
With old money buying the finest education that Ivy League institutions can provide, formal speech is the norm among the elite. Common slang should make way for unwavering sophistication, proper grammar should be followed at all times, and every word must be enunciated immaculately.
3. Stay calm, confident and composed
Those rich beyond measure often don’t have a care in the world, which is channeled in the way they communicate. Every word is spoken with resolute calmness, confidence and composure, free from excessive emotion. Listening is also crucial — show respect to your counterparts, wait your turn to speak, and don’t consider anyone to be beneath you.
Despite how shows such as ‘Succession’ might portray the immensely wealthy, old money tends to approach conversations with a slice of humble pie (which is undoubtedly full of prime wagyu beef).
4. Become an e-ristocrat
In the digital age, incomplete sentences and wayward grammar are the norm, but to play the part of the top 0.1%, you will need to distance yourself from such unruly customs. Even your online speech should follow the formal ways of old. Compose those status updates with the utmost care, like you would a letter to one of society’s upper crust (and use a spell checker before you hit ‘post’). Avoid excessive abbreviations and internet speak, and keep those emojis in check.
5. Keep wealth out of the conversation
As well as how you speak, what you speak about matters too. Old money loves its customs and traditions, but it’s also important to keep on top of current affairs. Not celebrity gossip and TV dramas though… Polo, investment opportunities, and the occasional royal wedding — these are the topics old money wishes to discuss. Wealth, on the other hand, should never come up in conversation. Money is no object, so discussing it is off the table entirely. Instead of flaunting the number of figures in your bank balance, let your speech, style and demeanor showcase your grandeur instead.
Written by Anna Gandrabura, edupreneur and founder of online English and communication course provider English for IT